Metro Sketch – The New Lingo
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…
City Moment – The Delhi Walla Books, Around Town
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…
City Diary – The Delhi Walla Books
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…
Mission Delhi – Siddhartha Gigoo, Indian Coffee House
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,…
Memo from Jama Masjid – Shoot Out at Gate No. 3
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…
City Moment – The Bridegroom’s Procession, Nizamuddin Basti
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…
Letter from Michigan – On The Delhi Walla Books
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…
City Faith – Eid-ul-Fitr, Shahi Idgah
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…
Memo from Paharganj – Ready for 2010 Commonwealth Games
Reporting from Delhi’s backpackers’ district. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Forget the deluxe hotels, Delhi University’s makeshift tourist hostelries and the city’s Bed & Breakfast lodges. The chief lodging destination for many visitors of Commonwealth Games (CWG), being…
Memo from Khan Market – Will the Metro Dilute its Gene Pool?
Khan Market to become more democratic. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The citadel of south Delhi snobbery is about to fall. Khan Market, where the city’s rich go to see and be seen, is getting a metro station….
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