Mission Delhi – Dr Ubaidul Aleem, Chiniot Basti Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 5, 2011November 5, 20113 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] As the lungi-wearing young man complaining of a sore throat leaves with medicines, Dr Ubaidul Aleem turns to the small TV placed beside his desk and says, “My dream is to speak fluent English” – a pause follows here – “… and correct English.” Dr Aleem, 40, is a bachelor of Unani medicine and surgery from the city’s Jamia Hamdard University. The Delhi Walla met him one late evening at his clinic in Chiniot Basti, a neighbourhood behind Sheila Cinema in Paharganj, central Delhi. Named after a district in present-day Pakistan, the basti was started by Partition refugees. Today it has migrant laborers from Bihar who make
City Life – Diving & Swimming, Nizamuddin Baoli Life by The Delhi Walla - November 1, 2011March 28, 20126 The spring of life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He raises his arms, lowers his head, stays still, takes a deep breathe and jumps from the roof and… SPLASH! He crash lands into the cold dark brown water. Before he can resurface, another boy dives in, followed by another and another and another. After its first successful renovation in 700 years, the baoli, or the stone step well, in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, central Delhi, has again become a play pool for the neighbourhood boys. In the old days, heat-stricken Delhiwallas went to baolis for its cool breeze. As the temperature rose and the water level sank, they clambered down deeper into the well. In the monsoon, the stone steps vanished under the