City Book - Nobody Can Love You More, YouTube Video

City Book – Nobody Can Love You More, YouTube Video

A very short film. A Little Anarky Films tells the story behind The Delhi Walla’s book Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District. Published by Viking Penguin, it is available in book stores and on shopping…

City Monument – Khair ul Manzil, Mathura Road

City Monument – Khair ul Manzil, Mathura Road

A bubble of serenity. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Its name means ‘The good destination’ in Arabic. The tranquil Khair ul Manzil masjid was built in 1561 by Maham Anga, the wet nurse and foster mother of Mughal…

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Meraj Ahmed Nizami, b. Nizamuddin Basti, 1927

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Meraj Ahmed Nizami, b. Nizamuddin Basti, 1927

The last great living qawwal. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In his eighties, Meraj Ahmed Nizami, the patriarch of Nizami Khusro Bandhu family, is one of the few classical qawwals left in India. He is one of Delhi’s…

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXXIII, GB Road

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXXIII, GB Road

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The 33rd meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust, was supposed to take place in GB Road red light area on…

City Secret – Sanskrit News Bulletins, Akashvani Bhawan

City Secret – Sanskrit News Bulletins, Akashvani Bhawan

More than just news. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Iyam Akashvani. Samprati Vartaha Shruyantam. These are the first words you will hear every morning and evening if you tune in to Akashvani’s, or All India Radio’s (AIR’s), Sanskrit…

City Book – Nobody Can Love You More, First Copy

City Book – Nobody Can Love You More, First Copy

Like a dream. [Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; photos by Unknown] Hot off the press. On receiving the first copy of his new book, Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District, The Delhi Walla hid it…

City Life - Street Vendors, Around Town

City Life – Street Vendors, Around Town

The god of small sellers. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] For this hawker of mouth fresheners, her world is a tiny portion of the pavement in the capital’s Prabhu Market near central Delhi’s Sewa Nagar railway crossing. The…

City Moment – The Satanic Verses, Shahjahanabad

City Moment – The Satanic Verses, Shahjahanabad

The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is late morning. The Delhi Walla is browsing for second-hand books in the weekly book bazaar of Daryaganj. Each Sunday the mile-long footpath between Delite cinema and the…

City Notice - The Delhi Proustians XXXIII, GB Road

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXXIII, GB Road

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The 33rd meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust, will take place on 19 November 2012. Venue: Kotha No. 300, GB…

City Life – The Wedding Reception, Daryaganj

City Life – The Wedding Reception, Daryaganj

The Old Delhi society. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The guests arrived at the Mahavir Vatika ground in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj in cabs, in auto-rickshaws, and in buses. Some came from a distance of ten miles, from Gaffar…