One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s a saying in Hindi—baal ki khaal ukharna, to peel off the skin of the hair. That’s what this grey-haired man is upto, on a…
Love story. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Both of them are fond of chai. And when they are having chai together, they drink it from the same glass. “We feel good this way,” he says. “Because we like…
Commemorating a legend. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This should start with one of his paheliyan, or riddles. “Invisible, but they call it tender Feels bad, but it evokes laughter” A tickle! Today is the 718th Urs —…
Gateway lives. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The gateway is bathed in the evening light with a beauty so tender you fear it might vaporise with the next heatwave. The time is altering the place in other ways…
Almost gone. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The door is stained with tiny shreds of old peeling paint. The latch is entwined into a small lock so rusty that it has gone red. Green plants are growing uncut…
Sufi tea. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is no accident that Emperor Humayun, Emperor Muhammed Shah Rangila, Princess Jahanara, poet Amir Khusro, and poet Mirza Ghalib are buried near to each other. They all are in close…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He walks to the black dog here on a pavement in Gurgaon’s sector 14. The dog turns his head towards him, and wags his tail….
market in the pandemic. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Ramzan is gone, not its raunaq. The peppy bunting is hanging upon the street like an expired blessing (see photo). This weekday afternoon Old Delhi’s Matia Mahal Bazar is…
A souvenir of memories. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Loved ones go, the objects of their daily life stay. And some trace of the departed, tidbit of a particular memory perhaps, is evoked by those objects. Like in…
A survivor. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Let’s talk about Delhi’s extinct bookshops. The Bookworm in Connaught Place had a spiral staircase, that went up to the Capital’s best collection of books on cinema. The Fact & Fiction…
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