City Monument – Ghamand Sarai Gateway, Gurgaon
A forgotten relic. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The softened weather-beaten stones on the top are jutting out towards the street as if they are overlooking a cliff. This arched gateway in a quiet corner in Gurgaon’s otherwise…
Photo Essay – The Delhi Walla’s Exhibition, Serendipity Arts Festival 2018, Goa
My life as an artist. [Photos by Visual Pan] Dear reader, one of the most amazingly beautiful things that happened in my life as a blogger/writer/photographer was the exhibition of a sample of my instagram posts in the prestigious Serendipity…
Mission Delhi – Ramesh Kumar, KG Marg
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Guru Ravidas’s portrait on the pavement wall is decked with two yellow plastic flowers. Ramesh Kumar, a 51-year-old cobbler, had purchased the poster from Daryaganj….
City Hangout – Closing Hour Melancholy, Sunday Book Bazaar, Daryaganj
Twilight in Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a cold Sunday evening and the pavement book bazaar in Daryaganj is wrapping up. Being a weekly market, it will hopefully re-open next Sunday. Most people come to…
City Obituary – Tea Man Muhammed Sabir, Kasturba Gandhi Marg
The end of a living landmark. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In many ways this is just like any other January morning. Cold and sunny. But Muhammed Sabir’s tea stall in a side-lane on Central Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi…
City Food – Mathura ka Peda, Kucha Pati Ram
The charm of an out-of-town delicacy. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some of the most universally loved Indian delicacies are identified with towns and cities where they were probably invented or given a special treatment — Agra ka…
Mission Delhi – Kashi Ram Sharma, Khan Market
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is 9 pm at the teeming Khan Market and the fashionable crowds are still in abundance, heading for chic restaurants or maybe somewhere else….
City Food – The Super-Romantic Tea Kettle, Om Shanti Chai Stall, Gurgaon
A chai monument. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Tea kettles are objects of beauty, especially when they become chipped and worn-out after years of daily use. Then they look as romantic as the tattered copy of a much-annotated…
City Monument – Barah Khamba, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
Too moon-soaked to be substantial. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] As soon as the sun sets, the Lodhi-era Barah Khamba, tucked within an unlit park, starts marinating in darkness; its 16th century stone walls and dome gradually become…
Mission Delhi – Neeraj Kumar, Moti Bagh
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s nothing unusual about chatting with Neeraj Kumar before you notice something amiss. His flip-flops don’t match. One of them is blue, and the other…
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