Best loved dishes. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Yet another geriatric giant shut shop in the well-set Khan Market. The Chonas restaurant on the Front Lane closed early this year. It had begun as an ice-cream parlour when…
The remarkable Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He was writing. One afternoon The Delhi Walla came across a rickshaw puller in central Delhi’s Jangpura. He was seated on his rickshaw’s backseat. It was humid. The man…
Marooned palace. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every year after the monsoons, this ravaged monument whose name means “ship palace” hosts music, dance and acting. It becomes the focal point of cultural activities marking Phoolwalon ki Sair, a…
The 89th death. [Text by Pallavi Pundir; photo by DN] And just like that, Pallavi Pundir–a magnanimous friend, an unpredictable daughter and a malicious sister–has died. It wasn’t like her to pen her own obituary, for introspection was the least…
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The most handsome person in the select gathering was the new Mexican ambassador. Melba Pria entered the drawing room with her long hair cascading down her back. Her multi-stringed necklace…
Life in the Metro. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His eyes were closed. His right fist was wrapped in a yellow cloth. The cloth was printed all over with the names of Lord Ram and his wife Sita….
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 annual blockbuster. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Picnicking year after year outside Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid during Ramzan nights is like re-reading a favourite Ghalib couplet. Everything is familiar, and yet each thing is a thrill, as…
Celebrating Marcel Proust. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 10 July is a special date. It is the Happy Birthday of Marcel Proust, author of the seven-volume French novel À la Recherché du Temps Perdu, known to the English-speaking…
The 88th death. [Text and photo by Gayatri Jayaraman] She objectified men, because there is more than one way to close the gender divide. When she laughed, she cried such that it was confusing to know, at any point, whether…
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