Photo Essay – The Most Beautiful Writer’s Room in the World, Ubud, Bali
A refuge to remember forever. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is utterly quiet. The reading lamp is glowing like smoldering coal. The bed sheets are as white as the Arctic. It is more than midnight. The Delhi…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Ali F. Kazmi, Sargodha & Lahore & Karachi & Melbourne
The 136th death. [Text by Ali F. Kazmi; photo by Hussain Kazmi] It was a moonlit night of early December when Ali F. Kazmi had his overly sweetened evening tea in the same soot-covered cup and slept for good. Although…
City Monument – Black & White Ruins, Around Town
The dream images. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Last night The Delhi Walla dreamt Delhi again. It seemed to me I was in Chausath Khamba. The Jehangir-era monument seemed to have taken leave of its colors. The white daylight streamed in…
Netherfield Ball – Bali High Society Makes Out With Writer Types, Ubud Writers & Readers Festival
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most dresses were flowery, and since white people love Bali, most complexions were decidedly pale. One evening The Delhi Walla attended the opening of Ubud Writers & Readers Festival on…
City Walk – Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi
Touched by moonlight. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is pleasant to be in Chandni Chowk, to sweep the eyes 360 degrees in this in-your-face Secular India theme park—temples, mosques, church and gurdwara. To see masked Jains, kirpan-wielding…
The Biographical Dictionary Of Delhi – Naseem Mirza Changezi , B. Old Delhi, 1910
The definitive directory of great Delhiwallas. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Old Delhi’s living encyclopedia, he knows the stories of its every street and alley, and he is probably more important to the well-being of this city…
Atget’s Corner – 971-975, 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 Library – Namita Gokhale’s Books, Safdarjung Development Area
A vanishing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The books are everywhere, including under her bed. One afternoon The Delhi Walla visits Namita Gokhale at her home in South Delhi’s poetically named neighborhood of Safdarjung Development Area. “I…
Photo Essay – The Rebirth of an Old House, Old Delhi
Time regained. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In Delhi, there is a place called Old Delhi. In Old Delhi, there are many, many narrow alleys, so narrow that the sun never penetrates into them. One such narrow lane…
Mission Delhi – Monet Lalparvul, Café Turtle, Khan Market
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is that brief lull before the storm. It is Saturday morning and Café Turtle in Khan Market is empty. Except for her. She is…
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