The snow dish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is it a snowy desert, or a dessert? One winter morning The Delhi Walla came across street food vendor Kamal and his Daulat ki Chaat on Gali Kallan Kahar, a…
The remarkable Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was time for poet Gulzar Dehlvi, who was seated on the stage, to perform his duty. One evening The Delhi Walla was at the Ghalib Academy in Hazrat…
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was very unsettling. Nobody was air-kissing anybody. One evening The Delhi Walla went to the India International Center to hear Nobel laureate Amartya Sen talk on his new book,…
Beyond qawwali. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every respectable Delhi guidebook tells you to visit the Sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya on Thursday evening, aka jumeraat, the big night before the Islamic sabbath. That’s when the qawwal…
A trip to Kashmir. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If you throw a few stones standing somewhere south of Khan Market, you might not hit many Delhiwallas under a certain age, but you are likely to hit many…
The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds,…
The Temple memories. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s the light of Hanukkah, the weeklong Jewish festival that enters its penultimate day this cold evening. The Delhi Walla spots the customary candles of Hanukkah in Main Bazaar, a…
Searching for the stylish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Strange outfit this. It’s neither a skirt, nor a gown. It’s definitely not a sari. It’s also not a pajama. What is it? “It is gharara,” says author Rakhshanda…
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was an exceedingly posh party. The capital’s cold toxic air smelled of expensive perfumes. Almost every important person was there except for the Prime Minister. He was not missed….
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Her first name means ‘gold’ in Hindi. One morning, The Delhi Walla meets Sona Devi in a shared autorickshaw, somewhere just outside the city limits,…
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