Home Sweet Home – A Mansion for Labourers, Mohalla Qabristan
Old house, new home. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It looks like a museum. Nothing like this old-fashioned balcony exists anywhere else in the immediate vicinity. What is it like to actually live in this building? It turns…
Home Sweet Home – Asmuddin Ansari’s House-Cum-Graveyard, Mehrauli
An unusual dwelling. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He has one of the most unique addresses in the city. He lives in a graveyard. Alone. “This has been my home for 28 years,” mutters Asmuddin Ansari. In his…
Home Sweet Home – Shahnawaz Khan’s Rose Garden, Pahari Imli
A private paradise. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] All roses here are white, though some have a pale pink flush, as if a drop of blood had spread through their veins. This is a private garden. What makes…
City Home – Kavita & Ankita’s, Gurgaon
Home sweet home. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Kavita Arora, 47, is a psychiatrist. Ankita Khanna, 36, is a psychologist. They occasionally share their eight-floor apartment, in Gurgaon in the Greater Delhi Region, with residential complex pigeons or…
Home Sweet Home – New Life with Dishwasher, Ghaziabad
A household’s new friend. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is taking so much space in the small kitchen. But Babua Singh won’t crib about that. “You stack the bartan (dishes) in it, go to office, and when…
Home Sweet Home – Ehmad Ridwan’s Pad, East of Kailash
In a musician’s world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s late night. He picks up his guitar, strums the strings and starts to croon Feeling Good. The Nina Simone classic instantly catches Rumi’s attention. He leaps up to…
Home Sweet Home – Houseless Men’s Wardrobe, Chawri Bazar
Private is public. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A blue lungi is hanging in front of a shuttered shop, folded within a mishmash of power cables. Nearby, a baniyan and underwear are on a similar exhibit. Across the…
Home Sweet Home – Nand Ram’s House, Green Park
Far from ‘des’. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Their true home, they say, is their village, which they call des (country). But while they are in the capital, for practical reasons, they have to make it a home…
Home Sweet Home – Jayanti Pandey’s Calcutta Bookcase, DLF Phase 4, Gurgaon
Into thin air. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In these days of self-isolation, we all need some sort of escape. Jayanti Pandey, 55, can obviously not take a flight for some time to Cambodia or Dubai or Russia–her…
Home Sweet Home – Arunima Pakalapati’s 27th Floor Balcony, Gurgaon
Into thin air. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Her address is like a shifting sand; it moves often. Because her husband works in a multinational oil company, and regularly has to switch from one “location” to another, their…
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