Photo Essay - Sandal Vs Chappal, Delhi High Court & Elsewhere

Photo Essay – Sandal Vs Chappal, Delhi High Court & Elsewhere

The great riddle. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] What is India Gate and what is Gateway of India? The first monument is in Delhi and the second is in Bombay. But there’s a greater riddle. What is chappal…

Photo Essay - Stealing a Letter and Doing Pushups at Marcel Proust's Tomb, Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

Photo Essay – Stealing a Letter and Doing Pushups at Marcel Proust’s Tomb, Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

After Proust. [Photos by a Friend of Marcel Proust; text by Mayank Austen Soofi] Suddenly, MARCEL PROUST. His tomb. The Delhi Walla is at Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. I have come to see Proust, the author of In Search of…

Photo Essay – 'Somewhere in Delhi' Exhibition, Goa Arts & Literature Festival

Photo Essay – ‘Somewhere in Delhi’ Exhibition, Goa Arts & Literature Festival

Floating visions from The Delhi Walla’s online archives. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] ‘Somewhere in Delhi’ is a collaborative work between The Delhi Walla, and Anna Gerotto, a designer in Venice (see photo 5a below). Since 2007, I…

Photo Essay - The Most Beautiful Writer's Room in the World, Ubud, Bali

Photo Essay – The Most Beautiful Writer’s Room in the World, Ubud, Bali

A refuge to remember forever. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is utterly quiet. The reading lamp is glowing like smoldering coal. The bed sheets are as white as the Arctic. It is more than midnight. The Delhi…

Photo Essay - The Rebirth of an Old House, Old Delhi

Photo Essay – The Rebirth of an Old House, Old Delhi

Time regained. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In Delhi, there is a place called Old Delhi. In Old Delhi, there are many, many narrow alleys, so narrow that the sun never penetrates into them. One such narrow lane…

Photo Essay – The Dream World of the Diplomats, German Ambassador’s Residence, Shantipath

Photo Essay – The Dream World of the Diplomats, German Ambassador’s Residence, Shantipath

The people of the aquarium. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such delicate figure, such slender arms and all of her essence so perfectly condensed into her long white pearl necklace. And look at the woman there. Her white…

Photo Essay - The Peacock's Monsoon Plot, Mausam Bhawan

Photo Essay – The Peacock’s Monsoon Plot, Mausam Bhawan

Entry without the I-card. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The intruder entered without making any sound. One evening The Delhi Walla witnessed a daring act of trespassing. The intruder sneaked into the highly secured Mausam Bhawan in Central…

Photo Essay – 20 The God of Small Things Readers, Ayemenem

Photo Essay – 20 The God of Small Things Readers, Ayemenem

On the novel’s 20th year. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everyone is reading The God of Small Things in Ayemenem. This village in the backwaters of Kerala is the setting of the aforementioned book. Arundhati Roy’s first novel…

Photo Essay – The Aloneness of Ruchir Sharma, Khan Market

Photo Essay – The Aloneness of Ruchir Sharma, Khan Market

The published author with his new book. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is there a more intensely anxious feeling than to be a published writer and enter a bookshop to gaze upon one’s own book that has newly…

Photo Essay - Ramzan Sky, Matia Mahal Bazaar

Photo Essay – Ramzan Sky, Matia Mahal Bazaar

The silvery stretches. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Yesterday, it was a blue sky. Today, it’s embroidered in silver. One day before the start of the Islamic month of Ramzan, the sky above the Matia Mahal street in…