Mission Delhi – Mirza Yaseen Beg, Midland Bookstore, Aurobindo Market
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They all have died. Almost all the legendary founders of Delhi’s great independent bookstores have left us. Anil Arora of now-extinct The Bookworm passed away…
City Season – The Blooming Amaltas Trees, Hailey Road
Summer blessings. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Why do Delhiwallas despise summer? Why do the rich escape to London and the middle-class to Nainital? This mystery keeps The Delhi Walla occupied during the high-temperature month of May when…
City Obituary – Retired Justice Leila Seth is No More, Noida, Near Delhi
Passing of a heroine. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] India’s first woman High Court Chief Justice Leila Seth died of cardiac arrest on 6 May 2017, aged 86. She was also Delhi High Court’s first woman judge. She…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Samia Mehraj’s Poem ‘The Runaway Girl’, Maidan Garhi
Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A paperback of Aga Shahid Ali’s poetry is lying on her living room mattress. The small table has an old copy of The New Yorker. The shelf is stacked…
Photo Essay – Some Suitable Boys for BBC’s Suitable Boy, Around Town
On Vikram Seth’s hero. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Who shall be Vikram Seth’s Suitable Boy? BBC has announced its adaption of Mr Seth’s novel A Suitable Boy. It will be the British broadcaster’s first period drama with…
Netherfield Ball – Stranded in the Dream World of Diplomats at Israel’s Independence Day Celebrations, Hotel Taj Palace
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Warm-eyed ladies are moving around in formal costumes. The gentlemen pay tribute to the old-fashioned codes of chivalry by dressing up in suits and military uniforms. This must be the…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Ron Bhasin, Dwarka Sector 18B
The 144th death. [Text and photos by Ron Bhasin] Ron Bhasin, a filmmaker who made films in and around Delhi, died on June 9 at his one-room apartment in Dwarka Sector 18B. His body was discovered by the domestic maid…
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