City Culture – De Bhasar, Tolstoy Marg
The philosophy of nonsense. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Gadhe ke poot, yahan mat poot. [O, son of an ass, do not pee here.] The Delhi Walla saw this calligraphy by an unknown Bhasarian artist in Tolstoy Marg,…
City Monument – Mughal Masjid, Mehrauli
Unembellished beauty. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi’s most heartbreakingly beautiful mosque, it is inside the Qutub Minar complex. With three onion-shaped domes, the mosque is small, its two minarets look frail, and it faces a little walled…
Photo Essay – The Lady and Her Home, A Street
Life’s like that. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla sees this woman each time he walks down this street. She is always sitting or lying on this stretch of the pavement. Sometimes the area’s dogs share…
DNA Review – On Nobody Can Love You More
Life in a red light district. [By Varsha Naik] Varsha Naik of the Bombay-based DNA newspaper talked about Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District, a book by The Delhi Walla. Click here to read it…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Anna Akhmatova, Tihar Jail
Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet poet Anna Akhmatova outside the highly-secured boundary wall of Tihar Jail in West Delhi. In her late 20s, Ms Akhmatova is wearing a…
Mission Delhi – Nalini Kant Pathak, Vasant Vihar
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Savoring the easy sunlight of a fading winter, he says, “I’m not a regular to this garden. Today is my off from the office and…
Guest Column – The Female Monologue, Old Delhi
The incomplete stories of a Delhi walli. [Text and (no photos) by Manika Dhama] I once asked my mother what she would like to do in life if she could do anything in the world and she said, “I’d love…
City Hangout – The Subways, Connaught Place
The Delhi underworld. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Omwati sweeps the place. Anil sells guavas and apples. Dinesh Kumar hawks mobile phone covers and chargers. Baneshwar Sahu keeps application forms for passport and PAN (permanent account number) card….
City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXXVII, New Delhi Rail Station
A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 37th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…
City Monument – Dr Ambedkar National Memorial, Alipur Road
The touchable god. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is no one here other than The Delhi Walla. This is the memorial of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the principal architect of the Indian constitution and a leader who championed for…
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