Photo Essay – Delhi Dream, Scindia House

The Indian reality. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This man. Barefoot. The Delhi Walla spotted him one late morning in Scindia House, Connaught Place. He was sleeping in the corridor. His mouth was half-open. The man’s makeshift pillow…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXII, Hazrat Nizamuddin Chilla

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 22nd meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

Mission Delhi – Mother, Turkman Gate

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She is mumbling something to herself. The Delhi Walla meets her one morning on a congested lane near Turkman Gate, one of the four surviving…

City Monument - Jain Svetambar Temple, Kinari Bazaar

Luxury of the ascetics. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Amid Delhi’s dense tangle of mosques, forts and tombs, it is easy to miss the city’s non-Islamic heritage. Let Jain Svetambar Temple not be one of them. The most…

City Moment – Veiled Biker, India Gate Circle

The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon The Delhi Walla was walking on the circular road built around the India Gate maidan. Just after crossing the turning to Shahjahanan Road, I saw a woman…

City Hangout – NGMA, Jaipur House

India’s modern art. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Set up in 1954 at Jaipur House near India Gate, the National Gallery of Modern Art’s old wing has stately marble flooring and arched corridors. One of the wing’s two…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXI, Jama Masjid Stairs

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 21st meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

City Culture – De Bhasar, Aurobindo Marg

The philosophy of nonsense. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] ‘Israel we hate you.’ The Delhi Walla saw this calligraphy by an unknown Bhasarian artist in Aurobindo Marg, a road in south Delhi. It is depicted on the boundary…

Mission Delhi - Lobsang Dorji Hayer, Majnu ka Teela

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Drawing himself forward, he says, “On my passport, I’m an Indian because my father is from Himanchal Pradesh, but my heart beats for Tibet.” The…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XX, Café Turtle

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 20th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…