Mission Delhi – Meera Sachdeva, Tagore Garden
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She has lived through the Second World War, and through many other profound historical shifts. Including the Partition. Actually, she came of age in what is now Pakistan. She is 93. “No (public)…
City Nature – Corona Sky, Sunder Nursery
The pandemic-era paradise. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The best way of experiencing Delhi’s extraordinarily brilliant pandemic-era clear blue sky is by heading to Sunder Nursery, just across the road from Humayun Tomb. This time, refuse to be…
City Series – Alli Westbrook in Athens, Ohio, the US, We the Isolationists (436th Corona Diary)
Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Alli Westbrook] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona and I see myself taken back to a breezy spring day years ago. Our backyard had not been mowed so the grass was…
City Series – Lubhanshi Jain in Delhi, We the Isolationists (435th Corona Diary)
Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Lubhanshi Jain] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona and I see what has already transpired, Kashmir, a migrant labour exodus, the shame blame game of religion, loved ones gone without proper…
City Hangout – Atik Rehman’s “Antique Shop”, Galli Chooriwallan
Place of recent collectibles. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Until a year ago, this place was a professional bawarchi’s (cook’s) kitchen. You would see tubs full of onion rings. On some evenings, the street outside would be lined…
Mission Delhi – Durga Prasad, Dwarka
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The saddest thing to be seen on city walls are posters of the disappeared, calling for help to bring them home. Such notices have a standard format. Obviously, it gives the name of…
City Hangout – Hanuman Mandir Plaza, Connaught Place
The pandemic-era bustle. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The small room of Future Point Computer Horoscope is open for business. And so is Kakoo Kachori Wale, the snack shop beside it. The other establishments here are more makeshift…
City Life – Raju’s Pandemic Days, Gandhi Nagar
The corona-era life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] As the worries for everyday struggles seem to recede for him, auto rickshaw driver Raju has started to think again of a dream he had before the coronavirus shook his…
City Hangout – Monsoon Stroll, Hauz Khas Lake
Rainy season pilgrimage. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On one recent evening, after a heavy downpour, one of the Lodhi Garden lawns filled up with water like a reservoir. To stand by it was like being in that…
Mission Delhi – Sanjay Kumar, Central Delhi
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On this muggy morning he is sitting on his haunches, across the street from a crowded central Delhi chai stall, silently watching the passersby go about their lives. He’s dressed in colors —…
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