City List – Foodies of the World, Hauz Khas Village Delhi by List by The Delhi Walla - June 30, 2016June 30, 20162 The hungry villagers. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If a First World foreigner is airlifted from her land straight into Hauz Khas Village, she will find it next to impossible to believe it is Delhi’s coolest hangout. The main lane is B-list; dust drifts constantly from the never-ending construction; skinny men in gold skeleton mask carry placards advertising the newest hotspots. But Delhiwallas look at the place with rose-tinted glasses. HKV currently abounds with the furious energy of a Special Economic Zone. A new month equals a new watering hole. From Mysore to Moscow, the menus in these restaurants, cafes and bars promise items from across the world, or at least have names that evoke the place of their origin.
Mission Delhi – Muhammed Irfan Qureshi, Turkman Gate Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - June 29, 2016June 29, 20163 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He sits in his blood-stained jeans, surrounded by chunks of meat hanging from hooks, and holds up his bloodied hands like a trophy. Next to him, a giant iron cleaver lies on a massive tree stump. One can well imagine Muhammed Irfan Qureshi as a fearsome figure from a vegetarian’s nightmare. Mr Qureshi, who is in his mid-20s, is a butcher in the congested Turkman Gate Bazaar in Old Delhi. His family has been in the profession for generations, but he dreams of a future without the butcher’s knife. For the moment, Mr Qureshi has been forced to worry about the profession he was born into. “I’m scared
Netherfield Ball – Power Couple Ananya Vajpeyi and Basharat Peer & Former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, India International Center City Parties by The Delhi Walla - June 27, 2016June 28, 20160 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most people looked grave enough to pass off as authors. The curly-haired Vinay Sitapati was not one of them (see photo 3 below). He looked like an author only on his book’s back cover. The Delhi Walla was at the India International Center to celebrate the launch of Mr Sitapati’s book Half Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India. The power couple of Delhi’s literary circle was also there. Writer Ananya Vajpeyi and her husband, writer Basharat Peer, glowed with the confidence of successful Delhi intellectuals on intimate terms with influential foreign correspondents. Mr Peer was solemnly chatting with sociologist Ashis Nandy while Ms Vajpeyi was engaged in a tête-à-tête with Max Rodenbeck,
City Moment – Two Women Bikers in Late Night Delhi, Bhishma Pitamah Marg Moments by The Delhi Walla - June 26, 2016June 26, 20162 The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A most unexpected thing happened on Central Delhi's Bhishma Pitamah Marg one late night. Two young women stopped their bike abruptly on spotting The Delhi Walla's camera and demanded to be photographed right there on the road. Delhi is considered a dangerous city for women, especially after the sunset, and yet these two women were unaccompanied by any man. After posing together for my camera, the women walked up to the pavement and started to smoke. Soon afterwards, they sped away on their bike. It was a liberating moment. Grab the night, girls 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
City List – The 20 Lovely Shop Assistants of The Book Shop in Jorbagh Delhi by List by The Delhi Walla - June 25, 2016June 25, 20162 You are remembered. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A nice bookstore is cherished not only for its collection of books and its charming owners, but also for its friendly shop assistants. Since the time it was founded by late KD Singh in 1970, The Book Shop in Delhi’s Jorbagh has been shaped by a number of much-loved people, including Mr Singh’s wife, Nini, and her business partner, the lovely Sonal Narain, and longtime doorman, the quietly helpful Sohan Singh. All three of them are seen daily in the shop. But a place is more than what it is at the moment. The Delhi Walla gives you a list of all the 20 shop assistants who manned The Book Shop--including in its
City Notice – Catherine Lama is Dead, Lodhi Road General by The Delhi Walla - June 23, 2016June 23, 20161 The passing away of a beautiful woman. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Catherine Lama, who always wore a red rose in her hair and who lived on a Delhi pavement, died in June 2016. There was no certainty about her age, though she looked elderly and was called 'mother' by the area's other homeless people. Danny Baba, a beggar (see photo 1 below) who sheltered Ms Lama in his makeshift residence on Lodhi Road, told The Delhi Walla that she was unwell for a long time. He added that her feet had swelled excessively during her last days. I first met Ms Lama in early 2016. She would talk in English to me and sometimes she would break into old Hindi
Julia Child in Delhi – Liter Basar Makes Cordon Bleu’s Brioche, Hazrat Nizamuddin East Julia Child's Delhi by The Delhi Walla - June 22, 2016June 22, 20162 The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is the closest The Delhi Walla could get to the legendary author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I’m standing within a touching distance of a woman who walks the same stairs that the great Julia Child used to walk. Liter Basar is a bakery scholar at Le Cordon Bleu, the prestigious cooking school in Paris where Julia Child learned French cuisine. I catch Ms Basar at her home in Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin East just in time-- she is flying back to Charles de Gaulle tomorrow afternoon by Air India. Ms Basar is in town on a brief holiday to be with her husband, Apurva, her little son,
Mission Delhi – Amar Jyoti, Outside Humayun’s Tomb Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - June 21, 2016June 21, 20164 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The rickshaw stops besides the pavement stand of a golgappa vendor. The passenger, a frail elderly woman in a crumpled night gown, remains seated. The snack man quietly fills up his golgappa with the tangy tamarind flavoured water and hands it over to the rickshaw puller, who passes it to the woman. She pops it into her mouth with her trembling hands and patiently waits for the next golgappa. This goes on for some time. No words are exchanged. The Delhi Walla is watching this scene one rainy evening outside Humayun's Tomb. The woman looks tired. Her gown has purple flowers. Suddenly she spots me watching
City Hangout – CP @ Midnight, Connaught Place Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - June 17, 2016April 27, 20193 The new night life in the shopping district. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There they are. Just two minutes of walking through a deserted block, and you spot the party-ready midnight’s children, who confirm what one had suspected all along—Connaught Place (CP) still has pull—even at the midnight hour. The male mannequin in an Inner Circle fashion store showroom window appears determined to rise above his circumstances—the abstract art canvas of paanstained white walls and pillars. Nearby are walking a cheerful group of four—two couples dressed for a night about town. They have just come out of a pub, having celebrated the start of the weekend, and will now drive back home to Vikaspuri. It’s hard for anyone to remain immune to
City Faith – Ramzan Banquet, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Sufi Shrine Faith by The Delhi Walla - June 15, 2016June 15, 20164 Sacred meal. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The tiled floor has got a new pattern. It is carpeted with hundreds of paper plates. Each plate is filled with sliced fruits and a piece of fried kachori. The Delhi Walla is at the women’s part of the Jamaat Khana mosque in the Sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. It is a listless afternoon in Ramzan, the Islamic season of fasting that commemorates the month when the Quran is believed to have been sent down from heaven and revealed to Prophet Muhammad. Preparations are at full swing in the shrine for the evening’s Iftari meal. These portions will be served in the courtyard just outside this mosque where a great number of people