City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXXVI

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXXVI

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The 36th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust, will take place later in January 2013. You will be informed in…

Delhi's Bandaged Heart - The Girl in the Bus, Munirika

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – The Girl in the Bus, Munirika

Poetry in the city. This poem is by The Delhi Walla. Which movie did she see on Sunday evening? In Jantar Mantar. To a fellow Delhiwalla, ‘Sir, are you for or against rape?’ Newspapers say she was returning home after…

City Food - Buffalo Legs, Chitli Qabar Bazaar

City Food – Buffalo Legs, Chitli Qabar Bazaar

Winter warmer. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The alleys of Old Delhi’s Chitli Qabar bazaar throw up incredibly kaleidoscopic sights in winter mornings. There are hawkers selling, among other things, buffalo legs, or paya. Stacked in straw baskets,…

City Book - GB Road, Inside Delhi's Red Light District

City Book – GB Road, Inside Delhi’s Red Light District

Interview on Nobody Can Love You More. [The above photo is by Helena Kaartinen] Joanna Sugden at The Wall Street Journal‘s website talked to The Delhi Walla about his book Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light…

City Hangout - Kashmere Gate, North Delhi

City Hangout – Kashmere Gate, North Delhi

In search of lost time. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] With sloping tin roofs, decorated iron columns, terracotta jaalis, independently-owned stores and a 19th century church, Kashmere Gate in north Delhi suggests a small-town setting, in which the…

Mission Delhi – Sultan, Turkman Gate

Mission Delhi – Sultan, Turkman Gate

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is standing quietly on a stationery scooter. The Delhi Walla approaches him. The scooter is parked in an alley in Turkman Gate, a congested…

City Hangout – Change of Guard, Rashtrapati Bhawan

City Hangout – Change of Guard, Rashtrapati Bhawan

The Raisina show. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sleekly muscled. Powerful. Well-groomed. These were some of the assertions made in a letter sent by Rashtrapati Bhavan in December 2012. The invitation to The Delhi Walla was for a…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXXV, Mehrauli

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXXV, Mehrauli

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 35th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

City Style – The Classy Delhiwalla, Ring Road

City Style – The Classy Delhiwalla, Ring Road

Searching for the stylish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla saw this man on the Ring Road. He was wearing a blue salwar kurta. His dark-blue jacket was printed with hundreds of delicately shaped green leaves,…

City Video – Nobody Can Love You More, GB Road

City Video – Nobody Can Love You More, GB Road

Watched by thousands of people. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Penguin India, the publishers of The Delhi Walla’s new book, Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District, sent me a mail: The video for the book has…