City Season – The Magical February Evening Sky, Central Delhi
Too beautiful to last. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] At last. Finally. Despite all odds. But who could have believed it? One cold evening the sky of the world’s most polluted city opened up. It gently reminded the…
City Moment – Curious Festive Offering, Hazrat Turkman Shah’s Shrine
The incredible Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The street glowed with bright lights. The qawwals were offering sacred songs on an improvised stage made of wooden cots. A bunch of elderly notables were on another such…
Mission Delhi – The Man With No Name, Osama Dhaba
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The most remarkable thing about him is his face. It bears astounding resemblance to the dying face of Delhi’s last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar….
City Walk – Nicholson Cemetery, Near Kashmere Gate
Strolling among the forgotten. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The track fades into thorny vines. It re-emerges a few steps later and pass by a small grave. The inscription is not immediately discernible. Some of the engraved alphabets…
Netherfield Ball – Margaret Atwood’s Reception, India Habitat Center
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Author Patrick French is very, very handsome. Even so, that was not the only reason why one chilly evening in Delhi a multitude of women and men wanted to be…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Mantra Mukim, Kamla Nagar
Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The one-room apartment is filled with books on poetry. There are paperbacks under the bed, too. The ashtray lies atop Jorges Luis Borges’s Poems of the Night. The writing…
City Food – Auto Drivers’ Dal-Chawal Stall, Kasturba Gandhi Road
Meal on the go. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] All bankers look the same. They probably regain their individualistic personas during their lunch breaks. Same is the case with people of other professions too, including the capital’s auto…
Atget’s Corner – 896-900, 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,…
Netherfield Ball – The Alkazi Foundation’s Reception, Max Mueller Bhavan
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is that cold time of the year when all the beautiful people of the capital join the exodus to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival. Delhi is cruelly dumped; its…
City List – Khan Market’s Last Residents, Central Delhi
End of story. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Khan Market suffers a great loss. Raj Berry of flat no. 37 died in November 2015; she was 86. With her departure, the number of Khan Market’s residents falls further….
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