City Food – Chankaya’s Momos, Central Delhi
Proustian experience. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Generations of Delhi people grew up with the magic experience of the old Chanakya movie theatre. If you were very lucky you just could even manage to obtain a front-stall ticket…
Home Sweet Home – House of Shadows, Lodhi Road
Monsoon dwelling. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s hardly more than a lean-to. But the recent addition of an awning means the world for the little family. “We recently got that awning from a tea stall owner,” explains…
City Faith – Sufi’s Tree, Old Delhi
Sacred greens. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In the beginning there was the tree. It must be so. The neem is the first thing you see while walking to the twin Sufi shrines of Hazrat Sarmad Shahid and…
Mission Delhi – Geeta Rani, Sadar Bazaar, Gurgaon
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is so simple to sell household appliances in the bazaar. But it hasn’t been all that easy for Geeta Rani. The 50-year-old stall owner…
City Hangout – Theater Traffic Circle, Mandi House
An unusual playhouse. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A handful of traffic circles in central Delhi have become something more than just that. The circle on Janpath is a sprawling garden with trees teeming with bats. While another…
City Food – Proust’s Madeleine Cake, Around Town
Experiencing a great novel. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Do you like the madeleine? The little cake makes for the most important scene in In Search of Lost Time, a novel by French author Marcel Proust that is…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Vinitta Mathew, Trivandrum, Kerala
The 242nd death. [Text and photos sent by Vinitta Mathew] She left in haste from this serendipitous encounter with life. A twisted misanthrope, she bled poems for a week every month. Storyteller par excellence, Vinitta Mathew overdosed on love and…
Mission Delhi – Muhammed Shamim, Central Delhi
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The life of paan seller Muhammed Shamim has been touched by a very long and beautiful friendship. “I’m talking about Shahid,” with whom he grew…
Home Sweet Home – Rooftop Views, Mehrauli
The story of a home. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s hard to imagine getting a better sense of Delhi than by viewing it from on high. And particularly a panoramic view of a favoured neighbourhood like Mehrauli….
City Hangout – Plane Spotting, Vasant Vihar
Air-borne thrills. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One’s heart goes out to the rich people of Vasant Vihar. There’s so much noise pollution in the genteel south Delhi enclave crammed with gracious bungalows and apartments. The very air…
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