Mission Delhi – Editor, Nizamuddin East Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - March 28, 2011May 31, 20220 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] He doesn’t talk much. The Delhi Walla is with Editor, a spoilt south Delhi brat with a weakness for Parmesan cheese and chocolate chip cookies. A resident of Nizamuddin East, an up-market neighbourhood dotted with gardens and ruins, Editor owns ‘a nice collar, a nice leash and a serviceable winter coat.’ He also owns two pets—-Sumita and her husband, Vinod Mehta. As the editor of Outlook newsweekly, Mr Mehta often puts in a nugget or two on Editor in Delhi Diary, the popular column on the magazine’s last page. That explains the exposure of a family secret — all three share the same bedroom. Editor snores on
City Monument – Nila Gumbad, Nizamuddin East Monuments by The Delhi Walla - March 24, 2011March 24, 20113 Delhi's oldest Mughal-era ruin. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Its beauty lies in its tiled dome, rare in Delhi. Situated behind Humayun’s Tomb, Nila Gumbad, or blue dome, was on the banks of Yamuna, the course of which shifted down the centuries. Now it faces the platform number one of Hazrat Nizmauddin Railway Station. Built in 1625 by Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khana, a noble in Akbar’s court, the Gumbad is Delhi’s oldest Mughal-era ruin. Though it is the tomb of Khan-i-Khana’s attendant Fahim Khan, The Delhi Walla saw no grave inside. A single-structure monument, the visitor has to concentrate only on a few essentials. The building – standing on a 32.9 sq. m platform - is shaped like an octagon from
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Simon Digby, b. Jabalpur, 1932-2010 Biographical Dictionary by The Delhi Walla - March 20, 2011March 20, 20112 Delhi’s last eccentric. [Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; pictures given by Christie’s; Simon Digby's photograph is courtesy of Robert Skelton] Born in Jabalpur to a colonial-era judge and a vagabond painter, British scholar Simon Everard Digby was a part-time Delhiwalla with a deeper understanding of Delhi’s history than most Delhi historians. He lived off-and-on in the subcontinent, traveled extensively in the region, and spent months reading on art and history in the museums and libraries of Bombay and Calcutta. He photographed monuments, picked old coins, collected manuscripts, purchased artifacts, and bought books. His library was one of the world’s largest and finest private collections on Indian history. Mr Digby was a polyglot who spoke English, Hindi, Urdu and Persian. He wrote articles
City Life – Home Sweet Home, Sahibabad Delhi Homes by The Delhi Walla - March 18, 2011September 29, 20151 Inside the walls. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One morning The Delhi Walla knocked at the door of Mr Rajkumar. His one-room house is next to Aditya Garden City, a seven-floor residential high-rise in Sahibabad, a suburb in Ghaziabad, a city just across the municipal borders of Delhi. Mr Rajkumar, 30, works as a peon in the office of a builder. His monthly salary is Rs 4,000. His wife, Poonam, works as a maid in the households of Garden City. She makes about Rs 2,000 each month. She is presently away at work. Rajkumar has three children: Vineet, Suneet and Radha. The oldest is five. They don’t go to school. The walls of Mr Rajkumar’s house are made of wooden planks
City Food – Haleem, Meena Bazaar Food by The Delhi Walla - March 15, 2011March 16, 20114 The one-dish meal. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is hearty food, different from the subtle confections of traditional Mughlai cuisine, like koftas and pulaos. Yellow and with paste-like consistency, haleem is a one-dish meal of wheat, lentils and meat. Cooked in sufi shrines and served in Muharram gatherings, the best haleem in Delhi is found in the home kitchens of Muslims. The second-best version is found in Gali Kababiyan, the lane behind Kareem’s restaurant in the Walled City’s Matia Mahal Bazaar. Mr Naeem sets up his stall there daily at noon. A ravenous crowd gathers around him immediately. Two and a half hours later, the man’s deg (giant bowl) gets empty. Mr Naeem inherited the business from his
City Style – The Classy Delhiwalla, Bulbuli Khana Style by The Delhi Walla - March 11, 2011March 11, 20111 Searching for the stylish. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla saw this man at an alley in Bulbuli Khana, a congested neighborhood in the Walled City, the historic district established by the Mughals. His outfit was elaborate and rooted to his culture: a black karakul cap, a grey kurta, a grey jacket, a grey pajama and a bluish grey sherwani. His beard was white; his shoes were light brown. There was no one dressed like him. The man’s sherwani and inner jacket were unbuttoned, which did not interfere with his formal grace. Walking slowly towards a nearby mosque, he looked like as if he had stepped out of the pages of a tragic Urdu novel set in 19th century
The Delhi Walla Books – A Work of Passion The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - March 9, 2011March 9, 20110 Interesting and informative guides. [By The Book Lovers] Delhi, the capital of world’s largest democracy, is perceived differently by different people. You can hate it, love it but you cannot ignore it. The city has been the hot seat right from the times of the epic Mahabharat. Legend has it that Indraprastha, the capital of Pandavas, was situated in the current metropolis. Historically, there have been seven cities of Delhi starting from Rai Pithora, capital of the Chauhan dynasty of Prithviraj Chauhan, to the British and Independent India’s capital of New Delhi. This wide time-line makes Delhi a rich mix of monuments, cultures and cuisines. Through his books, Mayank Austen Soofi - who writes at The Delhi Walla - takes the
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Pakistan’s Poet Zehra Nigah, Mehrauli City Poetry by The Delhi Walla - March 7, 2011October 19, 20164 Visitor from Pakistan. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One spring afternoon, The Delhi Walla accompanied Urdu poet Zehra Nigah, 75, to Mehrauli Archaeological Park. Ms Nigah, who lives in Karachi, Pakistan, was in Delhi to attend a mushaira, a poetry session. Taking a break from meeting old acquaintances at her daily hangout in India International Center, she had planned the Mehrauli excursion a week in advance. Spread over 100 acres, the park's hilly green space in the southern edge of the Capital has 70 monuments, covering almost everything–tombs, mosques, carvanserais, gardens, and gateways. Wearing a light brown saree, Ms Nigah started with Jamali Kamali masjid, a 16th century mosque named after Shaikh Jamali Kamboh, or Sheikh Fazlullah. He too was
City Classified – Penguin’s Literary Festival, India Habitat Center General by The Delhi Walla - March 3, 2011March 5, 20118 From March 4 to March 13. [Picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] Spring Fever, the annual literary festival by Penguin Books India, is taking place at the Amphitheatre at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, from March 4 to March 13. Time: 11 am to 7 pm daily. It's open to all. The open air library will feature a complete range of Penguin India titles, old and new, as well as sessions with authors. Expect a few concerts too. The schedule: March 4 The launch of Penguin’s special hardback editions of Classics with readings by authors Avijit Dutt, Navtej Sarna and Syed Shahid Mahdi - from Kama Sutra by Vatsyayana (tr. A.N.D. Haksar), Zafarnama by Guru Gobind Singh (tr. Navtej Sarna) and In the Bazaar of
City Monument – Jantar Mantar, Opposite Park Hotel Monuments by The Delhi Walla - March 2, 20111 Check the time. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Formally Delhi’s largest pissoir, this 18th century tongue-red solar observatory underwent refurbishment that includes installation of public toilets. Built in the early 1700s by the founder of Jaipur, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, this curious complex of concrete hemispheres, quadrangles and circles was originally called Yantra Mantra, meaning “instrument and formulae”. It is these yantras, or instruments, that make up the five most prominent landmarks within a landscaped garden. As the observatory’s central building, the Samrat Yantra is a giant quadrangular slab of rubble masonry. Ascending to more than 20 metres, its stairs look to the highrises of Connaught Place, which one author described as “purpose-built to obscure its [Jantar Mantar’s] view