Letter from Paris – The Reluctant Proustian, Marais
Proust’s reader in Proust’s city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is a man of another time. On streets, he is shocked to see women with cigarettes. At home, he paints, and plays piano and cello. In drawing…
City Hangout – Second-hand Books of Paharganj, Central Delhi
Finding thrill in unexpected places. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some go to Paharganj, the backpackers’ ghetto in central Delhi, to have emergency love with lonely foreigners. The Delhi Walla goes for novels they leave behind in the…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Himanshu Verma, Lado Sarai
The 74th death. [Text by Himanshu Verma; photo by Mehar Jyrwa] Lurking like a cheeky phantom in the country’s art and fashion world, he was the Saree Man of India. Himanshu Verma’s mad eclectic work stood at the cusp of…
Letter from Paris – La Hune is Closing, Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Death of a bookshop. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Stop the clocks. Silence the pianos. The double-storey La Hune is to shut down permanently. Tucked in the heart of the most beautiful part of Paris, it is one…
Delhi Archives – JLN Stadium Station, Near Lodhi Road
[Digging out old stories from The Delhi Walla] Most Delhiwallas have grown to think of Metro stations as places to push each other into rail coaches. The Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium station in central Delhi is different. A cynic might…
Atget’s Corner – 806-810, 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,…
Letter from Paris – Hazrat Marcel Proustuddin’s Dargah, Père Lachaise Cemetery
The secret origins of Marcel Proust. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] O Sheikh Marcel, bless us so that we all can write like you. The Delhi Walla is in the dargah of Hazrat Marcel Proustuddin in Père Lachaise…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Anamika Chatterjee, Chittaranjan Park
The 73rd death. [Text by Anamika Chatterjee; photo by Sajay Warrier] On the day she passed away, Anamika Chatterjee was found gorging happily on several plates of mutton chops and fish cutlets in the Bengali den of Chittaranjan Park in…
Letter from Venice – Country Postcards, Near Adriatic Sea
The Italian nature. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Have you ever cycled through a daydream? The Delhi Walla did. I’m in Venice. One morning I left it for its surrounding country. The day was made of a blue…
City Monument – Jahanara’s Tomb, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
An open-air mausoleum. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a city notorious for its hostility to women, a cramped, little-known monument has emerged as their private sanctuary. Even stranger, this unlikely place is tucked into one corner of…
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