Mission Delhi – Irene Banias, Humayun’s Tomb Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - May 31, 2010June 1, 20105 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] She clicks the camera button, looks at the image on the LCD screen and is disappointed. “I’m better at writing than photography,” she says. The Delhi Walla met Irene Banias in Humayun’s Tomb, the first big Mughal monument to be built in India in 1570. “This is just spectacular. The beauty and the harmony of the curved lines trying to reach upward, to the spirit…” It is sunny but the sweltering May heat is tolerable due to the strong wind. Ms Banias is carrying a handbag and a water flask. A lawyer, she teaches human rights at Bosphorus University, Istanbul, Turkey, and is in Delhi for a
City Life – Admission Season, Delhi University Life Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - May 28, 2010May 28, 20105 The rite of passage. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is the last hurdle before you become an adult. The admission process in Delhi University (DU) has its own rituals. It comes in summer. It demands long queues. It expects you to run around various campuses. Of course, you must not be scared of filling forms. Of course, you must try ignoring the expectations of your parents, and the inquiries of your neighbours. Students from all over India want to be a part of DU. It has 54,000 seats in 83 colleges and it offers 162 undergraduate courses. But there is no comfort in these numbers. In 2009, the first day of the admission season alone recorded a sale of 26,000
City Culture – How I Got Drunk and Lost My Virginity in Nizamuddin Dargah Culture Faith by The Delhi Walla - May 28, 2010May 28, 20109 Trance music in Delhi’s most famous sufi shrine. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every Thursday evening music lovers gather at Nizamuddin dargah, the shrine of Delhi's 14th century sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. They wait for the Nizami Khusro Bandhu, a family singing here since 750 years, to settle down with their harmoniums and tablas. As Ustad Meraj, the senior qawwal, leads the singers into sufi love songs, the mood goes electric. More exciting than ticketed concerts, you sit right alongside the singers and watch their eyes popping out, arms slicing the air, and faces dissolving into momentary madness. Beware, you too could end up possessed in a feverish frenzy of longing and sensuousness. This is an incredible out-of-the-body experience. It
City Life – Unique Gym, Kucha Tarachand Life by The Delhi Walla - May 26, 2010May 27, 20107 Sweating for the body. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is a large room with no window. The air smells of salty sweat. The walls are painted orange and purple. Stairs go up to a smaller floor area visible from below. The Delhi Walla can hear grunting sounds coming from there. Weight sets and dumbbells are lying on the ground floor. Unlike the gyms of upscale Defence Colony and Hauz Khas Village, there are not many air-conditioners in Unique Gym, a health club in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj. It is located in such a narrow street (Kucha Tarachand) that the gym has to display a notice saying, “No parking facility for gym members.” There is also no shower facility. The gym has
City Notice – The Delhi Walla is Now a Website General by The Delhi Walla - May 25, 2010May 25, 201017 It's no longer a blog. [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla is no longer a blog but a website with its own domain, thedelhiwalla.com. Please congratulate… Thank you. You don’t like the new look? Blame my friend Gaurav Sood. He purchased the domain name and he designed this site. A few years ago he had insisted me to start blogging. You wonder why a website? What was wrong with the blog? I’m not taking myself seriously. I will still do the usual stuff: walking the pavements, eating the street food, reading in the gardens, hanging out in the ruins, dozing off in the dargahs, making friends in the red light district and watching rich people in Khan Market. The point is to make the
Campus Notepad – Reading Chomsky in Gulistan-e-Gandhi General by The Delhi Walla - May 24, 2010May 24, 20101 Jamia Millia University is home to eclectic figures. [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] What has American leftist Noam Chomsky to do with the burger eating, Levi-wearing, Gucci-buying, mall going, America-dreaming generation? Can the Palestinain icon Yasser Arafat be a pop icon? The Delhi Walla urges you to take a walk in the Jamia Millia University. It is the Capital's only campus where these much-ignored idols seem to be in. Institutions, centers, halls, gardens, gates and even lanes are named after personalities as eclectic and diverse as novelist Qurratulain Hyder, playwright Habib Tanvir and Gandhian Mridula Sarabhai. There is Noam Chomsky Complex, the big Edward Said Hall, the smaller Yasser Arafat Hall, and the smallest K M Ashraf Hall named after the Marxist
City Monument – Gurudwara Seesganj, Chandni Chowk Faith Monuments by The Delhi Walla - May 19, 2010February 1, 20120 Holy and serene. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Not as open and airy as Bangla Sahib gurudwara in Connaught Place, Seesganj Sahib is as serene as any spiritual destination should be. It was built in memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, who was beheaded here on the orders of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1675. A three-storeyed rectangular building off the main street of Chandni Chowk, the gurdwara adds to the multi-religious character of Old Delhi's popular shopping district, which also has a mosque, a temple and a church. The chaos of the bazaar disappears as you enter the short flight of stairs and reach a hall that hums with the devotional hymns of raagis, the musicians who sing in front
Mission Delhi – Salim Javeri, Nizamuddin Basti Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - May 17, 2010August 28, 20201 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] He walks to the young man and whisper in English, “Sir, I see you are lucky. ” The man stares at him for a moment, looks scared and goes away. He lowers his head and then raises his eyes looking around suspiciously. The Delhi Walla goes to him and together we sit down on the pavement bench. It is late night and we are on Mathura Road, just outside the main entrance to Nizamuddin Basti, the 14th century village famous for a sufi shrine that gives its name to the locality. “At present I’m in a very poor condition,” Salim Javeri says. In a dusty blue jeans
City Food – Ram Laddoo, Around Town Food by The Delhi Walla - May 13, 2010May 23, 20100 Simple and honest. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nobody knows how the deep fried balls of moong dal came to be known as Ram laddoo. It might have followed the Hindu belief that something with no name can always be attributed to Ram, one of the most venerated gods. Strangely, two completely different food items are labelled Ram laddoo in Delhi. While one is these crusty daal dumplings, the other is a sweet-sour teeny-weeny ball of tamarind pulp enmeshed with pomegranate seeds. Vendors, mostly migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, carry the wicker baskets of Ram laddoos on their head and a bamboo stand under their arm. Stopping where the crowd is, they set up the stall and serve the dumplings
City Season – Amaltas Tree, Hauz Khas Village Nature by The Delhi Walla - May 11, 2010May 26, 20150 The summer’s gift. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] On April 12th, 2010, the tree was bare except for four dry leaves. When an eagle flew past the branches, they looked bleak. The Delhi Walla was in Hauz Khas Village, known for its 14th century ruins and designer boutiques. The tree lay in a desolate yard, an extension of the monument complex. It was as tall as the adjacent apartment complexes. Since it had nothing on it, I could not figure out which tree it was. On May 10th, I again went to the same place. It was a different sight. Thousands of bright yellow fragrant flowers drooped down from the tree’s branches. Many had fallen. The floor was carpeted with them.