City Landmark – Lankeshwar Mahadev Mandir, New Delhi Railway Station
Gods by the tracks. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Saaye saaye, so whistles the forceful afternoon breeze. But the peepal is staying unmoved. No leaf stirs. Its branches, bare. The courtyard too is bare, of humans. But it…
City Landmark – New Book Land, Janpath
A circle of books. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some places are like Mount Everest. You might not have been to them, but you know they are there. Same is the case with New Book Land. The shop…
City Landmark – Civic Center, Central Delhi
The tallest building. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here, it is partly entangled within the leafless vines of a tall pavement plant. There, it is framed within the upturned shaft of a horseless tonga. It has many other…
City Landmark – The Subway under Ring Road, South Extension
Life underground. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] So, which side of the Ring Road is South Extension I and which side is South Extension II? This confusion is one of the more formidable challenges of (south) Delhi existentialism….
City Landmark – Pushkin’s Statue, Redeveloped Mandi House Traffic Circle
Poet and his bird. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A cunning squirrel is traipsing underneath the green hedges. A bird, somewhere hidden, is twittering infrequently. A yellow butterfly is flapping about aimlessly in the cold air. A barefoot…
City Landmark – North Korean Embassy, RM Vats Marg
Letter from North Korea. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Standing alone against a golden sky, he is smiling beatifically, God-like. Next, he is visiting a textile mill, amused at a weave. Next, he is joking with the “old…
City Landmark – Barahpulla Drain, Mathura Road
Twilight in Delhi. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The water has turned pure gold. The departing sun is generously lending all its farewell glow to the stream. Occasionally, the self-contained placidity of the water is disturbed by the…
City Landmark – Central News Agency, Connaught Place
Mother of news stands. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Before he became the prime minister, Manmohan Singh was a regular. Painter MF Husain too would be sighed here. But this place in Connaught Place is more than its…
City Landmark – Foot-Over Bridge, Ashram Crossing
A world from a bridge [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The white-haired woman in blue sari is beating the clothes on the hard floor. A tub of water is placed beside her. She could as well be washing…
City Obituary – Deepak Nirula, Co-Founder of Nirula’s
Rest in Nirula’s. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nirula’s, the site of our dates, the fire of our friendships; our sin, our soul, our perfect escapade. Ni-ru-la: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps…
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