City Landmark - Brijlal and Sons, Meharchand Market

City Landmark – Brijlal and Sons, Meharchand Market

The gentrification survivor. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It wasn’t always that way. But now, a pot of tea for one at the Meharchand Market can set you back by 150 rupees. Flush with expensive restaurants and showrooms,…

Mission Delhi - Rathore, Sector 15, Gurgaon

Mission Delhi – Rathore, Sector 15, Gurgaon

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Dark, cool, silent and shaded, it has become his refuge. Every afternoon, he migrates inside this little space and forgets the world. This is one…

City Walk - Strolling With Twilight in Delhi, Old Delhi

City Walk – Strolling With Twilight in Delhi, Old Delhi

A good walking guide. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s customary for people to walk through their city’s historic quarters while holding on to informative guidebooks. Delhi is blessed to have inspired many fine novels and these works…

City Food - Chilli Gobhi, Gymkhana Club, Gurgaon

City Food – Chilli Gobhi, Gymkhana Club, Gurgaon

Greasy love. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] First thing first. It’s not that famous Gymkhana, the one that’s close to the prime minister’s residence in Delhi. The restaurant at the HUDA Gymkhana Club in Gurgaon’s Sector 4 in…

Mission Delhi - Sakeena, Central Delhi

Mission Delhi – Sakeena, Central Delhi

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sakeena regards herself as a modern woman with specific reasons to back her claim. “I earn my own money,” says the lady, asserting that she…

Home Sweet Home - Bird Housing, Galli Sooiwallan Street

Home Sweet Home – Bird Housing, Galli Sooiwallan Street

A dormitory for pigeons. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Question of the day: where, in fact, do the city pigeons sleep? Truth is that they’re bound to sleep in all sorts of unlikely places, like window ledges. In…

City Hangout - Surinder Tea Stall, Gurgaon

City Hangout – Surinder Tea Stall, Gurgaon

Stall’s saga. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The pavement chai stalls are often a storehouse of hard-luck stories. Some are suffused with the life of their customers. Others are permeated with the hopes and disappointments of their owners….

City Food - Milk Shakes, Around Town

City Food – Milk Shakes, Around Town

Downing the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] When belligerent Bombayites assert their refusal to accept Delhi’s cosmopolitanism, they dismiss its people as “villagers”. They are right, up to a point. Delhi has 275 (registered) villages. The most…

City Landmark - Bimla Devi's Water Filter, Sadar Bazaar, Gurgaon

City Landmark – Bimla Devi’s Water Filter, Sadar Bazaar, Gurgaon

A woman’s portrait. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She isn’t famous, but she is a public landmark. Bimla Devi has a pyayu, a cold water filter for thirsty passersby, named after her in Gurgaon’s Sadar Bazaar in the…

City Faith - Temple Bells, Khan Market

City Faith – Temple Bells, Khan Market

Faith in commerce. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Just another evening at the Khan Market in Delhi. An important-looking man in white kurta-pajama and a black sleeveless jacket enters a luxury showroom, his gun-toting bodyguards in grey safari…