City Special – Arundhati Roy on Capitalism General by The Delhi Walla - March 18, 20126 The ghost story. [Photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The March 26, 2012, issue of Delhi-based Outlook magazine carries an essay on capitalism by Delhi's greatest living writer, Arundhati Roy. Here's the piece Is it a house or a home? A temple to the new India, or a warehouse for its ghosts? Ever since Antilla arrived on Altamont Road in Mumbai, exuding mystery and quiet menace, things have not been the same. “Here we are,” the friend who took me there said, “Pay your respects to our new Ruler.” Antilla belongs to India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. I had read about this most expensive dwelling ever built, the twenty-seven floors, three helipads, nine lifts, hanging gardens, ballrooms, weather rooms, gymnasiums, six floors of parking, and
Hauz Khas Series – A House in the Village, Chapter 5 Regions by The Delhi Walla - March 16, 2012December 2, 20132 Life in Delhi’s prettiest neighborhood. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] My landlord has asked for the phone number of my nearest kin. If I suddenly die, whom would he call to dispose off the body? He produces a form. I fill my particulars: height, weight, birthmark, blood group, the eye color, permanent address... The landlord takes me along the village alleys, past boutiques, fashion houses and cafes. He owns another building where too the rooms are rent out to single people like me. The landlord unlocks a door. The room is empty. Here a tenant killed himself by hanging from a bed sheet. The young man was an engineer from Kerala. His neighbors called the landlord after a foul smell spread through the apartment
Mission Delhi – Billi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - March 15, 2012March 15, 20124 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He gazes down on the marble floor. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Eleven minutes. He is immobile. Pilgrims walk around him. A few pat him. One child playfully pulls his tail. One takes his photo with a mobile phone camera. But he remains stock-still. A statue. The Delhi Walla met Billi in the shrine of Hazrat Nizmauddin Auliya, Delhi’s 14th century Sufi saint. His name means ‘cat’ in Hindi. Most people call him Billi. But sometimes he is also called ‘Cat’ and ‘Catty’. His light-brown furry body is marked with black stripes. He has eight whiskers. The inside flaps of his ears have the pale
City Travel – The Heart of Sufism, Ajmer Sharif Faith Travel by The Delhi Walla - March 13, 2012March 13, 20125 The soul of Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is the city of Sufis. It is traditionally known as 'Bais khwaja ki chaukhat', the threshold of 22 Sufis. To understand the soul of this city, you must make a pilgrimage to a shrine, which is six hours away from the capital. Take the Shatabdi Express to Ajmer, Rajasthan. The train leaves from New Delhi station at 6 am daily. You reach Ajmer in the afternoon. Get an auto rickshaw to the shrine. On entering, the white dome attracts your attention. It’s not the architecture or the gold centrepiece at its top. Nor the birds circling it. This dome seems to shape and consecrate every moment of this place. The fakirs (ascetics)
The Delhi Walla Books – Enjoying a Long Life The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - March 12, 2012March 12, 20124 More considered reviews and recognition. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] A cat has nine lives. The Delhi Walla books - all four of them - are enjoying the same fate. Published by HarperCollins India in 2010, the books were widely considered to be mere guidebooks. Most Indian newspapers found them too insignificant to feature in their review sections. Delhi-centric magazines like Time Out Delhi and First City ignored the books. Hindustan Times was kind to take note of them, but the daily disposed off the four books in four brief sentences. It is 2012. The books are still selling well. And they are popping up in more thoughtful journals. The January issue of The Book Review, India’s most prestigious literary journal, devoted an impressive portion
City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – XII, Indian Coffee House Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - March 12, 2012April 17, 20132 A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 12th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read his masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time. It is 7.18 pm and The Delhi Walla is with three fellow Proustians. Abdul Muqhtadir, a law student in Delhi University. Sourabh Gupta, a writer from Noida (once again he has come with oatmeal biskuts!). Richard Weiderman, a retired teacher from Grand Rapid, Michigan. Actually, we can’t call ourselves Proustians. Collins dictionary defines the term as an adjective (“of or relating to Marcel Proust, his works, or his style”) and as a noun (“an admirer of Marcel Proust's
City Season – Spring Delights, Around Town General by The Delhi Walla - March 10, 2012March 10, 20124 Sweet and short. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] At last it is spring. The Oxford English dictionary describes it as “the season after winter and before summer, in which vegetation begins to appear.” In the West, this is the time when new leaves start appearing on trees that were bare in winter. It is the other way round in Delhi. As spring begins, the leaves start falling from trees. The trees are preparing for the summer. Pradip Krishen, the author of Trees of Delhi, once told The Delhi Walla: ““For a tree to survive in prolonged drought, it needs to shut down. The best way for it to do that is to drop its leaves and stop transpiring water.” One late afternoon in March
City Book – Delhi: 14 Historic Walks, Swapna Liddle General by The Delhi Walla - March 9, 2012March 9, 20122 Walking with a guide. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Considering the disrespect that car drivers give to pedestrians in Delhi, it is tough to believe that the Capital is meant for leisure walking. But here are the secrets. You can spend a day in Lutyens’ Delhi, walking past white colonial-era bungalows lined with trees. You can walk around the hilly slopes and monuments of the Mehrauli Archaeological complex. You can make endless circles around the Inner and Outer circles of Connaught Place shopping district, coming across landmarks that seem leftovers from another age. You can walk down central Delhi’s little-known but beautifully paved walk paths, such as the one that starts from Khan Market and goes all the way to the 14th century village
City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – XI, Indian Coffee House Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - March 5, 2012April 17, 20131 A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 11th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read his masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time. It is 7.05 pm and The Delhi Walla has arrived without his copy of Lost Time. Somebody flicked it in the metro. No worries. I’ve many Marcels at home, and it is nice to discover that there is at least one pickpocket in Delhi who prefers Proust, and not a wallet. A slim man is approaching the table. “Hello, I’ve come to attend The Delhi Proustains,” he says. Abdul Muqhtadir is a law student in Delhi University. Sitting
Photo Essay – Sleeping, Around Town Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - March 3, 2012March 3, 20127 Our fundamental right. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In February 2012, the Supreme Court of India declared that a citizen has a right to sound sleep because it is fundamental to life and falls within the purview of Article 21 of the Indian constitution. "Sleep is essential for a human being to maintain the delicate balance of health necessary... Sleep is, therefore, a fundamental and basic requirement... ” the court said. The Delhi Walla did not need a Supreme Court order to appreciate this human right and has been recording images of Delhiwallas sleeping in their bedrooms, in their offices and in the city's streets. Here's the evidence. Don't wake him Shh, Mummy is sleeping Sleeping beauty No honking please Wet dreams His majesty's siesta Delhi dreams You