City Hangout - Monsoon Stroll, Hauz Khas Lake

City Hangout – Monsoon Stroll, Hauz Khas Lake

Rainy season pilgrimage. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On one recent evening, after a heavy downpour, one of the Lodhi Garden lawns filled up with water like a reservoir. To stand by it was like being in that…

Mission Delhi - Sanjay Kumar, Central Delhi

Mission Delhi – Sanjay Kumar, Central Delhi

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On this muggy morning he is sitting on his haunches, across the street from a crowded central Delhi chai stall, silently watching the passersby go about their lives. He’s dressed in colors —…

Home Sweet Home - Nand Ram's House, Green Park

Home Sweet Home – Nand Ram’s House, Green Park

Far from ‘des’. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Their true home, they say, is their village, which they call des (country). But while they are in the capital, for practical reasons, they have to make it a home…

Mission Delhi - Cheeku & Peeku, Deer Park

Mission Delhi – Cheeku & Peeku, Deer Park

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s very tough to make out who is who. Cheeku and Peeku are twins. Barely a month old. They don’t speak much. They stay together. And they seem to have recovered from the…

City Series – Mahan Aslam in Turbat, Balochistan, Pakistan, We the Isolationists (434th Corona Diary)

City Series – Mahan Aslam in Turbat, Balochistan, Pakistan, We the Isolationists (434th Corona Diary)

Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Mahan Aslam] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona and I see things that I’d planned turning into exactly opposite. The dreams for this year are on a halt. The exams that…

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Iffat Zarrin, Galli Hakimji Wali

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Iffat Zarrin, Galli Hakimji Wali

The parlour confession. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The works of poets may linger in some high unattainable altitude but they themselves live in ordinary unremarkable streets. Such as Iffat Zarrin. This muggy afternoon the verse writer is…

Mission Delhi - Yeashu Yuvraj, Sector 51

Mission Delhi – Yeashu Yuvraj, Sector 51

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He would hardly be at home, and now he always is. But his music is going on in spite of that. In fact, you have to watch the acapella video he recently conceptualized…

Mission Delhi - Vijay Kumar, Central Delhi

Mission Delhi – Vijay Kumar, Central Delhi

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He doesn’t have a house, he says. But he does have possessions. “I carry them all the time with me,” says Vijay Kumar. This morning he is sitting on the steps of a…

City Series – Aruvi in Wayanad, Kerala, We the Isolationists (433rd Corona Diary)

City Series – Aruvi in Wayanad, Kerala, We the Isolationists (433rd Corona Diary)

Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Aruvi] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona and I see darkness swirl around me. The world feels dystopian, life fictional. In time, disjoint memories come floating by. The dappled early morning…

City Series – Vrinda Bhagat in Quebec, We the Isolationists (432nd Corona Diary)

City Series – Vrinda Bhagat in Quebec, We the Isolationists (432nd Corona Diary)

Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Vrinda Bhagat] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona and I see myself in real conversations with real people – at a french cafe, a yoga class, a public library. I plan…