Mission Delhi - Ashok Kumar Pachauri, Around Town

Mission Delhi – Ashok Kumar Pachauri, Around Town

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A pleasant winter day, no doubt about it, but the auto-rickshaw driver is distressed. “I’m tensed about my youngest son,” confesses Ashok Kumar Pachauri. Yesterday,…

Mission Delhi - Manu Chopra, Starbucks, N-Block, Connaught Place

Mission Delhi – Manu Chopra, Starbucks, N-Block, Connaught Place

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s a reason Manu Chopra is so often seen spending her entire day in the Starbucks at N Block in Central Delhi’s Connaught Place. It’s…

Mission Delhi - Anita Sen, Gurgaon

Mission Delhi – Anita Sen, Gurgaon

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Anita Sen is a working woman. A gardener in a public park in Gurgaon in the Greater Delhi Region, she lives with her husband and…

Mission Delhi - Raju Pandey, Amrit Book Company

Mission Delhi – Raju Pandey, Amrit Book Company

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In some ways most good bookshops seem to be alike—stocking the same best-sellers and whatnot. But of course their staffers do make a difference. Celebrity…

Mission Delhi - Ranjit Rai, Jacobpura

Mission Delhi – Ranjit Rai, Jacobpura

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Curious about the world, rickshaw puller Ranjit Rai is fond of seeing new places. In his late 20s, he has already lived in faraway cities…

Mission Delhi - Devapreeta Jena, Paharganj

Mission Delhi – Devapreeta Jena, Paharganj

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Many of us jot down in our diaries some favourite lines or phrases we run across in novels and poetry. You never know when they…

Mission Delhi - Khalil Ahmed, Matia Mahal

Mission Delhi – Khalil Ahmed, Matia Mahal

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Thanks to the invention of chairs, many of us have forgotten how to sit cross-legged. Or sit with our legs properly postured. Unless, of course,…

Mission Delhi - Sooraj, Central Delhi

Mission Delhi – Sooraj, Central Delhi

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sooraj is only a child, but the street dogs are nonetheless ganging up on him, snarling menacingly this early morn. He’s not at all scared;…

Mission Delhi - Paramjeet Singh Sahni, Connaught Place

Mission Delhi – Paramjeet Singh Sahni, Connaught Place

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Paramjeet Singh Sahni has never seen any reason to obtain a mobile phone. “I’m myself a mobile, seeking out all my favourite people and venues…

Mission Delhi - Dawood, Central Delhi

Mission Delhi – Dawood, Central Delhi

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Passed over by a woman he loved, Dawood now immerses himself in work “so that I forget everything else.” Every day he collects large quantities…