Mission Delhi - Dawood, Central Delhi

Mission Delhi – Dawood, Central Delhi

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Passed over by a woman he loved, Dawood now immerses himself in work “so that I forget everything else.” Every day he collects large quantities…

City Faith - Hazrat Naseeruddin Chirag Dehlavi's Sufi Shrine, South Delhi

City Faith – Hazrat Naseeruddin Chirag Dehlavi’s Sufi Shrine, South Delhi

Finding tranquility in a secluded dargah. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] What a marvellous place in the winters to while away a sunny afternoon (go away smog!). Here you can sleepily follow the progress of the friendly sun…

City Library - Information Center Library, Connaught Place

City Library – Information Center Library, Connaught Place

A city secret. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Many of the shelves are simply empty, but occasional visitors do turn up anyway at the Information Center Library tucked away in the city’s busy Outer Circle in the colonial-era…

City Landmark - Ahuja Tailor, Sadar Bazar, Gurgaon

City Landmark – Ahuja Tailor, Sadar Bazar, Gurgaon

A timeworn establishment. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s like the miniature museum of a dressmaker’s working life. Ahuja Tailors at the Sant Lal market corridor in Gurgaon’s Sadar Bazar in the Greater Delhi Region is sparsely populated…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Waqas Ahmed, Lahore

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Waqas Ahmed, Lahore

The 246th death. [Text and photos sent by Waqas Ahmed] A misunderstood artist, Waqas Ahmed, 37, was found dead at his home in Lahore. According to the forensic report, he died of drowning in the depths between his throat and…

Exclusive - The Delhi Walla Interviews the Great Emily Dickinson Scholar Professor Cristanne Miller!

Exclusive – The Delhi Walla Interviews the Great Emily Dickinson Scholar Professor Cristanne Miller!

On life with Emily Dickinson. [Photos by Mayank Austen Soofi, except for Cristanne Miller’s portrait] It’s so-so. The new Apple TV series on poet Emily Dickinson is trying too hard to make her look like a millennial woke modernist. But…

City Moment - Radio Star, Central Delhi

City Moment – Radio Star, Central Delhi

Pre-TV days. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He was glued to the radio, his eyes focused towards the instrument as if it were a mobile phone screen. One Sunday morning, rickshaw puller Manta Ram Sisodia was lounging in…

City Landmark - The Gloomy Staircase, Near New Delhi Railway Station

City Landmark – The Gloomy Staircase, Near New Delhi Railway Station

When a piece of utilitarian infrastructure becomes poetic. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This fine old staircase leading to the overhead bridge in Central Delhi somehow seems steeped in a kind of melancholy. Here in early evening, a…

City Walk - The Lane to Cornwallis Colony, Central Delhi

City Walk – The Lane to Cornwallis Colony, Central Delhi

The colonial-era way. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most British-built neighbourhoods, avenues and streets in our fair city of Delhi have been stripped of their original English names. (Goodbye colonialism!) Post-Independence rulers made certain that Curzon Road, for…

Atget’s Corner – 1136-1140, Delhi Photos

Atget’s Corner – 1136-1140, 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,…