Atget’s Corner – 461-465, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 31, 20140 The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds, courtyards, kitchens and old buildings. My archive of more than 25,000 photos showcases Delhi’s ongoing evolution. Each day five randomly picked pictures from this collection will be put up on the pages of this website. The series is named in the memory of French artist Eugène Atget (1857-1927), who, in the words of a biographer, was an “obsessed photographer determined to document every corner of Paris before it disappeared under the assault of modern improvements.” Here are Delhi photos numbered 461 to 465. 461. Saket 462. Civil
The Hindu Review – On Nobody Can Love You More The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - August 30, 2014August 30, 20140 Life in a red light district. [By Enid Paul] Enid Paul of The Hindu talked about Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District, a book by The Delhi Walla. Click here to read it on the newspaper’s website, or see below. LIFE IN Delhi’s red light area hardly arouses general interest as those who live in it are just left to their miserable fate. But a book, Nobody Can Love You More (published by Penguin Viking) by Mayank Austen Soofi, takes us behind the walls of G. B. Road, named after a British civic official. “There are 80 kothas in 42 buildings in it” and you can imagine how the numerous sex workers, exploited by pimps and harassed by
City Season – The August Dog, Tilak Nagar Nature by The Delhi Walla - August 28, 2014August 28, 20144 Hot, humid and still cool. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If it’s August in Delhi, then it has to be insufferably humid and burning. The overcast sky traps the broiling heat and the city becomes a sponge. There’s no breeze in the sticky air, and no reprieve under the trees. For people on the street, it’s like being perpetually in a steam bath. They don’t just bear with the weather, but also have to wear it. Sweat-soaked clothes cling to the skin. Black underarm stains compromise dignity. The absence of an air-conditioner causes utter wretchedness. The body doesn’t cool off even at night. To makes the month gloomier, major fires erupted in the colonial-era Connaught Place and the Mughal-era Chandni
Mission Delhi – Ramrati Singh, Near Barakhamba Metro Station Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - August 27, 2014August 27, 20144 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every morning she reads aloud passages from the sacred Ramcharitmanas; her head rocking back and forth in tune with the cadence of the Awadhi dialect verses. The white-haired woman is a new addition to the sights and sounds of a side lane that connects Barakhamba Road to Kasturba Gandhi Marg in Delhi’s Connaught Place. Clothed in either a blue sari or a pink gown, she can be seen sitting on the footpath from 9-11am, with the epic poem on her lap. Office-goers rush past her. A few glance at her, some stop momentarily, charmed by her mellow recital. A very few put a coin or two in
Atget’s Corner – 456-460, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 26, 20140 The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds, courtyards, kitchens and old buildings. My archive of more than 25,000 photos showcases Delhi’s ongoing evolution. Each day five randomly picked pictures from this collection will be put up on the pages of this website. The series is named in the memory of French artist Eugène Atget (1857-1927), who, in the words of a biographer, was an “obsessed photographer determined to document every corner of Paris before it disappeared under the assault of modern improvements.” Here are Delhi photos numbered 456 to 460. 456. Paharganj 457. Matia
Atget’s Corner – 451-455, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 25, 2014August 25, 20140 The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds, courtyards, kitchens and old buildings. My archive of more than 25,000 photos showcases Delhi’s ongoing evolution. Each day five randomly picked pictures from this collection will be put up on the pages of this website. The series is named in the memory of French artist Eugène Atget (1857-1927), who, in the words of a biographer, was an “obsessed photographer determined to document every corner of Paris before it disappeared under the assault of modern improvements.” Here are Delhi photos numbered 451 to 455. 451. Dilli Gate 452.
City Food – Heera Lal’s Kulle Chaat, Chawri Bazaar Food by The Delhi Walla - August 25, 2014August 25, 20141 Invented delights. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He picks up a whole boiled potato, scoops out most of its flesh with a knife and fills the ensuing void with delicious stuffing. Depending on your taste, he can substitute the potato with melon/cucumber/shakarkandi/mango/apple/banana. This is the famous kulle chaat – and to The Delhi Walla's knowledge*, it is available only at the extremely humble-looking Heera Lal Chat Corner in Old Delhi’s Chawri Bazaar. Sitting adjacent to a framed picture of the aforementioned delicacy, Ram Babu Kushwaha says that he invented it at the turn of this century. “One day I was simply experimenting by hollowing out the potato and filling it with spices and lemon juice," he says. "It tasted nice
City Archives – Delhi Forests, Around Town Delhi Archives by The Delhi Walla - August 24, 2014August 24, 20140 [Digging out old stories from The Delhi Walla] Secretive and silent. Intertwined trees, twisted trunks, thorny twigs, rocky slopes, and clumps of grass. The nearest McDonald’s is two miles away. The Delhi Walla is on Delhi’s Central Ridge, a forest in the Capital’s heart abutting Sardar Patel Road in Chanakyapuri. For a city on the edge of a desert, Delhi is remarkable for the number and diversity of its trees. This dry, dusty metropolis is home to 252 species (New York has 130). We could just as well be in a rainforest. The 2009 Forest Survey of India records Delhi’s forest area at 85 sq. km, which is 5.73 per cent of the city. In the period between 2005 and 2009, the
Atget’s Corner – 446-450, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 23, 20140 The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds, courtyards, kitchens and old buildings. My archive of more than 25,000 photos showcases Delhi’s ongoing evolution. Each day five randomly picked pictures from this collection will be put up on the pages of this website. The series is named in the memory of French artist Eugène Atget (1857-1927), who, in the words of a biographer, was an “obsessed photographer determined to document every corner of Paris before it disappeared under the assault of modern improvements.” Here are Delhi photos numbered 446 to 450. 446. Turkman Gate 447.
Atget’s Corner – 441-445, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 21, 20140 The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds, courtyards, kitchens and old buildings. My archive of more than 25,000 photos showcases Delhi’s ongoing evolution. Each day five randomly picked pictures from this collection will be put up on the pages of this website. The series is named in the memory of French artist Eugène Atget (1857-1927), who, in the words of a biographer, was an “obsessed photographer determined to document every corner of Paris before it disappeared under the assault of modern improvements.” Here are Delhi photos numbered 441 to 445. 441. Hauz Khas