City Hangout – Bat Island, Deer Park
The evening show. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The sun is gone, the sky is dark. Bats are flying over the lake, letting out shrill chee-chee cries. They are spilling out in all directions, as chaotically and in…
City Hangout – Peer Baba’s Courtyard, Mohalla Qabristan
Green oasis. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some birds, some cats, a few trees, a few graves, and absolute quietude. Spending five minutes here is enough to secede from the life of everyday. Duties, concerns, plans, worries, prospects,…
City Hangout – Morning Market, Chitli Qabar
Dream bazar. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] All sorts of colors and curiosities spring up along the street, with shoppers and sellers engaging in a most comely harmony. This has to be Delhi’s dreamiest and most eclectic pavement…
City Hangout – Matkaman’s Water Point, Panchsheel Park
Art for water’s sake. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s a place to briefly escape from all the negativity. This refuge is by a busy road, on a pavement in south Delhi’s Panchsheel Park. The seat is… an…
City Hangout – Ebony Cafe, Pai Walan, Jama Masjid
Paris in Purani Dilli. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In Paris, you have your cappuccino in front of Notre-Dame. In Delhi, it has recently become possible to enjoy a cappuccino — and not just sweet milky chai —…
City Hangout – Vasudev’s Tea Stall, Hauz Khas Village
Chai with kindness. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The night is cold. Vasudev has rustled out a small fire from wooden twigs he picked up from the pavement. Dressed in cap and woollen overcoat, he is fortifying himself…
City Hangout – Hyperlocal Notepads, Daryaganj
Being elegantly pretentious. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Spending the afternoon in a cool cafe and being seen with a sleek laptop, or better still, with one of those elegant writing pads, is certainly the most sophisticated kind…
City Hangout – Cafe Karvaan, Abul Fazal Part 1
The river-side haven. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is it Volga or Thames, Nile or Seine? What is this watery world? With bits of dry land jutting out here and there, the landscape looks like a vast archipelago….
City Hangout – Train Spotting, The Bridge Upon the New Delhi Railway Station
The pandemic-era thrill of travel. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some trains are moving. Some trains are still. A few passengers here and there, walking with their suitcases and kids. And suddenly, a rail engine whistles. The sounds…
City Hangout – Arpit Kakar’s Staircase Tea, Daryaganj
An extraordinary chai stall. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Arpit Kakar always has trouble getting home. Ever since he set up a tea stall by filling up his staircase with everything from boxes of tea leaves to a…
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