City Hangouts - The Pied Piper of Sector 18 Market, Noida

City Hangouts – The Pied Piper of Sector 18 Market, Noida

One man’s music. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Sector 18 Market in Noida lives up to its uninspiring name with a motley mêlée of almost everything, from fast food joints to stressed shoppers. The Delhi Walla was…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Arpan Chatterjee, Subroto Park, Delhi

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Arpan Chatterjee, Subroto Park, Delhi

The 171st death. [Text and photos sent by Arpan Chatterjee] They found Arpan Chatterjee in his room hanging from the ceiling fan, all stiff. They also discovered a pile of ashes in the patio containing pieces of him throughout his…

City Food - Chandelier Tea, United Coffee House

City Food – Chandelier Tea, United Coffee House

Reflected taste. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s something about chandeliers. They evoke a kind of nostalgia for past grandeur even if that grandeur never existed. It is to soak in such a feeling that The Delhi Walla…

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Ankita Surabhi's Heartbreak Poetry, Lajpat Nagar

Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Ankita Surabhi’s Heartbreak Poetry, Lajpat Nagar

Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s morning and Ankita Surabhi is nonchalantly looking at the monkey sitting just outside her balcony window. He, too, is intently staring back at her. Soon she must get…

City Hangout - Janpath Flea Market at Midnight, Central Delhi

City Hangout – Janpath Flea Market at Midnight, Central Delhi

The familiar world in unfamiliar light. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Far more frequently visited by us Delhiwallas than Delhi’s many monuments is a monument of another kind altogether. Of course The Delhi Walla is talking about the…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Anisha Saxena, Faridabad

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Anisha Saxena, Faridabad

The 170th death. [Text and photos sent by Anisha Saxena] Like the sun, she shines bright. Anisha Saxena has passed way smiling. For all the few who knew her, she was smiling even in her last days. She was serene…

Atget’s Corner – 1081-1085, Delhi Photos

Atget’s Corner – 1081-1085, 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,…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Kush Sengupta, Chandernagore

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Kush Sengupta, Chandernagore

The 169th death. [Text and photos sent by Kush Sengupta] Last night Kush Sengupta died in his sleep when four volumes of the Collected Works of Tagore fell on him from his overstuffed book shelf. He will be missed most…

City Life - Mohammed Basheer's All-Purpose Karsa, Around Sufi Shrines

City Life – Mohammed Basheer’s All-Purpose Karsa, Around Sufi Shrines

Fakir’s priceless possession. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Offhand The Delhi Walla can’t recall how many times I’ve spotted this cheerful fakir seen wandering around Sufi shrines across Delhi–and with a pretty bowl called a karsa hanging around…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Chandrakala Geddapu, Deustchland

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Chandrakala Geddapu, Deustchland

The 168th death. [Text and photos sent by Chandrakala Geddapu] She died in her sleep, after a night of telling happy stories to her friends followed by confessions of existentialism to her best friend about the hollowness she is left…