City Obituary – Restaurant Captain Shamshad Ahmad, Chor Bizarre, Hotel Broadway
The passing of a nice man. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A legend in his own right, this discreet Delhi restaurant captain more than merely rubbed shoulders with the favoured and famous. Shamshad Ahmad, who died recently, presided…
City Obituary – Old Delhi’s Living Encyclopedia, Naseem Mirza Changezi, Dies at 108, 1910-2018
Death of a landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Naseem Mirza Changezi, born in 1910, died on 5.30 pm, 12 April 2018, at his home in the Walled City neighbourhood of Pahari Imli. He was ill since some…
City News – Mona Ahmed, Delhi’s Most Iconic Transgender, is No More, Mehnediya Qabristan Graveyard
Passing of a legend. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Mona Ahmed, India’s most iconic transgender person, died on the night of 9 September 2017. She would have turned 82 in November. Ms Ahmed was the principal subject of…
City Life – The 40 Kashmiris of Old Delhi, Turkman Gate Bazaar
Home away from home. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They are like migratory birds who make permanent, if makeshift, nests in a faraway land. A group of 40 Kashmiri men live in a corner at Old Delhi’s Turkman…
Book of The Times – Michiko Kakutani’s Review of ‘Ruined by Reading’, by Mayank Austen Soofi
The definitive Delhi novel. [Review by Michiko Kakutani] Ruined by Reading, Mayank Austen Soofi’s affecting first novel, begins as a sort of diary entries of a lonely book lover. What novels to buy today? Where to find a lover? What…
City Obituary – Uma Marwah of Khan Market’s Faqir Chand & Sons Bookshop is No More
Life of a bookstore matriarch. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] For some affluent Delhiites, posh Khan Market is like a second home. For a very, very few, Khan Market is home. Uma Marwah, who lived in house number…
City Obituary – Dinesh Chandra Grover, the Legendary Hindi Publisher of Allahabad
The passing of an age. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is sitting against a mostly-empty bookshelf. The upper reaches of the walls are lined with framed portraits of Hindi writers. This dimly-lit musty space seems to have…
City Life – The Black Mughal of Jorbagh in Rural England, Cholsey
The country living of a native migrant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Meet the Black Mughal of Cholsey, a sleepy village in England. The Delhi Walla is at Kaalu’s home. He lives with his three friends. One of…
City Notice – Mint Lounge Newspaper on The Delhi Walla’s Role in the Cover of Arundhati Roy’s Novel ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’
On a novel cover. So The Delhi Walla has finally found a place in literature. The four-page cover story by writer Elizabeth Kuruvilla on the 27 May 2017 edition of Mint Lounge is on Arundhati Roy’s new novel The Ministry…
City Notice – The Delhi Walla is Looking for One Night Stands, Around Town
One night in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla needs your help. I have a dream to spend a night in each of Delhi’s hundreds of neighborhoods. I want to kill a part of…
Recent Comments