One more layer over the past [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The sky is blue. The market is bluer. This is the same old Kashmere Gate, just touched up a bit. The blue was rendered early this year by the local market’s association, says a shopkeeper. To be sure, Kashmere Gate’s Bara Bazar is a sprawling enterprise filled with a variety of businesses. The blue is limited to its handsome colonnade that overlooks the historic St James Church. A dark cerulean shade has been painted on the colonnade’s slim metallic columns, on its intricately patterned wrought iron screens, on the corridor’s ceiling, and also on the shop shutters. The blue shirt of a fruit seller stationed outside the colonnade this afternoon

Life in a mansion. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It I s a mansion only in name. In its contemporary avatar, Haveli Anwar Ali resembles to some extent a typical Old Delhi street. Like any Purani Dilli gali, it too comprises of residences and shops. The mansion’s sole portion that remains wholly intact—at least in the publicly accessible part—is the sandstone gateway. The darwaza is sculpted with taaks, arches and flowery patterns. Its two tall wooden panels lie detached, leaning against their respective walls. These panels are severely discoloured. One shows a faded “STD ISD PCO” sign, indicating the long-ago presence of a phone booth. Another has the haveli’s name etched in Urdu, as pointed by a passer-by. The haveli’s more

A pre-partition edifice. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This greyish Old Delhi landmark is simply known as “building.” The storeyed structure looks profoundly different from the surrounding storeyed structures. It is decidedly more elegant in an old-fashioned way, apparent even to those among us with no insights on architecture. The “building” stands at Mohalla Qabristan Chowk, and is the vicinity’s only pre-partition edifice still wholly intact. The intersection has been visited on these pages, but the “building” is demanding an exclusive appraisal. A much taller multi-storey has lately risen right in front of it. The development is significant. Until the turn of the century, the “building” used to be the tallest in this part of the Walled City. Its initial presence was

A place from past [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s a game. Go, find this mysterious showroom in Connaught Place. The place opens almost daily, but--this is a big but!-- it doesn’t sell anything. Although the shelves are partly stocked with things that were originally intended to be sold (hint: it isn’t a bookstore!). The landmark’s name shall not be divulged, but it isn’t tough to locate. (One reason for not sharing the name is because the showroom’s friendly staffers requested for the place not to be explicitly identified). Even so, the establishment is deeply linked to CP’s origins, and ought to be recorded for posterity. The showroom is almost as old as the colonial-era shopping district—it came up in 1937. The

Lest we forget. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is commemorated in the Millennium City of Gurugram as a shaheed, a martyr. In 1999, honeymooner Rupen Katyal boarded with wife a Delhi-bound flight in Kathmandu. He was the only one among the 155 passengers killed by the hijackers in IC 814, which is also the name of a talk-of-the-town web series that purports to recreate the hijacking episode. One afternoon, Shaheed Rupin Katyal Marg was full of raised dust. A portion of the roadside was taken over by a snack stall with a broken chair, a citizen lay sprawled nearby. Delhi-NCR has many roads named after the nation’s shaheeds—such as Shaheed Major Vikas Yadav Marg, Shaheed Sukhbeer Singh Yadav

A Walled City landmark. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Pahari Imli takes its name from being a hill that once boasted of a tamarind tree, Gali Mem Wali was the lane housing a “ma’am,” and Amrood Wali Masjid is a mosque that had a guava tree. The origins of Old Delhi place-names are easily relatable, with notable exceptions. Take this landmark. Its name feels as foreign as caviar will in Chandni Chowk. Oxford dictionary dates the word to 1778 when it originated as the Latin motto (‘higher’) on the seal of the State of New York. Say salam-namaste to Excelsior (pronounced "ek" + "sel" + "see" + "aw".). Shut since 2016, the single-screen cinema at Bazar Sirki Walan stands discreetly behind the

In the world of public art. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A classical dancer in a classic dancing mudra, two tablas and two larger-than-life faces exuding such calmly trance that they could only be of artists in the middle of their early morning sadhana. This is among Delhi’s newest art installations. No big deal in that, for many have lately come up around Bharat Mandapam. This one is unique because it sits on the very heart of the capital’s art district—the Mandi House roundabout. Mandi House is the address of art galleries, concert halls, theatres and music schools. It has something of the Montmarte district of Paris where at one time bohemian artists would wander around with their paint brushes and canvasses.

On the passing of a trinity [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In other news, semal flowers will no longer be seen in this park. The little municipal garden in Hazrat Nizamuddin West is reeling under a gaping loss. A few days ago, at around one in the afternoon, during a light shower accompanied by a moderate wind, a gigantic semal tree in the park fell. As it fell, it trampled upon two adjacent semal trees, causing them also to fall, a passer-by says. The secretive park lies in a corner of the posh neighbourhood, beside the busy Mathura Road, and for a long time has been among the best places in Delhi to enjoy the semal in bloom. During the

Delhi place-names and American politics. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? Somebody famous famously asked this sometime last year. She immediately went on to answer the question herself—“You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” This is particularly true in the case of Delhi’s place-names. The names of Delhi localities didn’t just drop from the sky: each of them has a background. Accidentally, quite a few places in our city bear the first name of the woman quoted above. Another hint: she might become the first person of Indian origin to take oath as the president of the United States of America. Readers