City Secret – Delhi Kishanganj Railway Station General by The Delhi Walla - November 19, 20095 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.An urban haven.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Except for the rattling of the pedestrian over-bridge, the British-built Delhi Kishanganj railway station in Central Delhi remains lifeless. The noisy non-stop express train has just left but the platform dogs haven’t raised their heads, the fakir on the stairs hasn’t awakened, and the young man standing at the railings hasn’t stopped staring at the space where the train passed a moment before.In a city with 2,500 bus stops and more than 80 Metro stations, Delhi Kishanganj is not among its four
Capital Experience – Dawn @ Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah Faith by The Delhi Walla - November 17, 2009October 10, 201013 A must-see sight before you die. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One of the things to do in Delhi before you die is to watch the daybreak at Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, the shrine of the 14th century sufi saint. Embedded within a village of the same name (Nizamuddin Basti), the Dargah is accessible through topsy-turvy medieval-era bylanes. If it’s winter, reach by 5.45am, in time for the morning prayers. Park the car in Mathura Road, next to Nizamuddin police station, and start walking. The usually bustling Basti streets are empty, save a rag picker or two. Avoid stumbling into people sleeping at the Dargah's entrance. Inside, candles are burning on a few unknown tombs jutting out from the floor. A pilgrim is
City Life – Are You an Upper Class Delhi Walla? General by The Delhi Walla - November 16, 200919 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.We all have dreams.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Some people have a woman’s soul trapped in a man’s body. I fancied having a South Delhi (read Jor Bagh) soul trapped in an East Delhi flat. One evening that illusion ended for good. After much scheming, I managed to get an invite to the birthday bash of an ex-Maharani (I'm her friend’s friend). There I was – at a white bungalow in Malcha Marg, a diplomat-dense neighbourhood in Central Delhi. Uniformed security guards, a driveway, a garden, and Her Highness’s
City Life – Abdul Rehman, Old Delhi Romeo General by The Delhi Walla - November 13, 20099 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.Love in the Walled City.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Abdul Rehman, 23, lives in Old Delhi. A shop assistant, he shared his secrets with The Delhi Walla while whiling away afternoon hours at his work place – a beads store in the Walled City’s bustling Turkman Gate bazaar.Mr Rehman first met Ms Naz, 18, early in 2009 at Sheila cinema, one of the few single screen theatres left in the Capital. “I’d gone to watch Delhi 6, the movie. She was on the next seat,” he says. Before the
Photo Essay – Women Are Not Allowed Inside Nizamuddin Dargah General Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - November 12, 2009July 30, 201011 They say it's the tradition. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Women are not allowed inside Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, Delhi’s principal sufi shrine. While they could pray in the courtyard, the women are denied entry into the tomb-chamber of Hazrat Nizamuddin, the 14th century sufi saint. Some of the Dargah khadims The Delhi Walla talked to ascribe the practice to traditions. No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah No
Capital Sighting – Khushwant Singh, Hotel Le Meridian General by The Delhi Walla - November 9, 20093 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.Delhi’s dirty old man.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Author Khushwant Singh is a typical Delhiwalla. “I have a dirty mind,” he declared one winter evening at a rare public appearance in the Capital. “Each time I see a woman I have dirty thoughts about what she would be like in bed,” the 94-year-old novelist confessed during a conversation in a television show at Hotel Le Meridian. Facing a select audience that included Gursharan Kaur, the prime minister’s wife, the old man brought the hall roaring down with repartees
City Living – Hauz Khas Village, South Delhi General by The Delhi Walla - November 5, 200910 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 new morning at a new address.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]6.23am: Waking up in Hauz Khas Village, my new address. Looking out the window into the 13th century ruins. Ferozeshah’s tomb, the madrasa, the lake. Beyond - Deer Park. The trees laced with the morning mist. The rest of Delhi invisible.6.45am: Sitting with EM Forster’s A Room With A View.7.47am: The back terrace lit up with natural light. On the ledge, a bird’s nest (There’s an egg!).8.15am: The village lane. A schoolboy on his bike. Boutique stores, still
City Sighting – Ved Mehta, Meharchand Market General by The Delhi Walla - November 4, 2009March 8, 20153 The American memoirist was seen with wife. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]] One evening Ved Mehta, the Lahore-born American memoirist and former staff writer of the venerable New Yorker magazine, was seen in south Delhi's quiet Meharchand market, at the bookstore, CMYK. Opened in September, 2009, the store specializes in coffee table volumes. A little irony here since Mr Mehta could not be expected to enjoy their visual extravaganza. He is blind. But who had the mood for books when there was wine, cheese, and a famous New Yorker? A protégé of the late William Shawn, The New Yorker’s legendary editor, Mr Mehta had come to sign copies of Mamaji and Daddyji, just two of his 25 books. He was with wife,
City Feature – Foreign Woman in Shahjahanabad General by The Delhi Walla - November 2, 2009December 9, 202310 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.On her own in Old Delhi.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Is Phebe Bay, a 20-year-old girl from Singapore, unusually adventurous? This management intern in Gurgaon does what most girls of this city rarely dare: walking in Old Delhi bylanes, alone.Just four months in the Capital and Ms Bay has seen more of Shahjahanabad – another name for the Walled City – than most English-speaking, jeans-wearing Delhi girls of her age. Eating shami kebabs in Matia Mahal bazaar and jalebis in Chandni Chowk, sight-seeing in Jama Masjid, buying books
Photo Essay – Chhat Pooja, India Gate General by The Delhi Walla - October 24, 20094 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.Delhi's several colours.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Each year as the winter sets in, the east Indian state of Bihar gets down to worship the sun. The festival is called Chhath Pooja. Since a large number of Delhiwallas happen to be Biharis, this is the Capital’s carnival, too. On the penultimate day of the four-day-long festivities, the devotees wade into a water body (it could be a river, stream, canal, or even a puddle), fold their hands into a namaste, and pray to Surya Devta as he sinks into