Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Remembering Urdu Poet Musheer Jhinjhanvi, Ghalib Academy

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Remembering Urdu Poet Musheer Jhinjhanvi, Ghalib Academy

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Urdu poet Iffat Zarrin arrived at Ghalib Academy with her two brothers, Naseer ul Hasan and Muneer ul Hasan. They had driven together from their respective houses in Old…

Atget’s Corner – 876-880, Delhi Photos

Atget’s Corner – 876-880, 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,…

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Mark Tully, b. Calcutta, 1935

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Mark Tully, b. Calcutta, 1935

Our foreign correspondent. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is noon, yet the drawing room is washed in a cool darkness. The gentleman is seated on a sofa. The November sunlight pierces the window and falls on his…

City Nature - The Majestic Pilkhan Tree, Deer Park

City Nature – The Majestic Pilkhan Tree, Deer Park

Larger than death. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Life is a series of disappointments. And then you see something grand and noble, which surpasses life. One ancient morning, a couple of seasons ago, The Delhi Walla came across…

City Monument - 12 Pillars, Barakhamba Road

City Monument – 12 Pillars, Barakhamba Road

A new ruin. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 1, 2, 3, 4… exactly 12 pillars, or bara khambas, here. These white columns, plastered with political posters, appear to effectively dispel the mystery behind the evocative name of Barakhamba…

Atget’s Corner – 866-870, Delhi Photos

Atget’s Corner – 866-870, 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 Notice - An Apology From The Delhi Walla

City Notice – An Apology From The Delhi Walla

Sorry. [Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; photo by Aanchal Malhotra] This is an apology to the readers of The Delhi Walla. So, here it is: Sorry, friends. I wish to make an honest talk. Please hear me. Friends, I like…

Netherfield Ball – Zac O’Yeah's Book Reception, Swedish Ambassador’s Residence, Nyaya Marg

Netherfield Ball – Zac O’Yeah’s Book Reception, Swedish Ambassador’s Residence, Nyaya Marg

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] More than one person in the party declared that the man in the black hat looked like Sir Elton John. But the pop icon spoke English in a pucca Indian…

City Moment - Remembering Qawwal and Scholar Meraj Ahmed Nizami at His Grave, Panj Peeran Qabristan

City Moment – Remembering Qawwal and Scholar Meraj Ahmed Nizami at His Grave, Panj Peeran Qabristan

The remarkable Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The grave is unevenly covered with red roses.  The Delhi Walla is standing by the resting place of Meraj Ahmed Nizami in Panj Peeran Qabristan. The patriarch of Nizami…

City Moment – Post-Performance Shyness, Galli Shiv Prasad Master

City Moment – Post-Performance Shyness, Galli Shiv Prasad Master

The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They were dancing to a Hindi film song from the 1980s–Mukka la muqabla laila. One night The Delhi Walla was in Galli Shiv Prasad Master, a dead-end street in…