City Moment – The Middle Lane Midnight Dance, Khan Market Moments by The Delhi Walla - July 25, 20181 The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s about 11 in the night, too early to be so quiet in Khan Market. Perhaps because this is not a weekend. Bored doormen sitting inside darkened showrooms, which have been closed for the day, are watching videos on their mobile phones. Suddenly a song wafts from the Middle Lane. Somebody is singing the old Kishore Kumar song Raat kali ek khawab mein aayi from the 1971 hit Buddha Mil Gaya. The performance is melodic but obviously not of a professional crooner. It’s more like that of one of those bold cousins who are always the first ones to sing in family weddings. The guitar sounds, however, are more affecting, each strain hitting like
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Kanksshi Agarwal, Somewhere in Delhi Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - July 25, 2018July 25, 20180 The 203rd death. [Text and photos sent by Kanksshi Agarwal] Kanksshi Agarwal was a 25-year-2 month-a-few-rainy-days-old woman. Her sudden demise, tainted with sympathy and poise, looks more like a high-paid planned event. She believed in magic and seems like her wish has been granted. She died on the stage, while launching her first book, and reciting Faiz’s poetry, “Nahin nigah me manzil toh justaju hi sahi, nahi visaal mayyasar toh arzoo hi sahi”. In search of new philosophies, people, experiences and poetry, she was a conversationalist, mirroring whatever life met her with. A masochist, she has left behind a bookshelf, an elaborate collection of half-filled and inked diaries, a ring in her middle finger, uncountable number of ear-ring pairs, letter-stationaries, and some unposted