Mission Delhi – 50 Faces, Around Town Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 11, 2011December 11, 20113 The faces of Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On November 11, 2011, The Times of India carried a news story: Researchers to preserve city’s oral history NEW DELHI: Museums have for long recorded the tangible heritage of a city; the bricks and mortar with which the city was built. But can a museum capture the idea of a city, or its memories? Can a museum capture the life of a city in transition? This is precisely what an ambitious new project sets out to do. In a possible first for India, a group of scholars, academicians and researchers from the Centre for Community Knowledge (CCK) at Ambedkar University Delhi have embarked on the Citizen’s Memory Project, a digital archive of the lives of the people of Delhi and the oral history of the capital. This is good news, but it’s not a first for India. The Delhi Walla started such an ‘oral history’ project in 2009. It’s called Mission Delhi. A city is not made by its buildings and bazaars, but by its people. In Mission Delhi, I’m making portraits of one percent of Delhi’s population. To make each portrait, I sit down with a Delhiwalla, take his photos and spend a few hours talking to him, trying to get a sense of this city through his past, present and also through his hopes for the future. In November 2011, I profiled Mission Delhi‘s 50th portrait. Here are all the 50 faces. Muhammad Salim, the first portrait Berenice Ellen, the second portrait Shankar, the third portrait Satnam Singh Juneja, the fourth portrait Mushirul Hasan, the fifth portrait Pooja, the sixth portrait Aanchal Malhotra, the seventh portrait Changa Kumar, the eighth portrait Rakesh Chandra, the ninth portrait Sumanta Roy, the 10th portrait Deen Dayal, the 11th portrait Muhammad Aslam, the 12th portrait Syed Haider Raza, the 13th portrait Sarah Rose, the 14th portrait Aarti, the 15th portrait Rachana Rao Umashankar, the 16th portrait Muhammad Waseem, the 17th portrait Surinder, the 18th portrait Ram Swaroop Sharma, the 19th portrait Kareem Khan, the 20th portrait Sunita Pandit, the 21st portrait Salim Javeri, the 22nd portrait Irene Banias, the 23rd portrait Nitin Chanana, the 24th portrait Suresh Shah, the 25th portrait Noor Bano, the 26th portrait Rakhshanda Jalil, the 27th portrait Ajeet Singh Chauhan, the 28th portrait Naresh Chandra, the 29th portrait Muhammad Chand, the 30th portrait Siddhartha Gigoo, the 31st portrait Ankit Verma, the 32nd portrait Raghavendra Vanjre, the 33rd portrait Vijay Kumar, the 34th portrait Usha Hooda, the 35th portrait Ajit Phogat, the 36th portrait Fahad Khan, the 37th portrait Sakina Mehta, the 38th portrait Editor, the 39th portrait Sadia Dehlvi, the 40th portrait Mritunjay Kumar Tiwari, the 41st portrait Abhay Singh, the 42nd portrait Nameless Kapoor, the 43rd portrait Zubeida Bano, the 44th portrait Ramlal Thakur, the 45th portrait A. Husain, the 46th portrait PM Sahay, the 47th portrait Shyam Sundar Thapa, the 48th portrait Dr Ubaidul Aleem, the 49th portrait Amir Dehlavi, the 50th portrait FacebookX Related Related posts: Mission Delhi – 75 Faces, Around Town Mission Delhi – Ashok Kumar Pachauri, Around Town Mission Delhi – Satender Kumar, Around Town Mission Delhi – Ashok Kumar, Near Sai Baba Temple Mission Delhi – Anand Kumar, Naraina
Mayank, I am not sure if any historian or culture-wallah can capture the essence of this city the way you have with your portraits. This blog is the best account of delhi and its denizens in 21st century. All the best.