The Delhi Walla’s Biographical Dictionary – Jis James, Indirapuram & Kerala
Their story, in their words. [By Jis James] What Delhi has got to do with a boy who comes all the way from the southern most part of the country which is Kerala? But it has got some real genuine…
The Delhi Walla’s Biographical Dictionary – Tahreema Rahim, Daryaganj
Their story, in their words. [By Tahreema Rahim] Tahreema, 19, lives somewhere in Daryaganj with her parents and a 5-year-old brother. She never knew that this will be the time when she will revisit her blue, towelled, patched childhood album….
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Amir Khusro, b. Patiali, Uttar Pradesh, 1253-1325
The definitive directory of famous Delhiites. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] At 72, the maker of Hindustani classical music lost interest in the world. Poet Amir Khusro, the 14th century courtier to seven kings, was in mourning after…
The Biographical Dictionary Of Delhi – Naseem Mirza Changezi , B. Old Delhi, 1910
The definitive directory of great Delhiwallas. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Old Delhi’s living encyclopedia, he knows the stories of its every street and alley, and he is probably more important to the well-being of this city…
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Gravedigger Allah Hu, b. Piplauti Village, 1930-2016
The definitive directory of great Delhiites. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] He was always seen in a green kurta, this lean man with deep-set eyes and a long beard. Allah Hu was a gravedigger at the Batla House…
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Mark Tully, b. Calcutta, 1935
Our foreign correspondent. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is noon, yet the drawing room is washed in a cool darkness. The gentleman is seated on a sofa. The November sunlight pierces the window and falls on his…
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Raghu Rai, b. Jhang, Pre-Partition Punjab, 1942
India’s great photographer.[ Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This year, Raghu Rai completed 50 years of photography. In December, Aleph India will publish his book Picturing Time: The Greatest Photographs of Raghu Rai. Born in Jhang village in…
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Chandan Singh, b. Tehri, Uttarakhand, 1930
Author Khushwant Singh’s longtime cook. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Chandan Singh, 85, has a kind of sculpted face that won’t look out of place in a room filled with death masks of Roman emperors who had lived…
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Bhim Sen Puri, b. Garhdiwala, Punjab, 22 March, 1922
The face of Delhi’s fifth estate. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Extra, extra, read all about it. Is there a more pleasurable morning ritual than the ceremony of unveiling a crisp, unread newspaper? Bhim Sen Puri’s daily beat…
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Ajit Vikram Singh, b. Delhi, 26 November, 1955
The bookish bookseller. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Ajit Vikram Singh is the founder of the cramped Fact and Fiction Booksellers, the capital’s most eclectic bookstore. No other place in Delhi offers such rich selections of books in…
Recent Comments