City Monument – Bijay Mandal, Near IIT Delhi Flyover
Delhi’s most puzzling ruin. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] This was the palace of Muhamamd bin Tughlaq (1300-1351), a sultan so stupid that he forcibly moved Delhi’s entire population 700 miles south to the Deccan. Having survived many…
Mission Delhi – Faisal Khan, Indian Coffee House & Ghaffar Manzil
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The year 2013 was important in his life. Then, he led a “Dil Jodo Nafrat Choro” journey to bridge Hindu and Muslim hearts, travelling…
City Food – Sadia Dehvi’s Iftar Fast Food, Hazrat Nizamuddin East
The evening meal. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Ramzan is the month when the Quran is believed to have been sent down from heaven and revealed to Prophet Muhammad. It is also the best opportunity for believers to…
Photo Essay – Ramzan Sky, Matia Mahal Bazaar
The silvery stretches. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Yesterday, it was a blue sky. Today, it’s embroidered in silver. One day before the start of the Islamic month of Ramzan, the sky above the Matia Mahal street in…
Home Sweet Home – Tahmina Laskar’s Private Universe, Abul Fazal Enclave-I
A whole world [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is there anything more beautiful in the world than a woman with a room of her own? The person The Delhi Walla is talking of lives in a room filled…
Netherfield Ball – Novelist Arundhati Roy Stuns Society by Opening a Banarasi Saree Showroom, Chitli Qabar Bazaar
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was the day when the unthinkable became the thinkable and the impossible really happened. One sweltering afternoon novelist Arundhati Roy was seen inaugurating a Banarasi saree showroom in Old…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Oredola Ibrahim, Ibadan, Nigeria
The 131st death. [Text by Oredola Ibrahim; photo by Adegbaju Deborah Kevwe] Today marks exactly the 65th day after his 23rd birthday. Though he never made it to Forbes’ Lists or any of the “Most-Something” lists that lorded over the…
City Library – Bhaskar Ghose’s Books, Mayur Vihar I
A vanishing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is the stuff dreams are made on. Bhaskar Ghose has read the entire Shakespeare—all the plays, all the sonnets. He has even read Cymbeline (who reads Cymbeline?)! One afternoon…
City List – Pradip Krishen’s Most Suitable Trees for Delhi
Dry, deciduous. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Though Delhiwallas wilt in the sweltering heat, summer is also the season when a great part of the city comes to life in a magically beautiful way. Walk along the wide…
Atget’s Corner – 921-925, Delhi Photos
The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds,…
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