Jaipiur Diary – The Battle of 1857

Jaipiur Diary – The Battle of 1857

The surprise package. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The surprise winner of the Jaipur marathon was a plump woman. At 10 am, Mughal tent in Diggi Palace hotel was slotted for authors William Dalrymple and Mahmood Farooqui. The…

Jaipur Diary – Long Queue for JM Coetzee

Jaipur Diary – Long Queue for JM Coetzee

The big draw. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] A great crowd collected to hear JM Coetzee, one of the two Nobel laureates attending the Jaipur Literature Festival (the other is Orhan Pamuk). A reclusive South African author who…

Jaipur Diary – Orhan Pamuk's Girlfriend Kiran Desai on Mother Anita

Jaipur Diary – Orhan Pamuk’s Girlfriend Kiran Desai on Mother Anita

Her mama’s girl. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Instead of talking about boyfriend Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish writer who too is attending the Jaipur Literature Festival, novelist Kiran Desai talked – in great detail – about her mother,…

Jaipur Diary – Jung Chang and Jon Halliday

Jaipur Diary – Jung Chang and Jon Halliday

The anti-Mao couple. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Mao was as big a draw as Orhan Pamuk in the Jaipur Literature Festival. The ‘Vodafone’ Front Lawn in Diggi Palace Hotel – the venue – was full as Jung…

Jaipur Diary - Author Spotting in the Lit Fest

Jaipur Diary – Author Spotting in the Lit Fest

Look at them. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk has a paunch. Novelist Kiran Desai has slender legs. Travel writer Rory Stewart is super tall. Jon Lee Anderson is a bear. Vikram Seth is so…

Jaipur Diary - Alex’s Adventure with Zero

Jaipur Diary – Alex’s Adventure with Zero

Hanging out in the Lit Fest. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] He was unlucky. At 10 am, Alex Bellos, the author of Alex’s Adventures in Numberland, was one of the first writers to have a session in the…

Jaipur Diary – First Day in the Lit Fest, 2011 Edition

Jaipur Diary – First Day in the Lit Fest, 2011 Edition

No literary pretensions. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Keep the focus on blue sky and beautiful people. In the 2011 edition of Jaipur Literature Festival, The Delhi Walla is staying away from post-colonial-post-modern-post-everything literature. There is so much…

The Delhi Walla Books – Launch Event, Lodhi Restaurant

The Delhi Walla Books – Launch Event, Lodhi Restaurant

Good snacks, good talk. [Pictures by Yajuvendra Upadhyaya, Marina Bang, Mark Williams and Surabhi Chauhan] The book launch for The Delhi Walla series was a success. The venue was packed. People laughed and clapped. And Arundhati Roy came! This is…

Photo Essay – Tourists in Their Own City, Agrasen ki Baoli

Photo Essay – Tourists in Their Own City, Agrasen ki Baoli

Discovering a monument. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Are there people who find monuments boring? One winter afternoon The Delhi Walla took a group of four – three women and a man – to the rarely visited Agrasen…

City Moment – The Shape of Sound, Delhi Metro

City Moment – The Shape of Sound, Delhi Metro

The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla was one morning traveling in the Delhi Metro’s Blue Line route, which connects Anand Vihar in east Delhi to Dwarka Sector 21 in west Delhi. In…