City Neighbourhood – Pratap Street, Old Delhi
Backstreet world. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Deserted alleys, defaced walls, cobwebby windows, rusting doors, loopy cables, dead rats and unexpected dead-ends. Strolling through certain Old Delhi passageways is like being abandoned inside some spooky documentary on municipal…
City Walk – Gali Gudaryan, Old Delhi
A welcoming street. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some parts so silent and deserted, others full of bustle and sounds. Most of Gali Gudaryan is like a baggy wide megapolis where people come from all corners of…
City Walk – An Alley, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
Midnight’s street. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The groceries, the veggie stalls, the lazy dogs, the cats, the rats, and us people. Everything’s ordinary along the street. Until it isn’t. The dull spell is broken on spotting a…
City Walk – Haveli Azam Khan, Old Delhi
A Walled City street [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The door’s tatty curtain was to hide the once-affluent family’s wretched poverty, its threadbare predicament instead exposed its decline. Yashpal’s iconic short story Purdah immediately comes to mind on…
City Walk – Gali Mazar Wali, Old Delhi
A Walled City street [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The name promises a grave. And there is indeed a grave. Somebody’s mazar flanks the entrance of Gali Mazar Wali, here in Kalan Mahal locality. A mazar often—but not…
City Neighbourhood- Gali Peerji Wali, Old Delhi
Mystic’s lane. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] They forgot the water jug. The family must have vacated the old house in a hurry. Not much remains of the mansion except for a green door and a corner wall,…
City Neighbourhood- Gali Godo Wali, Old Delhi
A secretive world. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] With its extreme narrowness and darkened ambiance, Gali Godo Wali has the mood of an underground tunnel . Plus, it is so secretive that it doesn’t exist even on Google…
City Neighbourhood – Gali School Wali, Old Delhi
Lane of doorways. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Standing outside an archaic blue doorway, a man in blue (see photo) is singing a tragically worded lullaby, pleading for alms. He pauses, stands silently for some time, and walks…
City Walk – Civil Lines, Gurugram
A walk for a civil season. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The fog is gone. The smog isn’t so visible. The sky is of a rare blue, at least on certain days. It is that magical time of…
City Walk – Gali Mochiyan, Old Delhi
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] If it were faithful to its name, Gali Mochiyan this afternoon would be full of shoe makers at work. Instead, the gali is resonating with…
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