Netherfield Ball – Margaret Atwood’s Reception, India Habitat Center City Parties by The Delhi Walla - January 27, 2016January 28, 20162 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Author Patrick French is very, very handsome. Even so, that was not the only reason why one chilly evening in Delhi a multitude of women and men wanted to be him. Mr French was to stage a conversation with Canadian writer Margaret Atwood at the Stein Auditorium in India Habitat Center. This meant that Mr French was to sit within a touching distance of the legendary novelist who, at 76, might not again take the risk to visit the world’s most polluted city. The Delhi Walla reached the venue two hours in advance to enjoy the privilege of gazing at the lovely faces of the two luckiest people on earth: law student Gayatri
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Mantra Mukim, Kamla Nagar City Poetry by The Delhi Walla - January 27, 2016January 27, 20162 Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The one-room apartment is filled with books on poetry. There are paperbacks under the bed, too. The ashtray lies atop Jorges Luis Borges’s Poems of the Night. The writing table has a reading lamp, and the reading lamp has a kite’s feather. The only window gives a clear view of the setting sun. The bed is a mattress on the floor. There is also a typewriter. One afternoon The Delhi Walla entered the home of poet Mantra Mukim in North Delhi’s Kamla Nagar. A Master’s student of English Literature in Delhi University, Mr Mukim writes poems in Hindi and English. Some of them can be accessed on his blog along with photographs
City Food – Auto Drivers’ Dal-Chawal Stall, Kasturba Gandhi Road Food by The Delhi Walla - January 25, 2016January 25, 20163 Meal on the go. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] All bankers look the same. They probably regain their individualistic personas during their lunch breaks. Same is the case with people of other professions too, including the capital’s auto rickshaw drivers. This became clear to The Delhi Walla at Ram Hazoor’s pavement food stall on central Delhi's Kasturba Gandhi Road. His Dal-Chawal shack is wildly popular among the auto drivers. Many of them, who chiefly drive in this part of the city, plan their itinerary in such a way that they pass by Mr Hazoor’s stall as hunger pangs start to distract them on the city’s dangerous roads. After dropping off the passenger, a typical driver would head to Mr Hazoor, quickly
Atget’s Corner – 896-900, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - January 24, 20160 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. Five randomly picked pictures from this collection are regularly 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 896 to 900. 896. Turkman Gate Bazaar 897. Gurudwara
Netherfield Ball – The Alkazi Foundation’s Reception, Max Mueller Bhavan City Parties by The Delhi Walla - January 23, 2016January 23, 20162 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is that cold time of the year when all the beautiful people of the capital join the exodus to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival. Delhi is cruelly dumped; its high society becomes a pathetic shadow of its former self. This, once again, became obvious to The Delhi Walla one cold evening at the cocktail reception held in Max Mueller Bhawan by The Alkazi Foundation to celebrate the opening of photo exhibition, Calcutta: Chitpur Road Neighbourhoods (A Kolkata Heritage Project). There were so few people present at the garden-side venue of the German cultural center that all the guests could have easily fitted into the drawing room of a MIG (Middle Income
City List – Khan Market’s Last Residents, Central Delhi Delhi by List by The Delhi Walla - January 22, 20160 End of story. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Khan Market suffers a great loss. Raj Berry of flat no. 37 died in November 2015; she was 86. With her departure, the number of Khan Market’s residents falls further. Delhi’s most posh market used to be home to a large number of people who had settled here as refugees of the Indian partition in the 1940s. There were shops downstairs and houses upstairs. The market had 74 houses. Today, most of those flats have given way to cafes and restaurants. (The Delhi Walla wrote about Khan Market’s last surviving homes here). Khan Market is now left with only seven habited homes. Here’s the list of those flats and their dwellers. 1. Indira Gulati, flat
City Moment – Steve McCurry Shoots a Goat, Somewhere in Delhi Moments by The Delhi Walla - January 21, 2016January 21, 20167 The incredible Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His eyes narrowed down to the black dog. Just as he clicked on his mobile phone camera, a man suddenly passed in front of the dog. The moment was spoiled. The mobile phone photographer was celebrated lensman Steve McCurry, the man who has captured some of our time’s most memorable images—from the steam engine in front of Taj Mahal to a girl in war-torn Afghanistan who became one of the world’s most famous and tragic faces after her picture appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine. The Delhi Walla spotted Mr McCurry in a classic Delhi setting: ramshackle homes, paan-stained pillars, snack carts selling deliciously-greasy noodles and lots of lovely dogs, cats
City Moment – BRT Cyclists, Bhishma Pitamah Road Moments by The Delhi Walla - January 20, 2016January 20, 20161 The much-needed cyclists. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Five young women and men are sharing three bicycles between them. One evening The Delhi Walla spots them on the tree-lined Bhishma Pitamah Road. These green bicycles are labeled 'Delhi BRT'; the initials refer to that ambitious Bus Rapid Transit system that was opened in 2008 to tame the city’s sluggish traffic. Apparently, the scheme failed, and the year 2016 has begun with the dismantling of the BRT corridor. Perhaps these BRT bikes will live on. They were introduced along with the aforementioned corridor—the purpose was to gently nudge people to opt for the environment-friendly option by renting these bikes parked at the especially-built stands at a dirt-cheap rate of 10
Photo Essay – Shakespeare’s World, Around Delhi Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - January 18, 2016January 18, 20160 Living with the Bard. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Disclaimer: This article has stolen many phrases from the complete works of a writer who had a history of taking inspiration from people’s lives. In Sufism, the death anniversary of a mystic is not mourned but celebrated, and the celebration is called Urs. Now, this “brave new world” is celebrating the 400th death anniversary of a man who was no Sufi, certainly, but one of the world’s greatest writers, whose very name today is a “tower of strength”. William Shakespeare “passed through nature to eternity” in 1616, and since then his readers have been having “too much of a good thing”. The world—which has been described overwhelmingly over these last four centuries by the
City Monument – Hijron ka Khanqah, Mehrauli Monuments by The Delhi Walla - January 16, 2016January 16, 20161 Into another world. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Beautifully maintained, surprisingly serene, and almost always empty, this is a sufi spiritual retreat for hijras, or eunuchs, who beg for money by flaunting their ambiguous sexuality, and yet are fiercely guarded about their private lives. Situated on the scenic bazaar street of south Delhi’s Mehrauli region, the khanqah is entered through an iron grill. Up a flight of six stairs, the courtyard is covered with 50 whitewashed tombs. Forty-nine hijras are buried here. The principal tomb, covered by a roof, is said to be that of the sister of a man known simply as Sheikh Baba. This was originally a Lodi-era graveyard that was claimed by eunuchs at the turn of the 20th