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 has a rich spitting culture.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]The forcible ejection of saliva from one’s mouth can hardly stir a city like Delhi. People do it all the time. Delhi Metro has a fine of Rs 200 for it. College campuses have lecturers who spray, not speak.However, on November 6, 2008, all hell broke loose in Delhi University when a young man spat on the face of Professor SAR Geelani, a lecturer at Zakir Hussain College. Mr Geelani was attending a seminar while the spitter was

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 he want is some quiet.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]How is it like to live in Ballimaran, an Old Delhi neighbourhood? The dominantly Muslim mohalla boasts winding alleys, decaying havelis, crumbling balustrades, half-lit carom-board clubs, and chatty chai stalls. It is most famous for being the final address of Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib. More recently, film star Aishwarya Rai shook her buttocks to the chartbuster Kajra re song whose lyrics included the word BALLIMARAN. Be it morning, noon, evening or midnight, Ballimaran is always toasting up in hyper

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.There's a kind of soft aggression against the community.[Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]There's a saying in Hindi that everyone salutes a rising sun. Biharis are different. On the second day of the three-day-long Chhatt puja, which ended on November 4, 2008, the capital's substantial Bihari community gathered in Yamuna ghats near ITO and Wazirabad, waded into the river and prayed to the setting sun instead. Hailing from different walks of life -- chartered accountants, media professionals, IAS aspirants, Metro rail labourers, rickshaw-wallahs -- they could as well

What does Barack's victory means to dark-skinned Delhi wallas? [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] If America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. After breaking the racial barrier by becoming the first black president of the US, Barack Obama has created ripples from Denver to Dar-es-Salaam to Delhi, a city whose brown-skinned people are obsessed with 'fairness' creams. Ms Shefali, a 27-year-old communication trainer, who describes herself as having a "wheatish complexion", is thrilled that a "dark-skinned" man has captured the world's imagination. "You see, I'm the only one in my family who is dark," says she. "During childhood, my brother and sister would tease me as a 'black sheep', but now I can always shoot back by humming

Recording the dawn of Obama age. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] I was in Delhi's American Center when CNN declared Barack Obama's victory. Americans started crying. Although Delhi’s traffic mess can’t be sorted out, Obama or no Obama, I too shed a few tears. My hands, too, trembled while taking photographs. But now I wonder if I was crying because White House got its first black master or because I was jealous of US of A. He’s their Obama, not ours! Is this true? It's true! We won, we won Hush, Obama speaks Boo Palin Tears, happy tears

How Delhi's Democrats helped Obama become the US Prez. [By Carolyn Sauvage-Mar, the chair, Democrats Abroad-India. She was elected Delegate for Obama to the Democratic National Convention; picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] Barack Obama is the next American President. Wow. We Democrats in Delhi, along with the rest of their counterparts in India and the US, were seriously optimistic about electing Barack Obama to be our next President. However, having been in the opposition for eight long years, we had gotten used to… well, losing. During the months of campaigning, a friend of mine looked me in the eye and said, “You realise that we’re going to win, right?” I actually hadn’t ever thought that thought, consciously, until he said it out loud. We

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 week in the life of the beast.[Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; picture taken in the Delhi zoo by Kamal Kishore]Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga has dedicated his debut novel The White Tiger to the people of New Delhi. Since the announcement, the white tiger's cage in Delhi zoo has been drawing unprecedented crowd.15/10/2008From the Desk of: 'The White Tiger' A Thinking Beast,Mathura Road (just off Purana Qila), New Delhi, India.Friday: Grrrrr. People of New Delhi! My paw! What about me? That brown guy names his novel after me but

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.Chatting with two Muslim ladies in Jamia Nagar[Interview and picture by by Mayank Austen Soofi]Mrs Falak Khan is a young wife with two children. She lives in South Delhi at Gaffar Manzil, Jamia Nagar. The interview was done in Hindi.Falak, what's the meaning of your name?Aasmaan. Sky. It is an Arabic word.You are an Indian Muslim woman. Do you feel victimized in this city, in this country?No.Don't you think that there are occasions when you are discriminated because of your name ... because of your religion?Never. My daughter, Aital, is

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 soul of Delhi.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]The Delhi Walla has often been accused of focusing too much on dargahs and tombs. Doesn’t Delhi also boast of actors, activists, writers, singers, museums, bazaars, malls, gardens, temples, colleges, besides various nagars, puris and baghs. The city has all this and more.There are suburban apartments in the east taken over by honest, hardworking tax-payers. The squalor of the west has been somewhat rescued by its first-world malls coupled with an extensive metro rail network. In the north, the young, hopeful