City Moment – The Kiss, Nehru Place
The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon The Delhi Walla came across a hijra in the office district of Nehru Place. She was wearing a white dupatta and pink suit, and she was with…
Delhi Proustian – Le Swann, Rue de Constantinople
A hotel for Proustians. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon in Paris The Delhi Walla entered Le Swann. This hotel in rue de Constantinople is named after Charles Swann, perhaps the most romantic/artistic/melancholic character in Marcel Proust’s…
City Food – Paratha & Other Snacks, Chandni Chowk
Our culinary heritage. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The best sight in Delhi is of a heaped tray of mashed potato, chopped cauliflower, grated radish, shelled peas, scrambled paneer (cottage cheese); the best music, desi ghee sizzling in…
Delhi Proustian – Marcel Proust’s Tomb, Père Lachaise
The Delhi Walla in Paris. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One cold January afternoon The Delhi Walla visited Marcel Proust in Père Lachaise, the cemetery in Paris that is home to some of the most distinguished citizens of…
City Moment – Friend’s Grave, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One cold midnight The Delhi Walla entered the dargah of Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. The courtyard was empty. The dome was lit up with strings of tiny electric…
City Monument – Cathedral Church of the Redemption, North Avenue
Memories of Venice. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The former Viceroy’s Church, housed in the President’s Estate in Lutyens’ Delhi, is built of red sandstone and Burmese teak and was opened in 1931. The design, inspired by the…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Neyaz Akhtar, Hotel Shalimar
Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet poet Neyaz Akhtar on the roof of Hotel Shalimar in Gali Murgan, a street in the Old Quarter. In his early 30s, Mr…
Dateline Delhi – Man Has Unnatural Sex with Dog, Clip 1
Reporting from the capital. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla keenly reads the city pages of national dailies in search of weirdly disturbing/amusing newspaper reports on our capital’s daily life. Here’s the first part – as seen in Hindustan…
Photo Essay – Mobile Phone, Around Town
Text me. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One day in 2013 The Delhi Walla’s Sony Xperia stopped working. It felt as if my wife had died. The touch-screen phone had everything I would need if I were to…
City Culture – Brecht in Delhi, Sri Ram Centre
Good persons of our capital. [Text and photos by Manika Dhama] On the Christmas Eve of 2013 theatre enthusiasts lined up outside the Sri Ram Centre in Central Delhi to meet Ramkali, the central character in ASMITA Theatre Group’s adaption…
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