Photo Essay – Indian Coffee House, Mohan Singh Place Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - September 29, 2010September 29, 20105 Evocation of a vanished time. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Indian Coffee House (circa 1957) expresses its extraordinary romantic atmosphere in its run down furniture. The café is a tribute to the dignity of old times when there were no take-away McMaharaja burgers, no self-service counters and no stewards in baseball caps. Here is the evocation of an extinct elegance. Tea is served in the kettle, toast is accompanied with knife and fork, and the waiters are turbaned. The establishment is set on the second-floor of Mohan Singh Place, a dreary shopping complex, next to PVR Rivoli in Connaught Place. The principal hall is shabby and beautiful, a blend of solitude, conversations, and imaginary Chopin compositions. The section for “Ladies
City Diary – The Delhi Walla Books and Some Unlucky Delhiwallas The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - September 27, 2010September 29, 20103 It's a beautiful and ugly city. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Life changes in a week. On September 21, 2010, The Delhi Walla was walking on the Lodhi Road pavement with Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1st volume). A part of the stretch was lined with the ‘residential’ camps of migrant laborers who were paving the footpath for Delhi Commonwealth Games, starting on 3 October. On September 27, I again walked on the same Lodhi Road pavement, not with Mr Gibbon, but with the first copies of my books, The Delhi Walla series. I had become a published author. Where were the laborers? Their camps along with their women and children had vanished. A day before newspapers
Metro Sketch – The New Lingo Delhi Metro by The Delhi Walla - September 24, 2010September 24, 20105 Doors will open on the left. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] In 2002, Delhi Metro started its services by connecting East Delhi’s Shahdara to north Delhi’s Tis Hazari. In 2010, it connected Gurgaon and south Delhi to Connaught Place. In between, Anand Vihar was linked to Dwarka, and Rithala to Dilshad Garden. The air-conditioned Metro culture has ushered a new lifestyle into the Capital. The means of commuting is no longer limited to autos, buses, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and private vehicles. The Delhi Walla presents the evolving Metro dictionary. A for Adjust kar lo Till 2002, it was only the blue-collared in the overcrowded blue line buses who asked fellow commuters, “Adjust kar lo (please adjust).” Now, students, IT employees,
City Moment – The Delhi Walla Books, Around Town Moments The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - September 23, 2010November 15, 201414 The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; pictures by Marina Solveig Bang] One rainy evening, The Delhi Walla was at the lobby of The Claridges, Aurangzeb Road. There I got the first copies of my four-volume series on Delhi called The Delhi Walla. Sheema Mookherjee, senior editor, HarperCollins India, the publisher, handed the slim volumes. The occasion was celebrated over rum ‘n’ coke (me) and white wine (Ms Mookherjee). The second destination was the Jorbagh residence of Solveig Marina Bang, the series’ art director. She said, “Yay.” Over a cup of chamomile tea, Ms Bang photographed me on her couch with “my concubines.” 25 minutes later, her partner and dogs joined us. Next, I went to the sufi shrine of
City Diary – The Delhi Walla Books The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - September 22, 2010September 22, 201019 Excited and anxious. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The bookmarks have come. The books can’t be far behind. On 21 September, The Delhi Walla received an e-mail from his editor at HarperCollins India, which is publishing his first books, a series on Delhi called… well, The Delhi Walla. The first copies will come off the press by 22 September. It will take one more week for them to hit the stores. Finally, I’ll see myself in Khan Market bookshelves. But will you buy me? Will the books sell? Will they be looking good? Could the photographs have been better? Will the text read well? Could I have written better? Every new day I read new books, meet new people and visit new places. My world-view
Mission Delhi – Siddhartha Gigoo, Indian Coffee House Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - September 20, 2010February 20, 20156 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Unzipping the leather bag, he takes out the Lenovo laptop, switches it on and opens an image file. “See, the cover,” says Siddhartha Gigoo, 36, a Classic-smoking senior manager in an IT company whose first novel is to be published by Rupa in a few months. The Delhi Walla met him on the terrace of Indian Coffee House, a rundown café in Connaught Place, which has history, tea-kettles, turbaned stewards and the mood. Since the laptop screen is reflecting sunlight, we squint our eyes to look at the image but it’s not coming out clear. We move inside the lounge. “It’s titled The Garden of Solitude,” says
Memo from Jama Masjid – Shoot Out at Gate No. 3 General by The Delhi Walla - September 19, 2010September 20, 20106 Anatomy of an attack and its aftermath. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] On the late Sunday morning of September 19, Haji Mian Faiyaz Uddin was watching the rain on Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid when two Taiwanese tourists coming out of the Mughal-era monument were shot at by unidentified gunmen. The attackers escaped. The injured tourists were taken to Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital, Daryaganj. They are out of danger. Mr Uddin was not a witness. He was sitting on the first floor balcony of his Haji Hotel, which looks to gate no. 1 of Jama Masjid. The attack took place on the other side, at gate no. 3, where tourist buses arrive. Talking to The Delhi Walla, three hours later, he
City Moment – The Bridegroom’s Procession, Nizamuddin Basti Moments by The Delhi Walla - September 16, 2010October 25, 20102 The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla was walking one night in Nizamuddin Basti, a 14th century village in the heart of the city. In front of Baoli Gate, one of the two entrances to the sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuun Dargah, a wedding procession was slowly making its way into an alley. The dulha, or the bridegroom, was on a horse carriage. His face was hidden behind the sehra, a veil of flowers. The best man - a little boy wearing glares - was by his side. They were sitting on what looked like a modern-day peacock throne. Instead of gems and diamonds, the throne’s backrest was decked with garlands and electric bulbs. On
Letter from Michigan – On The Delhi Walla Books The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - September 15, 2010September 15, 20104 An American book lover introduces The Delhi Walla's books. [By Richard Weiderman] A firangi can never be a Delhiwalla. To qualify one has to have been born in Delhi or been brought up and educated there. He must have assimilated into Delhi's culture and become part of its social landscape. He must feel at home in Delhi and that Delhi is his home. Being a transplant or even an expat is not enough. At his best an expat is only a 'Delhiwalla wannabe'. A tourist doesn't even count. It doesn't matter if Delhi gets under his skin and seeps into his blood, or how often he visits or for how long he stays. A tourist can never qualify. The expat and the
City Faith – Eid-ul-Fitr, Shahi Idgah Faith by The Delhi Walla - September 11, 2010September 15, 20104 Praying in the rain. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was the first time in the living memory of middle-aged Delhiites that rain fell on Eid-ul-Fitr, the Muslim festival that marks the end of Ramzan, the month of praying, fasting and cleansing the soul. The Delhi Walla attended the morning namaaz at Shahi Idgah, the 17th century mosque built specifically to perform Eid prayers. The Idgah is reached through either of its three unimpressive gateways. The mosque is not grand like Old Delhi’s touristy Jama Masjid. Neither is it as pretty as Chandni Chowk’s Fatehpuri Masjid, nor as historic as Ferozeshah Kotla Masjid, near ITO. West of Paharganj in central Delhi, it is a vast ground (164.3m by 162.5m) landscaped unevenly