Home Sweet Home – The Hyperlocal Architecture of Taak, Around Town Delhi Homes by The Delhi Walla - November 30, 2019November 30, 20192 A disappearing element. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Consisting of an arch-shaped niche built into the wall, taak is an element of old architecture, now lost to history. Fortunately, a few can still be seen around Delhi, and especially in the traditionally built homes in the Walled City. A taak is generally placed at the centre of the wall, and meant to be used as a shelf to keep something sacred on it — such as the Quran or a tasbih (prayer beads). In the evenings, it is also the place in many households where the agarbatti (incense stick) is lit as part of a sufi tradition. In the old days, when Delhi homes had no Western-style furniture and people sat
City Food – Chhole Cart, Outside Ambience Mall, Gurgaon Food by The Delhi Walla - November 29, 2019November 29, 20191 Roadside gourmet. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s an eatery in Paharganj, a heritage restaurant in Connaught Place, a mithai shop in South Extension I, and a roadside shack in Amar Colony. All these spots in Delhi are united by a common element. They serve super-yummy chhole bhature. But there’s also a chhole destination in the Millennium City of Gurugram in the Greater Delhi Region. It’s a modest roadside cart, next to Ambience Mall on National Highway 8. The unnamed stall is run by the trio of Prakash, Sooraj and Guddu. The bossy Prakash is the ustad, the master, while the young Sooraj serves customers, and a rather reserved Guddu can be seen deep-frying the bhatures in a huge kadhai. The tasty chhole are
Mission Delhi – Khalil Ahmed, Matia Mahal Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 27, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Thanks to the invention of chairs, many of us have forgotten how to sit cross-legged. Or sit with our legs properly postured. Unless, of course, you’re a yoga practitioner and well-rehearsed in beneficial sitting positions. Khalil Ahmed professes ignorance of yoga exercises. Even so, the 60-year-old cook is sitting atop a bench at a chai stall in Old Delhi's Matia Mahal bazar, plopped rather like Gomukhasana—the so-called Cow Face pose in yoga. The posture relaxes this gentleman, he insists, especially his legs. “I’m a roti cook in an eatery,” he reveals as explanation. Mr Ahmad has been in this profession for a good part of his life and “I have
City Monument – Barhi Mata Temple, Paharganj Monuments by The Delhi Walla - November 26, 20190 A broken shrine. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This temple feels like a welcome aberration in central Delhi’s Paharganj—a district avoidable for its crowds and chaos. The small spire is dilapidated, washed of all colours, but looks gorgeously otherworldly. Tucked away on a side lane, Barhi Mata Mandir is not only peaceful but also totally empty at this hour. There’s no knowing its exact age, though a local shopkeeper says the temple has got more than 100 years on its back. This makes the edifice even more interesting. It is rare to come across aged temples in our city, possibly because of the vicissitudes of history. “Some worshippers were offering prayers just a few minutes ago,” the shopkeeper notes. Indeed so. The
Mission Delhi – Sooraj, Central Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 25, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sooraj is only a child, but the street dogs are nonetheless ganging up on him, snarling menacingly this early morn. He’s not at all scared; and simply waves a wooden chabuk at them. The dogs retreat, slithering away. Sooraj, aged 12, collects empty plastic and glass bottles from Delhi’s streets. He may yet encounter more barking dogs, but, as he explains, “Street dogs bark at any ragpicker walking along with a large sack on his shoulder... they never bark at others, they think we are chor aur dakus (thieves and robbers)”. The boy is talking in the tone of a grown-up. “Mummy and Pappa are beldar (daily wage labourers,)
City Season – The Floss-Silk Bloom, Outside Ambience Mall Driveway Nature by The Delhi Walla - November 22, 2019November 22, 20190 Season's gift. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] So consoling to the eyes. It’s as if some secret Santa finally took pity on us hapless citizens slow-dying through smog, smoke and dust. And one late night he quietly descended on earth, at this spot in Gurgaon in the Delhi region, decking up a bunch of mall-facing trees with dainty pink flowers. Or, perhaps it is that time of the year. The floss-silk trees, or the kurrayya, are in blossom. Nobody, however, is noticing the lovely flowers along a pavement outside the Ambience Mall’s driveway. Not the security guards who are too preoccupied with checking the incoming cars for bombs. Not the people inside those cars. While the traffic on the adjacent National Highway 8
City Hangout – Shah Music Center, Meena Bazar Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - November 21, 2019November 21, 20191 The LP haven. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] All timeless legends are here — Begum Akhtar and The Beatles, the early Michael Jacksons and the early Amitabh Bachchans, the golden oldies of Barbara Streisand as well as rare recordings of Tulsi Ramayan rendered by singer Mukesh. And much much more, including thousands of Hindi film songs. Shah Music Center is stacked with LP records. Although these ‘Long Play’ discs that stored around 20 minutes of music, before needing to be turned over, have long gone out of use, the shop continues to thrive. Obviously, the world is still full of vintage-loving music aficionados. The rare business is run by Syed Zafar Shah. He inherited it from his father, Syed Akbar Shah, who
Mission Delhi – Paramjeet Singh Sahni, Connaught Place Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 20, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Paramjeet Singh Sahni has never seen any reason to obtain a mobile phone. “I’m myself a mobile, seeking out all my favourite people and venues every single day,” declares the turbaned gentleman, now headed for the Information Centre Library at Connaught Place. It’s been his daily haunt for four decades. But “unfortunately, there’s talk about losing it forever,” reflects the 69-year-old. “People hardly every go there anymore.” The gentleman continues chatting and reminiscing a bit. As a onetime activist during the AIDS crisis Mr Singh points out that neither he nor his activist friends ever accepted outside funding. “We’d pool some of our own money.” He himself never carries
City Monument – Qudsia Begum’s Gateway, North Delhi Monuments by The Delhi Walla - November 19, 20190 A queen’s souvenir. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The arched gateway in north Delhi’s Qudsia Bagh gently summons the memories of an extinct world. The 18th-century edifice originally opened into a walled garden overlooking the Yamuna. Today, the river has shifted its course further east — its place taken over by the less romantic Ring Road. The gateway and the elaborate garden were built around 1748 by Qudsia Begum, one of the wives of Muhammed Shah Rangila, the 14th Mughal emperor and the only one to have his love-making act commissioned in an infamous painting (now with the British Library in London). Qudsia Begum initially met Rangila as a so-called nautch girl called Udham Bai, and went on to give the Mughals their
City Landmark – Old Mansion, Muneem Street, Gurgaon Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - November 18, 20190 An object of beauty. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A ramshackle relic from the past but so dream-like, this old mansion overlooks a lane in Gurgaon’s chaotic Sadar Bazar in the Greater Delhi Region. Muneem street is a self-contained commercial ecosystem of small businesses. It is lined with storefronts and paan kiosks, along with a smattering of carts stocked with a variety of stuff ranging from colorful men’s underwear to brittle china cups. But the lane acquires its ethereal grace from a crumbling mansion that runs along its length. Nobody lives in it. The house is about a hundred years old, says an elderly shoemaker who has been trading on the street since India attained freedom in 1947. A nearby shopkeeper informs that