Mission Delhi – Shakir Husain, Central Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - October 8, 20200 [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Like many jobs, being a waste collector is hectic. One has to walk along one’s assigned streets, go through piles of garbage to pick up the viable trash, put it in a sack and transport it to the collection point, which can be the collector’s own home. “It’s hard physical labour,” says Shakir Husain. Himself a collector, Mr Husain operates in the central parts of the city. This afternoon he has collected enough stuff to fill up two medium-size bags. Both bags are hanging down from his right arm. Standing by a tea stall, he says he shall now walk back to the room where he lives, deposit the trash there, and go out again
City Food – COVID-Era Imarti, Mehboob-e-Ilahi Mithai Shop, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti Food by The Delhi Walla - October 8, 20200 Finding old taste. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It has finally reopened. Mehboob-e-Ilahi mithai shop (open from 6 am to 10 pm) is to be found again in central Delhi’s historic 14th century Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. Adjacent to Zuberi Hotel eatery, it is the first stall on the narrow lane going towards the famous Kareem’s restaurant. The coronavirus pandemic forced the shop to close early this year but it rolled up its shutters late last month. This ought to be happy news for people with a sweet tooth. The place serves one of the best imartis in town. Thick and sticky, the circular imarti is as decadent as the Mughal court of Emperor Muhammed Shah Rangila. Its deep-fried shell shelters a
City Special – Obituary of Kaushal Nagpal, a Retired School Teacher Who Died of COVID-19, Faridabad General by The Delhi Walla - October 8, 20200 A life lost to the Coronavirus. [Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; photos shared by Kaushal Nagpal's family] A retired school teacher, a devout follower of Arya Samaj, a Partition refugee, and a feminist, Kaushal Nagpal died of coronavirus in June 2020, aged 78. She is survived by two sons and three grandchildren. It all started with a major milestone: at 8, Ms Nagpal was the first girl in her village to go to school. That was in Dujana, then in the district of Rohtak, Haryana, and her father, an officer in the Indian Railways, had to take special permission from the principal to get her admitted. Most of the subsequent life-shaping experiences happened almost simultaneously: she got married (to an advocate working in the