Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Taslima Nasreen, Behind Regal Cinema

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Taslima Nasreen, Behind Regal Cinema

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet Bengali poet Taslima Nasreen on the lane that runs behind the Regal Cinema building in the colonial-era Connaught Place. An exiled Bangladeshi citizen,…

City Book – Servants, Lucy Lethbridge

City Book – Servants, Lucy Lethbridge

A necessary book for Delhi. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] “A really good housemaid should never be able to be alone in a room with a table without giving it a good rub, or, if the room is occupied, without wishing…

City Food – Nihari & Paya, Al Jawahar & Karim’s

City Food – Nihari & Paya, Al Jawahar & Karim’s

Old Delhi’s power breakfast. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Fish cutlets from the steps of the Jama Masjid, meatballs from Kucha Pandit, kheer from Hauz Qazi, qalaqand from Ghantewala, jalebis from Bhangi ka Katra, parathas from Qutb Shahi……

City Hangout – Mapping National Museum, Janpath

City Hangout – Mapping National Museum, Janpath

Souvenirs of our past. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The National Museum in Central Delhi is a guide to India. Opened in 1960, it has 2, 00,000 exhibits — the older dating back to 2500 BC and beyond….

The Delhi Walla Books – The Guardian on the Boxed Set

The Delhi Walla Books – The Guardian on the Boxed Set

Among the world’s best quirky guidebooks. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The UK-based The Guardian daily calls The Delhi Walla books as one of “the best quirky guidebooks from around the world.” Writing in the newspaper, London-based literary walker Henry Eliot…

Mission Delhi – Ashok Kumar, Near Sai Baba Temple

Mission Delhi – Ashok Kumar, Near Sai Baba Temple

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He blows a whistle. A few men materialize from here and there. “Each one of you is a maderchodh (motherfucker),” he says. The Delhi Walla…

City Faith - The Eid People, Old Delhi

City Faith – The Eid People, Old Delhi

The morning crowd. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There were no women but there were many little girls – along with their fathers — on way to the Jama Masjid to offer prayers. It was the morning of…

City Notice – On Pradip Krishen’s New Book

City Notice – On Pradip Krishen’s New Book

The jungle trees of Central India. Pradip Krishen, the author of Trees of Delhi, is ready with a new book, entitled The Jungle Trees of Central India: A Field Guide. Browse through the images below and order a copy from…

City Culture - De Bhasar, Sujan Singh Park

City Culture – De Bhasar, Sujan Singh Park

The philosophy of nonsense. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Smoking Zone The Delhi Walla saw this calligraphy by an unknown Bhasarian artist on the boundary wall of Sujan Singh Park, an exclusive residential apartment in Central Delhi. It…

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Sanchita Guha, Appetite German Bakery

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Sanchita Guha, Appetite German Bakery

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…