City Faith – Praying for The Children, Behram Khan Tiraha
Mother’s festival. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They were performing a sacred ceremony in the middle of the road. One early morning The Delhi Walla saw about half a dozen barefoot women at Behram Khan Tiraha, a three-way…
Netherfield Ball – Explosive Clash Averted at William Dalrymple’s Opening Bash, Vadhera Art Gallery, Defence Colony
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was a countdown to the nuclear war. Two superstar Indian journalists ended up almost within an inch of annihilation. The Delhi Walla watched the spectacle with bated breath one…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Rajeev Anil Roark, Perch, Khan Market
Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His life is like an unmentionable dream. During the day, he makes coffee; at night, he makes poems. His necessary companions: Marlboro and Remington. And once a woman posed…
City Notice – Artist Dayanita Singh’s Gift To The Delhi Walla Website, Museum of Chance
A beautiful gesture. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One evening at the Museum of Chance in South Delhi’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, artist Dayanita Singh, in front of a gathering of some of the city’s fine people,…
City Moment – The Late Night Street Qawwali, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most of the street was immersed in darkness. But one corner was flooded with light. There, a makeshift stage had come up on the middle of the lane. A roof…
City Notice for 4 PM, 27 March – Artist Dayanita Singh To Celebrate The Delhi Walla Website as Delhi’s Archivist
On cloud nine. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla has never met the great Dayanita Singh although she lives in Delhi. Of course, I have come to know her over the years through her books. I also once sighted…
City Life – The Book Shop Walks With Bahrisons Booksellers, Jor Bagh
Two landmarks. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They are walking together. One evening The Delhi Walla sees Nini KD Singh and Aanchal Malhotra at a public park in the quiet Jor Bagh. The two women are intimately connected…
Mission Delhi – Catherine Lama, Lodhi Road
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A red rose is tucked into her hair. A green scarf is tied under her chin. Her wrinkled hands lie folded on her lap. Her…
Delhi Proustians – First Meeting With Marcel, Venice
First day, first show. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Very soon, his life will revolve around a single object—a book with 2,058 pages. And if in this world of million distractions he manages to read even five pages…
Netherfield Ball – Sadia Dehlvi’s Grand Bash, Nizamuddin East
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everybody who is somebody in Delhi is Sadia Dehlvi’s friend. That doesn’t mean that the author of Sufism: The Heart of Islam does not have important friends outside Delhi. One…
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