City Walk – Lodhi Road, Central Delhi

City Walk – Lodhi Road, Central Delhi

The tree-lined pathway. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A great multitude of giant-sized trees gives Lodhi Road its grave dignity. These aged-looking brown trunks bend over the roadside making graceful swaying patterns. The branches expand and bifurcate, frequently…

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Somak Ghoshal, Defence Colony

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Somak Ghoshal, Defence Colony

The Proustian self-introspection. [By The Delhi Proustians] The Proust Questionnaire represents a form of interview that owes its structure to answers given by French novelist Marcel Proust, the author of In Search of Lost Time, at two birthday parties that…

City Moment – Buffalo’s Martyrdom, Gali Kuen Wali

City Moment – Buffalo’s Martyrdom, Gali Kuen Wali

The melancholic Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One morning The Delhi Walla came across a lifeless buffalo in Old Delhi’s Gali Kuen Wali street. The body was lying upside down. Its mouth was open — the…

City List – Old Cinemas, Around Town

City List – Old Cinemas, Around Town

Delhi by list. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi has dozens of multiplexes. Indeed, the country’s first multiplex, PVR, opened in the capital in Saket in 1997. The Delhi Walla is in possession of the cinema-listing page of…

Mission Delhi – Kaloo, Jor Bagh

Mission Delhi – Kaloo, Jor Bagh

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His life is about to change for ever. The Delhi Walla meets Kaloo one early autumn evening at his bungalow in central Delhi’s Jor Bagh….

City Monument - Sacred Heart Cathedral, Central Delhi

City Monument – Sacred Heart Cathedral, Central Delhi

Hall of grace. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi’s largest Catholic church has twice been graced by the presence of Pope John Paul II. Spread over 14 acres, which includes two schools, the cathedral is the headquarters of…

Photo Essay - Alice Munro, Around Town

Photo Essay – Alice Munro, Around Town

A few short stories. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Little happens in the short stories of Alice Munro. Her people consists of good women trying to make sense of hateship, frienship, courtship, loveship and marriage. Delhi is not…

City Life – Home Sweet Home, Roop Nagar

City Life – Home Sweet Home, Roop Nagar

Inside the walls. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon The Delhi Walla knocked at the door of Vij Bhawan in Roop Nagar, a neighborhood in north Delhi. The bungalow is home to the extended families of four…

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Govind Singh, Gurgaon-Faridabad Road

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Govind Singh, Gurgaon-Faridabad Road

The Proustian self-introspection. [By The Delhi Proustians] The Proust Questionnaire represents a form of interview that owes its structure to answers given by French novelist Marcel Proust, the author of In Search of Lost Time, at two birthday parties that…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – John Keats, Nehru Park

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – John Keats, Nehru Park

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet English poet John Keats in Nehru Park, a garden in the city’s diplomatic enclave. It was an almost imperceptible autumn morning. The sunshine…