City Library – Advaita Kala’s Books, Nizamuddin East Library by The Delhi Walla - May 30, 2011May 30, 20112 A vanishing world. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One warm evening The Delhi Walla knocked at the door of Advaita Kala, the author of Almost Single. Like her novel’s protagonist, Ms Kala, is single. In her early 30s, she lives in a two-room apartment in Nizamuddin East, central Delhi. Her flatmates: a four-burner gas range, a double-door Godrej refrigerator, an Apple Mac laptop, a Bose iPod dock and a private library, which consist of about 30 books. “Well, I’ve more than 2,000 books, but they are at my parents’ home in Gurgaon,” Ms Kala says, referring to Delhi’s satellite town. The novelist had been living with her parents before she moved to Nizamuddin East in December 2010. The books that
City Library – Somini Sengupta’s Books, Nizamuddin East Library by The Delhi Walla - January 6, 2011April 13, 20153 A vanishing world. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One cold afternoon The Delhi Walla knocked at the door of Somini Sengupta, the former South Asia bureau chief of The New York Times. Ms Sengupta, 43, is working on a book and is – in her own words - “busy being a mom.” She shares her second floor apartment in Nizamuddin East, central Delhi, with her husband, Hans van de Weerd, and her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Nina. Ms Sengupta’s library consists of about 400 books. “My husband’s collection is sparse,” she says, sitting on a footstool, the reading glasses perched on her nose. “I like to have books with me. I’ve carried them like a big heavy monkey on my back across
City Library – The Delhi Walla, Nizamuddin Basti Library by The Delhi Walla - November 1, 2010September 15, 20119 A vanishing world. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One day there will still be books, but they might not be in the printed form. In the series City Library, The Delhi Walla will make a record of the private libraries of Delhiwallas. In each library, I will try to understand the library owner through his or her collection of books. How many books are there? How many books does she buy every week? How did she acquire her library? Why this author? Why so many books on, say, Soviet Russia? Whose picture is on that bookshelf? Why does not she lend her books? Which bookshop she is addicted to? What will happen to the library after her? I start with my
City Secret – Hardayal Municipal Public Library, Daryaganj Library by The Delhi Walla - February 1, 2010November 1, 20100 The newspaper readers' club [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] In these iPad times of 24X7 news channels and streaming video sites, when the death of the newspaper is considered a certainty, a small bookless library in Daryaganj is doing well with its reading room full of those supposedly dying entities. “We have 19 dailies in Hindi, English and Urdu,” says Mohammad Alam, the attendant at Hardayal Municipal Public Library. Situated on the perennially clogged Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Marg, close to Golcha theater, about a hundred readers come here daily. “We also subscribe to 25 magazines, but most people prefer newspapers,” says Mr Alam. The bare library has no sofa, lounger or air-conditioner. This is just a large airy room with one
Capital Regret – On Ms Amita Malik’s Library on the Road Library by The Delhi Walla - May 4, 2009November 1, 20105 Ms Malik's nephew writes to The Delhi Walla. [Text by Sarbjit Roy; picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] I read The Delhi Walla's story on Ms Amita Malik's books being sold to a rag picker by her close relatives and domestic staff. Let me set the records straight. I am Mrs Malik's nephew and her only blood relative in Delhi. The books referred in the article were expressly selected by the family for free or very cheap distribution among the book lovers of Delhi such as at Daryaganj Sunday market. In fact, this is where The Delhi Walla discovered her books. It is therefore factually incorrect to say that her relatives sold it to a rag-picker when actually they were given to specialized old