One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] You rarely see him talk. His silent face expresses enigma, and thoughts difficult to decipher. He must be an introvert, ill-at-ease with communication. That’s a…
Season’s losses. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] See—a biscuit packet, a chips packet, a juice tetra-pack, an orange sachet, two paper cups, a plastic thaila, another plastic thaila, one more plastic thaila… all empty. These discards are many…
Home sweet home. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The small cooking gas cylinder is limply hanging down the wall, as casually as a cotton gamcha from a wardrobe hook. A chequered gamcha is hung similarly, in fact. There’s…
The perfect Delhi instant. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] “The black, pensive, dense, domes of the mausoleums suddenly shot birds into the unanimous blue” This is the entirety of “In The Lodi Gardens”, a poem by a Nobel…
The face of bougainvillaea. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Now we know the true face of bougainvillea. It has searching eyes, blond hair, a glorious glow, and, on cool evenings, it holds a glass of white wine and…
The parlour confession. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] One of the world’s greatest living authors, French novelist Annie Ernaux is in our city to attend the Delhi Book Fair, in which France is the guest of honour. The 2022 Nobel laureate…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here she is, a few hours after travelling from Paris in an Air India flight, walking in Purani Dilli, between Matia Mahal and Jama Masjid,…
The Lajpat nobody knows. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Urdu Bazar is a terrifyingly congested block of human cacophony and traffic tumult. Tolerated only because it hosts a picturesque part of the Walled City (Jama Masjid gate no….
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Chasing a vendor. Evening, half past seven. The glass case almost empty of cream rolls. Only 10 left. Sher Khan had started at eight in the morning with 300 cream rolls. But no…
On the brief spring. [Text and photo Mayank Austen Soofi] You spot the tree in the morning commute. It looks like a thing at the cusp of loveliness. You don’t make much of it. Being busy, you carry on with…
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