Travel – TIPS TO TOES IN SERVICE OF NATION General by The Delhi Walla - December 6, 20082 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.A Delhi writer follows Sign Language lessons on the Border Roads.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]She is curvaceous. Feel the curves do not test them. Keep your cool. Self control. Take it easy.-Darling I like you but not so fast. To the innocent, such dialogues may seem straight out of a Palika Bazaar VCD. But XXX content it's not. Rather, this love-ly language is from New Delhi writer, Mr Ajay Jain's curiously titled PEEP PEEP DONT (sic) SLEEP, a journey through Indian road signs.Mr Jain spent 3 weeks in
Bombay 26/11 Editorial – Rich India's Gravest Hour General by The Delhi Walla - December 4, 200812 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.Why should no-star India cry for 5-star India.[Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; picture by Reuters]The aftermath of terrorist attacks in Bombay shows that India's social divide is wider than I had imagined. Suddenly the rich and good-looking Indians of Delhi and Bombay have realised that they, too, perhaps have a stake in the country's political system. They never cared before. But now it's different.After all, the Taj was like their second home.This time the terrorists invaded the rich people's most expensive hotels. The next time it could be their gated
Bombay 26/11 – Life in the Time of Terrorism General by The Delhi Walla - December 3, 20080 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.Bombay attacks have changed Delhi.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]New Delhi’s India Gate is one night’s train journey from Bombay’s Gateway of India, and now even that distance has been bridged in people’s minds after the 26/11 terror attacks in Bombay.On Sunday, a day after the siege at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower ended, ex-hotelier Mrs Anupama Jaiswal, 31, took her husband and daughter for an outing to Dilli Haat. But Mumbai never left her mind. “I knew Taj hotel’s GM very well,” she says. While having samosas
City Landmark – Chabad House, Paharganj Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - December 1, 2008March 17, 20153 A home for travelling Jews. [Photos and text by Mayank Austen Soofi] Jewish skullcaps. Hebrew graffiti. Rabbi's hat tucked on the wall. Welcome to Jerusalem. Now come back to Delhi. We never left. It's just Paharganj and we are in Chabad House, a sort of a Jewish community club. With headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, Chabad Houses are established all over the world. Look for it in touristy places visited by Israelis. There is a Chabad House in Dharmshala, in Pushkar and one such was at Bombay's Nariman House. On November 26, 2008, it was attacked by terrorists and its caretaker couple were killed. With the tragedy still resonating in newspapers, I walked into Paharganj bylanes in search of Delhi's only Chabad House. It used
Bombay 26/11 – Pakistan for Mumbai General by The Delhi Walla - November 30, 20087 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.Not all Pakistani hands are stained with the Indian blood.[Compiled by Mayank Austen Soofi; picture by Arko Datta]This is a blogsite on Delhi. It should have nothing to do with Bombay or Pakistan. But these are extraordinary times. This is no time to go romantic about Old Delhi bylanes. On the day the siege of the Taj Mahal Hotel ended in Bombay, Aaj Tak, an Indian TV channel, announced that the hands of Pakistanis are now stained with the blood of Indians. I disagree. These are a few of Pakistan's
Bombay 26/11 – Delhi is Far General by The Delhi Walla - November 28, 20084 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.The show goes on in the Capital.[Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]Bombay, the site of 27/11 terror attacks, is far from Delhi. Here the metro train is speeding towards Mandi House. The traffic light is turning green at Bhagwan Dass crossing. The Faridabad EMU is chugging on the railway overbridge. All seems normal.I walk to my office in Connaught Place. A colleague teases me about my Pakistan connections. "Mayank, you should no longer hang out with Pakis or you too will become a terrorist," she advices. "What does your
Dateline Bombay – Oh Taj, 26/11 General by The Delhi Walla - November 27, 200818 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.All Delhi wallas are Mumbaikars today.[By Mayank Austen Soofi; above picture taken by Arko Datta]Today Delhi has become Bombay. The Delhi Walla is now a Bombay Walla. I talked to a few eminent people who shuffle their time in both cities.Anjolie Ela Menon, Delhi-based painterI was at home in Nizamuddin East when news channels broke the news. My son is visiting Bombay and I was panicked. But he is safe in Shivaji Park. However a businessman friend of mine is trapped in the Taj.Anita Kaul Basu, TV producer, spends time
Capital View – The Best of Delhi General by The Delhi Walla - November 25, 200812 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.What do ex-Delhi wallas miss about the city.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]I love Delhi. Imagine my distress when I met Craig and Tracy, my American friends who have been living in the Capital for two years, and now in the process of relocating to London. Craig said he is ecstatic at the thought of getting rid of Delhi.He was too frank.Tracy nudged him softly and Craig changed his tone, changed his expressions and said with a click of tongue that they would miss the friends they made here.
City Classic – Sablok Clinic, Daryaganj General by The Delhi Walla - November 23, 200811 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.The Capital's legendary sex clinic promises a 'cure' for homosexuality.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Other than gonorrhea, syphilis, impotency, night discharge, the city's legendary gupt-rog clinic discreetly claims to cure gay men of their homosexuality.Sablok Clinic, in its own words, is one of the "oldest and most authentic sex clinic." Established by Mr Hakim Hari Singh Sablok in 1928 at Lahore, it shifted to Delhi after the Indian partition.Since then by advertising itself with pictures of happy-looking straight couples, Sablok clinic has grown to be a part of Delhi's
Maximum City — Being Indian in the Indian Capital General by The Delhi Walla - November 18, 200812 The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.A lady from Northeast India is called 'chinky noodle' in Delhi.[Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]One day Ms Sonam Tsomo was the eldest BA-pass daughter of respectable middle-class parents (papa in fire brigade, mummy a housewife). The next, she is in the capital of her country and ceases to be respectable. Instead, she's an easy catch, a "chinky noodle", a "Chinese", a woman who is asked her "rate" as she walks down the road. Those slurs have nothing to do with who Ms Tsomo is – but