City Season - Fireside Bonds, Chemlsford Road

City Season – Fireside Bonds, Chemlsford Road

Winter’s friends. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s a super-cold December evening in central Delhi’s Chelmsford Road. Five men are huddled around a pavement fireside. Three are sitting on their haunches; the others are standing, including Bholu who…

City Hangout - Cats & Dogs, Bulbuli Khana

City Hangout – Cats & Dogs, Bulbuli Khana

The art of co-existence. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s a very strange sight—dogs and cats living together serenely. But this is an everyday happening here in Old Delhi’s Bulbuli Khana. Now a black cat surfaces from the…

City Landmark - Janta Band, Naya Bazar

City Landmark – Janta Band, Naya Bazar

The music station. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The walls are plastered with photographs of men playing saxophones, though some are also in dancing costumes. A window is decked with a drum and a small trumpet. This cramped…

Netherfield Ball – Afifa Fareed Weds Abdul Haseeb, Old Delhi

Netherfield Ball – Afifa Fareed Weds Abdul Haseeb, Old Delhi

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The guests arrived at the Mahavir Vatika ground in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj in cabs, auto-rickshaws, and bikes. Some came from miles away, from Jasola, and even from Ghaziabad. It was…

Mission Delhi - Rajinder, Gurgaon

Mission Delhi – Rajinder, Gurgaon

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He has moved up in life. So Rajinder feels about himself. With the help of a generous bank loan, he recently bought a gleaming new…

City Landmark - Mittal Store, Pragyakunj, Vasundhara

City Landmark – Mittal Store, Pragyakunj, Vasundhara

Hyperlocal wonder. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nowadays just about anything can be purchased online or at huge shopping malls, right? No wonder that small family-owned shops are declining—with some notable exceptions. Mittal Store in suburban Ghaziabad (Pragyakunj,…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Karan Makkar, Chandigarh

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Karan Makkar, Chandigarh

The 248th death. [Text and photos sent by Karan Makkar] The hour of departure arrived and Karan Makkar left us all. He would have turned 25 in January, 2020. Though born a Hindu, he revered all the religions equally and…

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Craft Activist Laila Tyabji, Shanti Niketan

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Craft Activist Laila Tyabji, Shanti Niketan

The parlour confession. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Proust Questionnaire represents a confessional game that owes its structure to answers given by celebrated French writer Marcel Proust in two parties that he attended at ages 13 and…

City Hangout - Back Garden, Safdarjung’s Tomb

City Hangout – Back Garden, Safdarjung’s Tomb

Where peace comes dropping slow. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] No sound, but of birds. This particular garden paradise feels thousands of miles away from Delhi’s chaos though it’s tucked right in the city’s heart as part of…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Pushpita Majumdar, Benares

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Pushpita Majumdar, Benares

The 247th death. [Text and photos sent by Pushpita Majumdar] Pushpita Majumdar, or Pui, as her beloved husband would call her often, left us all. But yes, she died happy; warm, in her bed, with her kids and grandkids sitting…