City Faith – Phool Waalon Ki Sair Festival, Mehrauli Faith by The Delhi Walla - October 17, 20160 The October occasion. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This festival with late-Mughal origins carries a flavour of the fast-fading Nehruvian legacy. Phool Waalon Ki Sair, or the procession of the flower bearers, is one of those annual rituals that many Delhiwallas have heard of but barely a few attend. The week-long carnival is essentially a celebration of the intimacy of Hindus and Muslims and is seen in certain quarters as a testament to the steadfastness of Indian-style secularism. Held annually in South Delhi’s Mehrauli, it entails offering of flowers at the Islamic shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki and the Hindu temple of Lord Krishna’s sister Jog Maya. The festival began on Thursday (13 October) and will conclude during
City Moment – Facebook Betrayal and Redemption at the Reading of The God of Small Things, Caara Café, British Council Moments by The Delhi Walla - October 16, 2016October 16, 20160 The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is only The Delhi Walla. It is evening and I’m at Caara Café inside British Council to attend a discussion of Arundhati Roy’s first novel, The God of Small Things. Hosted by Readers’ Break, the chat is to begin 15 minutes later. Soon, a young woman arrives followed by a man with a beard. He is Samuel Buchoul, the reading group’s French founder. Then one more man walks in; he is carrying a hardbound edition of the novel. Published by India ink, a publishing house that no longer exists, his copy seems to be a first edition (see photo 2 below). It is a special moment to talk on this novel at this
Atget’s Corner – 966-970, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - October 14, 2016October 14, 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 1,00,000 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 966 to 970. 966. India International Center 967. Abdul
City Faith – Durga’s Leftover Paris, Matri Mandir, Safdarjang Enclave Faith by The Delhi Walla - October 13, 2016October 13, 20162 The goddess of the Paris Opera. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s France. It’s Paris. It’s Palais Garnier. Or. It’s India. It’s Delhi. It’s Matri Mandir. One day after the conclusion of Durga Puja, The Delhi Walla enters the Matri Mandi temple grounds in Central Delhi’s Safdarjang Enclave. There is no longer the crowd of Bengali worshippers of Durga. The tent erected to house the godess during the ten days of puja, however, is still standing. This year the theme after which the festival’s camp, or pandal, was modeled for the celebrations was the aforementioned Paris Opera building. The tent is still decked with decorations: chandeliers, renaissance-era paintings, gilded panels, a grand stairway (it is actually part of the temple's original architecture), and
City Landmark – The Oriental Fruit Mart, Connaught Place Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - October 11, 2016October 12, 20162 The souvenir of the old CP. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everything—except the fruits, the cookies, the protein chocolates and the wasabi peas—looks straight out of a time warp. The wood panelling, the display cabinets, even the floor, are as old as the store, circa 1935. The only major concession to modernity at The Oriental Fruit Mart in E-block, Connaught Place (CP), was the introduction of automatic sliding door in 2011. This CP store is the stuff heritage is made of. Any CP aficionados will tell you how difficult is to keep pace with the furiously evolving colonial-era district. This world of stately white columns and louvred windows has become a muddle of restaurants, pubs and cafés. Feel free to accuse
City Moment – Yoga Homage to Emperor Muhammad Shah, Lodhi Gardens Moments by The Delhi Walla - October 10, 20162 The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is the short story of one woman and four men. One evening The Delhi Walla sees Miss Fatima, Mr Suhail Ansari, Mr Mohan, Mr Kaushal Suryavanshi and Mr Anil Kumar in Lodhi Gardens. They are gathered under the 15th century tomb of Muhammad Shah, one of the least-known men who ever ruled Delhi. Describing themselves as yoga practitioners, all five of these people go on to perform various kinds of limb-twisting yoga positions. Their yoga mat: an Archaeological Survey of India slab. This piece of stone briefly details the life of the aforementioned emperor and his mausoleum, and—it must be said--never did the slab look as interesting as now. After half
City News – The Magnificent and Much-Loved ‘Tribal Tree’ of Alliance Française is No More, Lodhi Estate General Life by The Delhi Walla - October 10, 2016October 10, 20162 The passing of an era. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a world that appears to be striving for a race to the bottom, it was the epitome of stateliness and dignity. Now, it has left this world. The great tree that stood at the forefront of Alliance Française de Delhi was removed on 7 October 2016. “It was dead, its roots had died,” said a security guard to The Delhi Walla. The tree stood in front of the French cultural center’s ML Bhartia Auditorium. It is not clear what tree it was though the people of Alliance Française knew it as ‘Tribal Tree’. During cocktail evenings and book launches, guests stood around it with their wine glasses. During the afternoons, students
City Hangout – The New Bikaner House, Near India Gate Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - October 7, 2016October 7, 20161 Reinvented ambitions. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It feels like a discreet world of mirrors and chandeliers. Until recently it was a bus stand. The monumental Bikaner House in central Delhi has existed in the city’s collective consciousness as a boarding point for Rajasthan-bound buses. That impression is gradually fading. Although a corner of this erstwhile princely property continues to survive as a transport hub for Jaipur and the cities around it, the main portal, today, leads to a place of shy, subdued beauty. The building’s restoration by conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah began in early 2014, and the refurbished edition was unveiled a few months later with designer Vivek Sahni’s boutique, Vayu, and a beautiful art gallery imaginatively called Art Gallery.
Mission Delhi – Rupin Walter Desai, or The Prince of Denmark, East Patel Nagar Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - October 5, 2016March 6, 20191 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a truth universally acknowledged that you can escape from the city without leaving the city limits. All you have to do is to while away hours in cute bookshops or cafes where nobody goes. Such a place can even be a park bench. It can also be a person. And one such person is Rupin Walter Desai— a tall, dark, handsome charmer straight out of a Jane Austen romance. Just hearing the gentleman’s warm deep baritone voice is calmly. A very portrait of graciousness, he often ends up offering red wine to unexpected guests knocking the door of his East Patel Nagar flat. In his 80s, Mr Desai
Photo Essay – The Dream World of the Diplomats, German Ambassador’s Residence, Shantipath Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - October 4, 2016October 4, 20160 The people of the aquarium. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such delicate figure, such slender arms and all of her essence so perfectly condensed into her long white pearl necklace. And look at the woman there. Her white hair are fit enough for a Balkan queen. And that black woman in a pure black dress that leaves enough gap at a strategic spot for us to admire her bare black shoulder. All these marvelous people are so different from us. It is like watching exotic fish in a glass aquarium. One evening The Delhi Walla attended a party to celebrate the German Unity Day at the German ambassador’s residence. His sprawling lawns in the diplomatic enclave of Shantipath were a fairy world