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

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

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] For a long time I would try to sit down with In Search of Lost Time, a seven-volume novel by the French writer Marcel Proust. In my…

Mission Delhi - Muhammed Iftikhar, Jamat Khana Mosque

Mission Delhi – Muhammed Iftikhar, Jamat Khana Mosque

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 5.25 am. The sky is still black. It’s freezing. Holding the microphone close to his lips, he opens his mouth to recite the azaan, and……

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians

A la recherche du temps perdu. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] According to an article in The New York Times Book Review: “When Marcel Proust was asked by a French newspaper how he would spend his last hours on earth if…

City Event - Indian Languages Festival, India Habitat Centre

City Event – Indian Languages Festival, India Habitat Centre

Meeting of voices. [Text and photo of India Habitat Centre by Mayank Austen Soofi] Three days, 10 sessions, 13 Indian languages, 60 writers. The first Samanvay festival of Indian languages will be hosted in Delhi by the India Habitat Centre…

City Culture - De Bhasar, Connaught Place

City Culture – De Bhasar, Connaught Place

The philosophy of nonsense. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] ‘Fuckass.’ The Delhi Walla saw this calligraphy in the middle circle of N-Block, Connaught Place, Delhi’s colonial-era commercial district. It is depicted on a white paan-stained wall, whose paint…

Mission Delhi - 50 Faces, Around Town

Mission Delhi – 50 Faces, Around Town

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…

City Moment – The Woman’s iPad, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

City Moment – The Woman’s iPad, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One cold evening The Delhi Walla saw a burqa-clad woman in the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, the 14th century Sufi saint. The shrine is in central Delhi. The…

City Books - On the Decline of Shahjahanabad

City Books – On the Decline of Shahjahanabad

Two books on the Walled City. [Text by Mayank Austen Soofi] In the mid-19th century, Shahjahanabad was the civilizational heart of the Mughals. The limits of their capital were guarded by a rampart of random rubble that protected it from…

City Landmark - St Paul International Book Center, Connaught Place

City Landmark – St Paul International Book Center, Connaught Place

Jesus loves you. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Halleluyah. St Paul International Book Center is one of the very few shops in Delhi selling Bibles in all the 22 official languages of India. Situated in an Outer Circle…

City Special - Arundhati Roy in New York City

City Special – Arundhati Roy in New York City

Delhi-based author in the heart of the empire. [Photos by Sarahana] While touring the world’s most dangerous country, author Arundhati Roy, the greatest living Delhiwalla, talked to its hapless citizens at an event hosted at City University of New York’s…