Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Indian Poetry in English, The Toddy Shop & Elsewhere

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Indian Poetry in English, The Toddy Shop & Elsewhere

The new life of verse. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Fancy giving somebody 2 lakh rupees because you like their poetry? That’s exactly what happened this year at the Jaipur Literature Festival. The Delhi-based poet Arundhathi Subramaniam received…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Manika Dhama, Delhi Metro - Blue Line

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Manika Dhama, Delhi Metro – Blue Line

Poetry in the city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Poet Manika Dhama (seen above) is a reader of Marcel Proust. She co-edits Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire along with The Delhi Walla. The regular readers of this website will recall that Ms Dhama…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Taslima Nasreen, Undisclosed Location

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Taslima Nasreen, Undisclosed Location

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet poet and author Taslima Nasreen at her home in Delhi. It’s 20 years since the Bengali author was made to leave her country…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – William Meredith, Jain Bird Hospital

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – William Meredith, Jain Bird Hospital

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet American poet William Meredith at the Charity Birds Hospital in Chandni Chowk. Popularly known as the Jain Bird Hospital, the medical shelter receives…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Soumya Mukerji, Mehar Chand Market

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Soumya Mukerji, Mehar Chand Market

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet poet Soumya Mukerji at a cafe in central Delhi’s Mehar Chand Market. In her 20s, she produced her first poem at five –…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Sujata Chaudhry, Dak Bhawan

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Sujata Chaudhry, Dak Bhawan

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet poet Sujata Chaudhry at her office in Dak Bhawan, a pale-pink government building in Parliament Street. In her 50s, Ms Chaudhury describes herself…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Neyaz Akhtar, Hotel Shalimar

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Neyaz Akhtar, Hotel Shalimar

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet poet Neyaz Akhtar on the roof of Hotel Shalimar in Gali Murgan, a street in the Old Quarter. In his early 30s, Mr…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – John Keats, Nehru Park

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – John Keats, Nehru Park

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet English poet John Keats in Nehru Park, a garden in the city’s diplomatic enclave. It was an almost imperceptible autumn morning. The sunshine…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Taslima Nasreen, Behind Regal Cinema

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Taslima Nasreen, Behind Regal Cinema

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet Bengali poet Taslima Nasreen on the lane that runs behind the Regal Cinema building in the colonial-era Connaught Place. An exiled Bangladeshi citizen,…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – C.P. Cavafy, Rail Bhawan

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – C.P. Cavafy, Rail Bhawan

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet poet C.P. Cavafy at his office in Rail Bhawan, the headquarters of the Indian Railways in Central Delhi. At the age of twenty…