Netherfield Ball – Afifa Fareed Weds Abdul Haseeb, Old Delhi City Parties by The Delhi Walla - December 28, 20191 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The guests arrived at the Mahavir Vatika ground in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj in cabs, auto-rickshaws, and bikes. Some came from miles away, from Jasola, and even from Ghaziabad. It was the wedding of Afifa Fareed with Abdul Haseeb. Cars lined up one after another, stopping at the entrance and emptying their loads. The women and their men would get off from all the sides, rubbing knees and stretching arms. The ladies, wearing the mandatory dupatta or the veil, had put on dresses in the traditional Old Delhi fashion: shararas, salwars, gold necklaces, red roses fastened with safety pins. Separate sections were arranged for men and women. Some of the lads, dressed like their abbas,
Netherfield Ball – The Indian Embarrassment in Israeli Ambassador Daniel Carmon’s Drawing Room Party, South Delhi City Parties by The Delhi Walla - March 22, 2018March 22, 20180 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s something The Delhi Walla always wanted to know: What on earth happens in the glamourous parties thrown by foreign diplomats in their exclusive residences? To find out, I reckoned that the best option was to maneuver for an invite to one such soiree. On the happy night the Israeli ambassador, Daniel Carmon, was hosting a dinner to honor a visiting delegation of his country’s select writers and poets. At the highly secured gate, the staff checked that my name appeared on the privileged list of invitees before allowing me to walk the long lit up driveway, along the garden, to the bungalow. It all looked too quiet for a bash. The lobby was
Netherfield Ball – Studying the Origins of Sharmila Tagore’s Charisma, Prithviraj Road City Parties by The Delhi Walla - December 15, 2017December 15, 20172 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is an undisputed truth that the rich and the famous live in a world different from ours. One winter afternoon The Delhi Walla sneaked inside a gated bungalow in Central Delhi’s Prithviraj Road, the address of the 0.0001 percent. It was a rare blue sky and a garden party was in progress. The sun was shining and the flowers were blooming in bright colors. Suited security guards stood around the hedges, presumably looking for potential assassins. Among the guests, I spotted the legendary film actor Sharmila Tagore, and veteran politicians Farooq Abdullah and Salman Khurshid—his wife Louise came separately. The smooth-speaking society hostess Ratan Kaul was sitting in the circle that
Netherfield Ball – The Story Behind Meru Gokhale’s No-Show at Chiki Sarkar’s Launch of Perumal Murugan’s Book, India Islamic Center City Parties by The Delhi Walla - December 8, 2017December 8, 20170 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It's a cold smoggy evening at the bleak India Islamic Center and we are growing attached to an intellectual's grey braid. The Delhi Walla is at the launch of Perumal Murugan’s novel The Goat Thief. The author is a modest man; so modest that he slips inside the waiting hall and nobody notices him. Only after he sits down on a corner sofa that a handful of attendees become aware of his presence and approach him for book signing. Meanwhile, Chiki Sarkar, Mr Murugan’s publisher at Juggernaut Books, has not arrived yet. They say Ms Sarkar snatched our novelist-of-the-evening from Penguin Random House. Wait, we sniff gossip here(!) Can this be the reason behind
Netherfield Ball – The Super-Duper Crowded Show at Arundhati Roy’s New York Book Launch, Brooklyn Academy of Music City Parties by The Delhi Walla - August 20, 2017August 20, 20171 The party secrets. [Photos by Paulsta Wong; text by Mayank Austen Soofi] As an Arundhati Roy fan, The Delhi Walla went last year to the faraway South Indian town of Ayemenem, the setting of her first novel, The God of Small Things. You can see the evidence of my visit here. Early this year, I managed to gain entry into the society of fashionable people in Delhi as they discreetly gathered to celebrate Ms Roy’s second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. You can see the evidence here. A few weeks later I was in London to experience Ms Roy novel’s official launch in the crowded Gothic-style Union Chapel (the next day Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn address his last election rally from the same stage). You
Netherfield Ball – ‘Thought Leader’ Gurcharan Das Surprises True Proustains by Posing as a Proustian in Aaanchal Malhotra’s Book Launch , India International Centre City Parties by The Delhi Walla - August 11, 2017August 12, 20172 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Socialite Shweta Bachchan-Nanda, who appeared on the cover of the latest Vogue, came in white. Alas, nobody noticed her entry though she looked tolerable (see the second-last photo below). One evening The Delhi Walla attended the launch of Aanchal Malhotra's book Remnants of a Separation in India International Center. There is much to gossip about but I shall remain mum. Ms Malhotra belongs to the family that owns the landmark Bahrisons Booksellers, the bookstore in Khan Market that serves me free chai in white plastic cup. No point in risking that hard-earned privilege. Even so, it is safe to reveal the famous faces seen in the gathering. Just scroll down this parchment. But wait! Ms
Netherfield Ball – Alika and Akbar’s Jane Austen Wedding on Aunt Jane’s 200th Death Anniversary, India Habitat Center City Parties by The Delhi Walla - July 16, 2017July 17, 20173 We love you Aunt Jane. [The Delhi Walla special; all photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The decorously subversive chronicler of England’s drawing rooms died on 18 July, 1817. In Sufism, the death anniversary is celebrated, not mourned. So, as we enter a timeline that marks 200 years without Jane Austen, here’s a celebration by many Janeites--one writer tells us why he does not read her and another pretends she is reading her for the first time (I also give my bit, at the bottom). Since all Jane Austen stories end in marriage, the various stories are obviously punctuated by the women-only wedding scenes of Alika, daughter of Begum Ishrat Sardar Ali and Late Justice Sardar Ali, and Akbar, son of Nasreen Bano
Netherfield Ball – Spotting Laila Tyabji, Salma Sultan and Other Divas in Sadia Dehlvi’s Birthday Celebrations, Central Delhi City Parties by The Delhi Walla - June 17, 2017June 17, 20171 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Society women never accumulate years. The solidity of this universal truth stands severely strained this evening. Author Sadia Dehlvi is celebrating her birthday. She claims she is turning sixty. The Delhi Walla has gained an invite into this intimate gathering of Ms Dehlvi's friends in a secluded Central Delhi bungalow. Former TV newsreader Salma Sultan's extravagant dress is lined with a lush golden lace. An elderly man bows his hefty frame before the beautiful woman and says he remembers watching her on TV during his childhood days. Ms Sultan utters no word and shows no expession. The notables among the select crowd includes dhrupad singer Wasifuddin Dagar, costume designer Himani Dehlvi, author Rakhshanda Jalil,
Netherfield Ball – Arundhati Roy’s Book Launch, Union Chapel’s Bar, London City Parties by The Delhi Walla - June 6, 2017June 16, 20170 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She is in white. One rainy evening The Delhi Walla is at Union Chapel's bar attending the launch of Arundhati Roy's novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. The bar is crowded with the pleasant people of London, including Ms Roy's UK publisher Simon Prosser. But did I tell you about the evening's biggest scand... oh, for once, no gossip. Just see the pictures. 20 years after The God of Small Things 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 11. 12. 13.
Netherfield Ball – Spotting Retired Justice Leila Seth in Her Memorial Meeting, India International Center City Parties by The Delhi Walla - May 31, 2017May 31, 20174 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The women were dressed in subdued but elegant saris. The men, too, looked dignified. There were many famous faces. One evening The Delhi Walla attended the memorial meeting of Retired Justice Leila Seth at the Multipurpose Hall in India International Center The evening's most important people were members of Ms Seth's immediate family-- husband Prem, sons Vikram and Shantum, daughter Aradhna, daughter-in-law, Gitanjali, and grand-daughters Nandini and Anamikamaitri. Even so, I declare the occasion was extremely puzzling. Apparently, Ms Seth passed away in her 80s a few weeks ago. But I spotted her more than once in the gathering--there she was, and there, and there, as always. You don't believe me? See below. The