City Series – Somedooti Kundu in Calcutta, We the Isolationists (266th Corona Diary) Corona Diary by The Delhi Walla - May 3, 20200 Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Somedooti Kundu] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see myself getting strangled in my own made-up mindless musings, once again. 3:50 in the morning when the world's resting in the arms of grave sleep, I eye on that starlit sky figuring out if it anymore needs me. My thoughts are vulnerable at this point, constantly tussling with themselves, unbearable. Heavy contemplations. Angry outbursts. Barbaric screams. But now that I have my eyes shut, I am no more bounded by tall cemented barricades. Staring at me from an uncomfortable distance, they take away my dreams, they are not mere walls, they are thieves. Exasperating. But now I can break through and travel to
City Series – Noorpriya Chawla in Delhi, We the Isolationists (265th Corona Diary) Corona Diary by The Delhi Walla - May 3, 20200 Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Noorpriya Chawla] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see it is spring time in London i am attending a lecture on bell hooks but my heart is somewhere in October i look out at the smiling daffodils and see happiness packing her bag with a one way ticket to nowhere my skies are grey but there is a baby dressed in sunshine waving at me with dribbles down her chin and an old man on a park bench slurping ice-lolly with his wrong hand to hold his lover with the right today, life is begging you GO. Stop her. Stop her. Stop her. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary
City Series – Shiyali Sharma in Gurgaon, We the Isolationists (264th Corona Diary) Corona Diary by The Delhi Walla - May 3, 20200 Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Shiyali Sharma] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see a world where we all are living. Living with self, but away from the selfishness. Living peacefully, away from the rat race. Living with love, maybe at a slower pace. Living with harmony, away from the communalism. Living with peace, away from the terrorism. Living with ourselves, away from the pretentious. Living in the moment, away from the tensions. Living in nature, living with nature, and living for the nature. I see a world where we aren't just taking but giving. I see a world where we are just living for living. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting with “I
Mission Delhi – Bilal Ali, DLF Phase 4 Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - May 2, 20200 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The coronavirus pandemic has irreversibly changed our civilisation. Even after it is all over, our habits and impulses might never come back to what they once were. For instance — will we readily go to multiplexes again, and sit with crowds of hundreds to jointly experience the latest movie hit? Will we still stop by pavement stalls for impromptu snacks? And what about getting a haircut in a barbershop? “I realize that, these days, even touching one’s face with one’s own hands has something scary,” says Bilal Ali. “And my profession is so much about touch.” Mr Ali, 28, is a hair dresser. He works in a hair-styling establishment in
City Series – Eklavya Sarmah in Delhi, We the Isolationists (263rd Corona Diary) Corona Diary by The Delhi Walla - May 2, 20200 Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Eklavya Sarmah] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see Minas Tirith overrun by the hordes of Mordor. I see the skies blackened by the ash of Mount Doom. I see the kingdom of man surrounded, on the verge of its fall. Yet. I hear the rally of the Eorlingas. I feel the rumble of the Rohirrim's galloping hooves. And I know the Kingdom of Man will endure, the Kingdom of Man will prevail. Bound together, now more than ever I hope, in the bonds of kinship, kindness and love, with one another and all creatures on this beautiful earth. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world
City Obituary – RV Smith, 1938-2020 General by The Delhi Walla - May 1, 20202 Delhi's great offbeat chronicler. [Text and photos of RV Smith by Mayank Austen Soofi, photos of the burial by RV Smith's family] R V Smith, the Delhi chronicler who produced stories from the city’s gallis, kuchas, bazars, ruins, dargahs and graveyards as lightly as a magician brought out pigeons from a hat, died on Thursday morning. He was 83. He is survived by wife, 82-year-old Alvina, and five children--Enid, Bunny, Minnie, Tony and Rodney. “He was ill since some time,” said his eldest daughter 51-year-old Enid, adding that he died at around 7.30am at his second-floor flat in Mayapuri. Ronald Vivian Smith, Ronnie to friends, began his career as a reporter for The Statesman for more than 30 years and went on to author
City Series – Josep Almudever Chanza in Edinburgh, We the Isolationists (262nd Corona Diary) Corona Diary by The Delhi Walla - May 1, 20200 Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Josep Almudever Chanza] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see the dew-covered walls of a tiny cell, Saint Teresa welcomes the dawn writing about her raptures; I see my mother making a shopping list for my brother, her spidery writing falling about her in a web of solitude; I see the eleventh dweller in Bocaccio’s tale, jotting down each word uttered by the other ten from a dark corner; and I see myself tending my absent lover’s plants, plundering books in search of poetry, writing, writing. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting with “I close my eyes in my self-isolation