City Landmark – Lodhi Colony Art Installation, Mehar Chand Market
Public reviews of a public display. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Public art, so common in world cities, has been slowly finding its space in Delhi, a huge metropolis that swallows up all puny efforts. Nonetheless, any art…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Padmaja Iyengar, Hyderabad
The 109th death. [Text by Padmaja Iyengar; photo by Wonderbook of Records International] A Riff-Raff’s Epitaph I sit down to write my epitaph, In a few words; not a paragraph. I try putting some words on paper, But they vanish…
City Faith – Shylock’s Synagogue, Venice Ghetto
Inside Shakespeare’s temple. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] More than four centuries ago, he must have stood week after week under this same chandelier to pray within these same walls. His unfaithful daughter must have stood in the…
Delhi Metro – Two Lovers in My Coach, Yellow Line
Life on the Metro. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was around 9 in the morning. The Delhi Walla was on the Yellow Line of the Delhi Metro. Ten minutes after leaving Chawri Bazaar Metro Station, the eight-coaches-long…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Devraj Singh Kalsi, Calcutta
The 108th death. [Text by Devraj Singh Kalsi; photo by Preeti Kalsi] TV channels ran the story of Devraj Singh Kalsi’s death on prime time. Editors found an unusual human-interest angle in his bizarre pop-off. Travelling by Rajdhani Express from…
City Notice – Basant Panchmi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah
The yellow season. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Listen, be there at the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya sharp at 4.30 pm, 13 February. The short-lived season of Sufi Basant starts from that great shrine exactly that instant….
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Soumya Vilekar, Pune
The 107th death. [Text by Soumya Vilekar; photo by Anjanika Vilekar] Soumya Vilekar’s poem echoed in the distant corners of the huge conference hall. It was a special moment when the Nobel Prize laureates were being applauded and felicitated. This…
Netherfield Ball – Remembering Intizar Hussain, Oxford Bookstore
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There were more people at his remembrance meet than when he was here in flesh and blood last winter. One evening The Delhi Walla was at the Oxford Book Store…
City Obituary – Historian Ramachandra Guha On Rohtas, The Samosa Man of St Stephen’s College
Rohtas, died February 2, 2016. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] India’s most prestigious college, which traces its origins to the late 19th century, has lost an important element of its legend. Rohtas, the man who had been selling…
Photo Essay – The Chitli Qabar Urban Art Installation, Old Delhi
A temporary art exhibit. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Old Quarter of Delhi is known for many wonders. The art of spitting noisily has been cultivated to a high form here. Many tourists, of course, come to…
Recent Comments