City Hangout - Riverside Ghat, Yamuna Bazaar

City Hangout – Riverside Ghat, Yamuna Bazaar

Remember the river. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The evening sky is clear blue. The water is moving serenely. A handful of young men are sitting on the edge of the river. Two women are standing a few…

City Hangout - Ramzan Nights, Old Delhi

City Hangout – Ramzan Nights, Old Delhi

The season’s destination. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] No secret is being leaked if The Delhi Walla tells you to head to Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid area one of these Ramzan nights. I go there every year in…

City Hangout - Rose Garden of England, Lodhi Gardens

City Hangout – Rose Garden of England, Lodhi Gardens

Celebrating the English rose. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is possible to feel romantic about Delhi summer. Just hang out at the Rose Garden in Lodhi Gardens. This central Delhi park is famous for its tombs and…

100 Things To Do Before You Quit Delhi – Hang Out in CP Starbucks at Midnight, A-Block, Connaught Place

100 Things To Do Before You Quit Delhi – Hang Out in CP Starbucks at Midnight, A-Block, Connaught Place

The perfect Delhi experience. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] At the stroke of the midnight hour, when Delhi sleeps, you must awake to life at the Starbucks in Connaught Place (CP). Spending an hour from midnight onwards at…

City Hangout - Leisure Valley Park, Sector 29, Gurgaon

City Hangout – Leisure Valley Park, Sector 29, Gurgaon

A bubble in the bubble. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The land of Gurgaon, just across Delhi’s southern border, is a world of dreams. Sky-kissing towers are clustered together in such a way that the place becomes New…

Mapping National Museum – The Great Erection and Other Shrouded Mysteries, In The Dusty Corridors

Mapping National Museum – The Great Erection and Other Shrouded Mysteries, In The Dusty Corridors

Amid 21st century dust. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Hooded history here. One afternoon The Delhi Walla walks along the corridors of National Museum. India’s biggest depot of heritage with objects dating back to 3rd century BC, the…

City Hangout - Café De Art, Connaught Place

City Hangout – Café De Art, Connaught Place

Somewhere beyond Paris. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nobody cares about the art. The Delhi Walla is in the imaginatively named Café De Art, yet another freshman in Delhi’s overpacked CP, or Connaught Place. And it is deathly…

City Hangout - The New Bikaner House, Near India Gate

City Hangout – The New Bikaner House, Near India Gate

Reinvented ambitions. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It feels like a discreet world of mirrors and chandeliers. Until recently it was a bus stand. The monumental Bikaner House in central Delhi has existed in the city’s collective consciousness…

City Hangout - The Morning Mystery in the Ghetto, Venice

City Hangout – The Morning Mystery in the Ghetto, Venice

The special district. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Really, is this the place where it all began? One early morning The Delhi Walla walks through the world’s first ghetto. Apparently Jews no longer live in this ancient ghetto;…

City Hangout - Paper Market, Chawri Bazar

City Hangout – Paper Market, Chawri Bazar

A papery world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is the modern world really paperless? Some of us hope that we get there soon–it’d be good not to kill trees just so that lackadaisical office employees can generate mountains…