City Sightings – Mr Ambedkar’s World, Around Town General by The Delhi Walla - August 20, 2014August 20, 20144 The progress of touch. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One Sunday, while walking in north Delhi, The Delhi Walla came across a bungalow on Alipur Road, now Sham Nath Marg. It was the memorial of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the leader who championed the rights of Dalits. Spread over 3 acres, this was Mr Ambedkar's last home. Close to the University of Delhi, the house belonged to the raja of Sirohi, Rajasthan. Purchased by an industrialist, who demolished the original building to make a new bungalow, it was acquired by the government in 2003 and declared a national property. I was the only visitor that time of the day. A board outside the museum said: “Please remove your shoes.” Museums dedicated to
Photo Essay – Movie Tickets, Old/Extinct Cinemas Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - August 18, 2014July 21, 20152 Searching lost time. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Chanakya Cinema in Chankayapuri shut down in 2007 – its building was demolished two years later. The old Sangam Cinema in RK Puram too was razed. The colonial-era Plaza in Connaught Place has been converted by the PVR Cinemas chain into a multiplex. BIG Cinemas, a theater chain of Reliance MediaWorks Ltd, acquired the nearby Odeon in 2009. The oldest British-era theater in Connaught Place, Regal, which was built in 1932, continues to exist in its original form. For now. Note: If you have old cinema tickets, please contact me at mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com. Rest in peace 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
City Nature – Yellow Flowers, Humayun’s Tomb Nature by The Delhi Walla - August 18, 2014August 18, 20141 The yellow magic. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One August evening The Delhi Walla visited Humayun’s Tomb. The setting sun made the Mughal-era stone monument appear deceptively light, and yet this impression was not the day’s principal poetic element. The sightseers were instead distracted by hundreds of yellow flowers that were shooting out of the green grass. It was an unexpectedly amazing sight. Two young women from Bombay were so thrilled that they plucked off the flowers, sticking them behind their ears. Elsewhere, a young man was lying sprawled across a bed of yellow, and 3-4 children were playing their own strange game within the wilderness of these flowers. Nearby, a black dog loitered. By next evening, the gardeners had done
Atget’s Corner – 436-440, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 15, 2014August 15, 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 436 to 440. 436. Defence Colony 437.
Mission Delhi – Ratish Nanda, Lado Sarai Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - August 15, 20142 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He was taking photos of an obscure Lodhi-era tomb in south Delhi’s Lado Sarai when a man rushed out of it, and attacked him with an iron rod. Ratish Nanda was hospitalized for a week. Fifteen years later, standing fearlessly outside the monument, he says, “That man had occupied this gumbad (dome) and wanted to demolish it to build his garage.” Today, the tomb and Mr Nanda are both intact. In fact, Mr Nanda has become a healer of Delhi’s crumbling monuments. He has been involved in the conservation of more than 100 of them. And in 2013, the team led by the 41-year-old conservation architect finished
Atget’s Corner – 431-435, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 13, 2014August 13, 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 431 to 435. 431. Turkman Gate 432.
City Season – Rainy Afternoon, Lodhi Garden Nature by The Delhi Walla - August 13, 2014August 13, 20140 Wet scenes. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One extremely humid August afternoon The Delhi Walla stepped into Lodhi Garden. Large parts of the park were immersed under water. The sky was overcast with black clouds. It must have rained. Some of the benches on which lovers sit and kiss each other had become islands. The pot-bellied walkers had to take a diversion since pieces of the jogging track too had disappeared under rain water. On one of the dry patches, a young woman in a red sari was holding the hands of a young man in a black shirt. They were looking into each other’s eyes. Behind them stood a centuries-old tomb. Nearby, another young couple was walking under a wet tree, their arms
Atget’s Corner – 426-430, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 11, 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 426 to 430. 426. Buddha Jayanti
The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Balraj Bahri Malhotra, b. Malakwal, 9 October, 1928 Biographical Dictionary by The Delhi Walla - August 10, 2014September 12, 20152 A Khan Market icon. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi; the black & white photos belong to Bahrsions Booksellers] Born to a bank manager in Malakwal in today’s Pakistan, Balraj Bahri Malhotra received his college education in Rawalpindi. He arrived in Delhi in 1947 as a 19-year-old partition refugee and met his future wife, Saubhagya, at the Kingsway camp in north Delhi. In 1953 he opened a bookstore in one of the city's new bazaars. He arranged the initial investment of 800 rupees by selling his mother’s single gold bangle. Today, Bahrisons Booksellers is one of the oldest surviving landmarks of the fast-changing Khan Market and its courteous founder-owner a representative of the market's early years. Due to his advancing age, Mr
Atget’s Corner – 421-425, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - August 10, 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 421 to 425. 421. Niti Bagh 422.