Netherfield Ball – Geeti Bhagat's Cocktail Reception, Tees January Lane

Netherfield Ball – Geeti Bhagat’s Cocktail Reception, Tees January Lane

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The most handsome person in the select gathering was the new Mexican ambassador. Melba Pria entered the drawing room with her long hair cascading down her back. Her multi-stringed necklace…

Metro Observed - Inside the Coaches-1, Delhi Subway

Metro Observed – Inside the Coaches-1, Delhi Subway

Life in the Metro. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His eyes were closed. His right fist was wrapped in a yellow cloth. The cloth was printed all over with the names of Lord Ram and his wife Sita….

Atget’s Corner – 836-840, Delhi Photos

Atget’s Corner – 836-840, Delhi Photos

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,…

City Hangout - Ramzan Nights, Matia Mahal Bazaar

City Hangout – Ramzan Nights, Matia Mahal Bazaar

The annual blockbuster. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Picnicking year after year outside Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid during Ramzan nights is like re-reading a favourite Ghalib couplet. Everything is familiar, and yet each thing is a thrill, as…

The Delhi Proustians – 10 July, Hazrat Marcel Proustuddin's Happy Birthday

The Delhi Proustians – 10 July, Hazrat Marcel Proustuddin’s Happy Birthday

Celebrating Marcel Proust. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 10 July is a special date. It is the Happy Birthday of Marcel Proust, author of the seven-volume French novel À la Recherché du Temps Perdu, known to the English-speaking…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Gayatri Jayaraman, Kodai Probably

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Gayatri Jayaraman, Kodai Probably

The 88th death. [Text and photo by Gayatri Jayaraman] She objectified men, because there is more than one way to close the gender divide. When she laughed, she cried such that it was confusing to know, at any point, whether…

City Food - Jalebi Porn, Old and Famous Jalebi Walan, Chandni Chowk

City Food – Jalebi Porn, Old and Famous Jalebi Walan, Chandni Chowk

The family sweeteners. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] With the sudden closure in July 2015 of the historic Ghantewala confectionery in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, it has become more urgent to record the daily grind of the area’s…

Netherfield Ball – Sanjay Suri's Book launch, India International Centre

Netherfield Ball – Sanjay Suri’s Book launch, India International Centre

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was raining. The famous TV news anchor Sagarika Ghose still managed to reach the India International Center (IIC) on time. She was to stage a conversation with author and…

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Ajit Vikram Singh, b. Delhi, 26 November, 1955

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Ajit Vikram Singh, b. Delhi, 26 November, 1955

The bookish bookseller. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Ajit Vikram Singh is the founder of the cramped Fact and Fiction Booksellers, the capital’s most eclectic bookstore. No other place in Delhi offers such rich selections of books in…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Kanza Javed, Lahore

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Kanza Javed, Lahore

The 87th death. [Text and photo by Kanza Javed] If literature touches you, you are no longer afraid of contemplating the otherwise melancholic subjects, like your own death for instance, a theme explore and re-explored countless times in fiction that…