The ancient grief. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Wearing black clothes, the men were beating their chests on the middle of the road. Mothers, sisters and wives, robed in black, stood on the pavement. They too were doing…
A poetic corner. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Devoted to Delhi’s great poet Mirza Ghalib, it has a museum and a library. Its auditorium regularly hosts gatherings of Urdu poets — sometimes they arrive dressed in old-world costumes…
A New Delhi souvenir. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The empty ground floor used to be its pastry counter. The Delhi Walla is at Standard restaurant, a place that no longer exists. Opened in 1957, Standard was in…
The tree-lined pathway. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A great multitude of giant-sized trees gives Lodhi Road its grave dignity. These aged-looking brown trunks bend over the roadside making graceful swaying patterns. The branches expand and bifurcate, frequently…
The Proustian self-introspection. [By The Delhi Proustians] The Proust Questionnaire represents a form of interview that owes its structure to answers given by French novelist Marcel Proust, the author of In Search of Lost Time, at two birthday parties that…
The melancholic Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One morning The Delhi Walla came across a lifeless buffalo in Old Delhi’s Gali Kuen Wali street. The body was lying upside down. Its mouth was open — the…
Delhi by list. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi has dozens of multiplexes. Indeed, the country’s first multiplex, PVR, opened in the capital in Saket in 1997. The Delhi Walla is in possession of the cinema-listing page of…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His life is about to change for ever. The Delhi Walla meets Kaloo one early autumn evening at his bungalow in central Delhi’s Jor Bagh….
Hall of grace. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi’s largest Catholic church has twice been graced by the presence of Pope John Paul II. Spread over 14 acres, which includes two schools, the cathedral is the headquarters of…
A few short stories. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Little happens in the short stories of Alice Munro. Her people consists of good women trying to make sense of hateship, frienship, courtship, loveship and marriage. Delhi is not…
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