City Notice - Job Vacancy for Cow Eaters, Shahpur Jat

Looking for anti-Brahmins. [Photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Navayana, the anticaste publishing house based in Delhi’s Shahpur Jat, is hunting for an editor. This is the company’s notice: Navayana is looking for an editor. Applicants must be well-read in matters…

City Food – Burger Trolleys, Connaught Place

The street junk. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is for all those of us who find happiness in cheap and delicious junk food. The Delhi Walla is not talking of the golden arches but of the humble…

City Landmark – Jackson's Books, Paharganj

Delhi’s most charming second-hand bookshop. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Jackson’s bookstore in central Delhi’s Paharganj sells novels and guidebooks at discount prices. This cramped shop has books in more than 10 languages, including French, German, Italian,…

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Banil Singh Panwar, KG Marg

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…

City Monument – Chor Minar, Hauz Khas Enclave

The ghastly landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The people of Delhi – at least their rulers — have always been barbarians. The Chor Minar, meaning ‘the tower of the thief’, served to display the severed heads of…

City Hangout – Gole Park, Windsor Place

A serene circle. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] You can cross the entire Gole Park in Central Delhi’s Windsor Place in five minutes flat. It is a traffic roundabout. While there are the usual trees, flowers, grass and…

Family Album – The Dehlvis, Nizamuddin East

The Delhi coffee table. [Text and photos of photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In order to feel the intimate life of Delhiites, The Delhi Walla is going from house to house, requesting people to show their family photos. The project…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Taslima Nasreen, Behind Regal Cinema

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla arranged to meet Bengali poet Taslima Nasreen on the lane that runs behind the Regal Cinema building in the colonial-era Connaught Place. An exiled Bangladeshi citizen,…

City Book – Servants, Lucy Lethbridge

A necessary book for Delhi. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] “A really good housemaid should never be able to be alone in a room with a table without giving it a good rub, or, if the room is occupied, without wishing…

City Food – Nihari & Paya, Al Jawahar & Karim’s

Old Delhi’s power breakfast. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Fish cutlets from the steps of the Jama Masjid, meatballs from Kucha Pandit, kheer from Hauz Qazi, qalaqand from Ghantewala, jalebis from Bhangi ka Katra, parathas from Qutb Shahi……