Photo Essay – Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty, Ajmer Sharif

Photo Essay – Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty, Ajmer Sharif

The holy land of sufis. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The final days of 2011 have ended on a happy note. The Delhi Walla was in the sufi pilgrim town of Ajmer. 400km west of Delhi, it is…

City Notice – Lonely Planet Recommends The Delhi Walla

City Notice – Lonely Planet Recommends The Delhi Walla

It’s official. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Published in December 2011, Lonely Planet’s Discover India: Experiencing the best of India is written by Abigail Hole and Kevin Raub. In the ‘Need to Know’ box of its Delhi section, the guidebook refers…

City Reading - The Delhi Proustians – II, Indian Coffee House

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – II, Indian Coffee House

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the second meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas wanting to discuss French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Sunday noon we have to read…

City Faith – Hanukkah Evening, Paharganj

City Faith – Hanukkah Evening, Paharganj

The Jewish festival of lights. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 27 December, Tuesday, 7 pm. It was the final evening of Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the re-dedication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd…

City Library - Sonal Aggarwal's Books, Pitampura

City Library – Sonal Aggarwal’s Books, Pitampura

A vanishing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One late evening The Delhi Walla knocked at the door of Sonal Aggarwal, a devoted reader of Anita Desai and many other authors. In her 30s, Ms Aggarwal, an industrialist’s…

City Faith - Christmas Traditions, Nizamuddin West

City Faith – Christmas Traditions, Nizamuddin West

Bhajans and rotis from Jharkhand. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A day before Bada Din, a day also known as Christmas, The Delhi Walla met a migrant from Jharkhand, eastern India, who left her land to make a…

City Notice - The Delhi Proustians

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Proustians club plans to meet every Sunday noon at the Indian Coffee House in Connaught Place. Since it’s Christmas this Sunday, the club’s second meeting…

INFIDELITIES@The Delhi Walla – A Cynical Opinionated 'Gora' Seeks a Poet-Female of Any Age and Complexion

INFIDELITIES@The Delhi Walla – A Cynical Opinionated ‘Gora’ Seeks a Poet-Female of Any Age and Complexion

Make your life smart and sexy. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Me- 30. Male. White. Not wheatish or fair. I mean white, Anglo American, Gora, Angrej. (Is this offensive yet?) Married. (Now?) To an Indian. (It must be offensive by…

Photo Essay – The 99 Percent, Around Town

Photo Essay – The 99 Percent, Around Town

They exist. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi government works hard to make the city’s homeless invisible. In the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the wretched of the roadsides were pushed behind giant hoardings so that foreign athletes could…

City Walk - Matia Mahal, Shahjahanabad

City Walk – Matia Mahal, Shahjahanabad

The moon-lit bazaar. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Heart of the Walled City, Matia Mahal bazaar is the land of chicken stew, bearded mullahs, kaftan-clad beggars, fat goats and veiled women. Chaotic during the day, it shows its…