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Month: March 2008

Profile – R V Smith, Delhi’s Classic Chronicler

by The Delhi Walla - 9

The city has ignored its most endearing lover. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Robert Kaplan, the author of Balkan Ghosts, carried just one book, Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon—A Journey Through Yugoslavia, in his shoulder bag while travelling through the Balkans. I walk in Delhi and my fellow traveller happens to be Ronald Vivian Smith’s modern classic The Delhi that No-one Knows. It’s a book showcasing all the myths, legends, rumors and secrets of Delhi in an easy and neat language that speaks straight to the heart. In the book’s introduction, Mr Smith writes: I did not refer to any book, did not make notes from dusty volumes in old libraries—I just walked! Sometimes I took buses—many a long afternoon

City Life – Evenings with Jahanara Fakeera

by The Delhi Walla - 2

Strange encounters in the tomb of a woman sufi. [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] Evenings at Hazrat Nizamuddin dargah. Sometimes, too much crowd, too many tourists, and too loud qawwalis. No peace, no quiet, and no place to sit. But I know a secret refuge. After doing my haziri round, I go straight to Jahanara’s tomb, enclosed in a walled chamber at one end of the dargah courtyard. Usually no one is here except an old gentleman who has adopted the place as his night shelter. I always feel at peace here. There is calmness in the company of Jahanara. Born as a Mughal empress whose father Shahjahan was buried in the splendorous Taj Mahal, Jahanara lives alone here. Grasses grow

Travel Guide – 36 Hours in New Delhi

by The Delhi Walla - 1

GO STRAIGHT TO CITY CLASSIFIEDS & CITY EVENTSGO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.Spending a weekend in India's most happening metropolis.[Text-originally published in The New York Times-by Somini Sengupta; picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]A seat of power for more than a thousand years, the city-state of Delhi is a survivor of conquest and change. The Lodi and Mughal dynasties ruled this area, as did the British, until it was again transformed by the refugees of partition. Today, new money has conquered the region, which includes New Delhi, the capital of a rapidly changing India. Spiraling rents have put a Swarovski shop where a small independent bookshop once stood, and in the same market, a shop called It’s All

Opinion – No Rickshaws in Chandni Chowk

by The Delhi Walla - 1

GO STRAIGHT TO CITY CLASSIFIEDS & CITY EVENTSGO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.City planners have lost it.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Each morning my news-obsessed papa says this country is going to the dogs. I say this city is going to the dogs. It's a hot afternoon and I'm in Chandni Chowk. Gurdwara Seesganj Sahib is in front of me; Jain Mandir is close by, and Jama Masjid not far. So holy a place and yet no peace. The noise; the crowd; the chaos. I seek the quiet of Fatehpuri Masjid, at the other end. But I have no car. I don't want to walk. Auto-wallas are not interested in such short rides. And, oh, no

Memo from Jantar Mantar – Killings in Lhasa, Unrest in Delhi

by The Delhi Walla - 6

Amidst the city's Tibetan citizens. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Red-robed lamas, apple-cheeked girls and the Tibetan flag. Also: fists, frowns, and slogans. In that side of the Himalayas, Chinese are killing Tibetans. Violence in Lhasa has left 80 dead. In this side, Tibetan refugees have gathered at Jantar Mantar, Delhi's Tian Mien square. Most are young born-in-India Tibetans whose parents and grand parents had escaped here after China invaded the Buddhist nation in 1959. Today these angry people are demanding freedom. But who will take them seriously? They don't have suicide bombers. Read me Free me Cry, my beloved country All together - young 'n' old Angry lamas Read me, again Here's how you can support Tibet's cause Please visit the online petition, 'We, the people of India,

Delhi Diary – No City for a Muslim

by The Delhi Walla - 17

GO STRAIGHT TO CITY CLASSIFIEDS & CITY EVENTSGO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.Personal account of discrimination against Muslims[By Saif; picture by Mayank Austen Soofi is not the author's photograph]Finding an abode in Delhi is not easy, especially if you are a Muslim like me. A journalist in a blue-chip media company, I had been longing to get a calm, serene and clean place somewhere close to my office in south Delhi. I zeroed in on Sukhdev Vihar and rounded up property wallas there. Most of them left me in lurch after they got to know my (Muslim) name. People in Sukhdev Vihar, I was told, were not too eager to rent their houses to Muslims. Finally

Citizen Profile – A Coolie's Chronicle

by The Delhi Walla - 1

GO STRAIGHT TO CITY CLASSIFIEDS & CITY EVENTSGO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.A porter's life in the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station.[as told to Mayank Austen Soofi; picture is also by him]Salam alaikum from Salim Khan. My days as coolie in the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station are always same. They begin with chai, biskut, and Dakshin Express. It arrives early morning at paach pachees (5:25) followed by Bangalore Rajdhani, Indore Intercity, Goa Express...At 10 pm, Taj Express returns from Gwalior. The day ends with the body aching in pain. I either rub sarson ka tel on my legs, or take brufen I carry in my pocket.It was ten years ago when I came to Delhi for the job

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