Home Sweet Home – Abdul Sattar’s Dwelling, Ganj Mir Khan Delhi Homes by The Delhi Walla - February 16, 20180 Inside the walls. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Close to midnight, Abdul Sattar is shutting his metal-plating workshop. In a few minutes, the cramped space becomes his bedroom. This suits him fine. His extended family lives just down the street in their “very small” house in Old Delhi. “But, I like living alone, and they accept that.” Only a faint light glows as we adjust to the darkness. Mr Sattar will soon catch some sleep in a bed lying in a corner where discoloured mats are piled one on top of the other. During those long opening hours at Ganj Mir Khan street, he runs his business. Every day, this 60-something craftsman plies his skills over any number of rusting machines strewn about. Over
Our Self-Written Obituaries – K. Varshinee, Bangalore Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - February 16, 2018February 16, 20180 The 179th death. [Text and photos sent by K. Varshinee] K. Varshinee, or Varshinee Krishnan (as she preferred to call herself), has finally left this world. She left the world as she had entered it, all alone. Varshinee strived all her 21 years of life to understand her loneliness. The only answer she could get was that no one else could answer the questions she had about herself, except for her. She believed that happiness was completely intrinsic and loved herself enough to be happy (for a few moments at least) everyday. A confused Cancerian is how she would describe herself. Life threw her from one place to another and she accepted this fact with tears and snot dripping down her face each
City Walk – Atul Grove Road, Central Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - February 15, 20181 A colonial-era slice. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most of us think of Ruskin Bond as the acclaimed writer who has always, always lived in the mountains. That’s not entirely true. Now in his eighties, this venerable author spent a slice of his childhood with his English father in a very English bungalow on Atul Grove Road. This evening The Delhi Walla is strolling down that road while musing just a bit: Would Mr Bond find it all very familiar? Atul Grove Road in central Delhi is lined with leisurely colonial brick homes that have their own driveways, spacious porches and, of course, blooming gardens: the sort of homes you’re likely to find featured in coffee-table books about the British Raj. One truly amazing
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Ankita Rathour, Louisiana, USA Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - February 15, 2018February 16, 20180 The 178th death. [Text and photos sent by Ankita Rathour] Ankita Rathour died. Finally. She was expected to be living long, mundane years but her mind was a nasty web of thoughts. She was 32. She was found sleeping in her pillow-less bed, underneath her red blanket looking as if she still had something to say. The cause of her death was unknown, but her best friend was certain it was a suicide. “Why would it be a suicide? She had no reason to do so.” Her mother’s frantic voice ran out of the computer screen and broke the awkward silence on the day I told her the news. She, as usual looked inquisitive than anything else. She has left behind 675
Mission Delhi – Saddam, Near Ansari Road Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 14, 2018February 14, 20180 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Their love story kicked off on Instagram and rapidly accelerated to late-night Skyping before abruptly terminating a few months ago. But while it lasted, Saddam felt like he was floating on a fluffy cloud. The 29-year-old businessman first spotted her on Instagram. They got talking on the social networking platform itself and soon found that they both lived near Ansari Road. A contact was made, but discreetly. Nearly a month of telephone chats led to the big afternoon when the couple finally met face-to-face in the local McDonalds. She, he remembers, “was dressed in an orange kameez and blue salwar!” The friendship blossomed fast, as noted in his mobile phone diary: “Our first
City Monument – Bara Gumbad’s Evening Mysticism, Lodhi Garden Monuments by The Delhi Walla - February 13, 2018February 13, 20181 Evening miracle. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Waxing lyrical about Lodhi Garden isn’t difficult. But, The Delhi Walla won’t utter a single word about the incredible flora, which I have already spoken about — at night and day. This time, I suggest turning up early in the evening when the monuments in the garden glow, thanks to the floodlights. You will have no trouble in finding your way to Bara Gumbad — the most prominent monument right in the centre of the park. Walking into its chamber offers something mystical because floodlights can’t illuminate all of it. Somewhere amid the sweeping swathes of darkness you may spot silhouettes of romantic couples, but instead of lingering here, I suggest you move right along
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Mystery Woman Pooja, Somewhere in Delhi Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - February 12, 2018February 12, 20181 The 177th death. [Text and photos sent by Mystery Woman Pooja] Note from The Delhi Walla: The other evening a mystery woman left a very brief loving note for me in a Delhi café. Turned out she had paid for my espresso and had left a handwritten note for me with the server. She’d signed off as Pooja. Well, the mystery woman has now e-mailed me her self-obituary… in her handwriting! She was never found dead. Yet she died one night . . . after a long succession of nights. One final night, one after the other, parts of her being indulged in acts she had deemed unimaginable in the three decades she had existed. Faith was found on the
City Landmark – The Foot Overbridge, Majnu ka Teela Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - February 12, 20180 A world apart. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Consider this singular foot overbridge on Outer Ring Road. With prayer flags fluttering on it like butterflies, it’s so easy to see that it is so very Tibetan. And leads directly to Majnu Ka Teela, Delhi’s Tibetan enclave since 1963. This bridge can feel like a crowded bylane in Lhasa. In mid-afternoon we encounter scores of robed Buddhist lamas slowly ambling about — some of them seeming utterly disconnected from their immediate world. Some others are extremely connected, The Delhi Walla even spots a child lama snapping cellphone images of the traffic below. The bridge got a plastic roof recently, protecting pedestrians from the elements and offering the cozy intimacy of a tunnel. I
Julia Child in Delhi – Shubha Sinha Makes Her Jharkhand’s Dhuska, Mayur Vihar Phase I Julia Child's Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 10, 2018February 13, 20180 The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla is told there was never a better time to be in Delhi than now — when it comes to the bustling restaurant scene. There’s a Mizo man running a cool college-campus like Mizo eatery in Safdarjung Enclave and an Italian man’s too-pricey Italian restaurant in Greater Kailash-I. And Shahpur Jat has a cozy restaurant specialising in Bihari cuisine. But what about, say, the Jharkhand state? I just can’t find a restaurant in this vast sprawling city that can serve us Jharkhand’s terrific dhuska. Made of rice and dal, the finished dish transcends its commonplace ingredients and tastes neither like dal, nor rice but something entirely different. Finally,
City Walk – Jahanpanah City Forest, South Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - February 9, 20181 Into the wild. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] You’ve probably heard that old expression “can’t miss the woods for the trees!” That’s exactly how The Delhi Walla felt one cold evening when venturing into Jahanpanah City Forest. My first few minutes in this south Delhi retreat were comforting. There were the familiar symbols of urban parks, such as benches and rain shelters. Some elderly walkers, some middle-aged people were talking loudly on mobile phones, and there was even a boxing coach with his female charge. Soon, it was all behind me as I ventured into a wilderness I never imagined existed right in the heart of Delhi. Instead of imposing Ashoka or pine trees, this was an unfamiliar terrain strewn with leaves and