Feeding the soul. Nosering, Sweety, Kaajal and Sudama are sitting close to a Mother Dairy booth in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. It’s 3pm, and Sonya Ghosh is expected. An associate professor of English at the University of Delhi, Ms Ghosh arrives daily in a Maruti van carrying...
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Inside the walls. One cold evening The Delhi Walla met the 80-year-old Manikchand, a retired rag-picker. He stays alone. The entrance of his one-room shelter faces the busy Mathura Road. In a pinkish-red dressing-gown, Mr Manikchand was lying on the floor. His bed was made up of...
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Life in Delhi’s prettiest neighborhood. Hauz Khas Village has become a ‘hang out’. Artist types still come but the ageless rich have infiltrated in large numbers. These people look successful, cocky and aggressively happy. They have great bodies and they are plushly underdressed; they speak accented English...
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The spring of life. He raises his arms, lowers his head, stays still, takes a deep breathe and jumps from the roof and… SPLASH! He crash lands into the cold dark brown water. Before he can resurface, another boy dives in, followed by another and another and...
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Death of a Delhiwalla. Zubeida Bano, a cultured dweller of Shahjahanabad, died on August 9th, aged 72. The Delhi Walla had profiled her in the website’s Mission Delhi project. The arc of Ms Bano’s life began at a high point of wealth and influence and went downward,...
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Inside the walls. One afternoon The Delhi Walla entered the home of Muhammed Rashid Khan. There is no doorbell because there is no door. Mr Khan, 40, lives with his wife and three children on a pavement in Ranjit Singh Road, central Delhi. Their neighbours are a...
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Life in Delhi’s prettiest neighbourhood. Late September morning. The shadows are cold. I enter into a part of the Hauz Khas ruins that is not frequented by tourists. May be they are here. I’m searching for Pappu and Usha, the couple I met the other day while...
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The new Old Delhi. In a house on Pahari Rajaan hill, stairs lead to a courtyard. Here a new flight of stairs passes a kitchen and leads to another courtyard. More stairs, another room, stairs—and then you reach the roof and get a view of Purani Dilli...
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Life in Delhi’s prettiest neighbourhood. My house looks to the Hauz Khas monument. This morning I got to know a family that lives inside that monument. I met Pappu and Usha on the Hauz Khas Village road, a tree-lined stretch that connects the neighbourhood to Aurobindo Marg....
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The traditional pastime. They fly away but always come back. Mateen Qureshi, 26, the owner of Shireen Bhawan sweetshop in Matia Mahal bazaar, has the largest collection of pigeons in Old Delhi. The Delhi Walla is on his roof, on the fourth floor of his house. The...
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