City Moment – Leaf Gatherer’s Daughter, Deer Park
The perfect Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This afternoon, leaf collector Mahesh is making a round of the central Delhi park where he works, dragging his bicycle cart behind him. He occasionally stops, picks up the…
Debris of Life & Mind – “Recently Unemployed” Anonymous Man’s Dream, Pune
Sharing a dream. [Text by Anonymous, photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] During lockdown, I became acquainted with a boy on Instagram. We quickly began talking over phone. Our conservations seemed endless. He had a habit of staying awake at night,…
Mission Delhi – Dharmendra Partap Singh, City Roads
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is all cloistered within plastic, as if in an echo chamber of his own. This sight perfectly encapsulates the surreality of the age of coronavirus. Cab driver Dharmendra Partap Singh is sitting…
City Hangout – Joseph Stein’s Magical Terrace, Triveni Kala Sangam
The architecture of shadows. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Look carefully. The building is changing with the progress of the day. The roof expands as the sun moves. You feel its gradual shifting. The outer edges seem to…
Debris of Life & Mind – “Upcoming Biotechnologist” Manami Chakravorty’s Dream, Calcutta
Sharing a dream. [Text by Manami Chakravorty, photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a not-so-happening phase of life, I once saw this dream where I was perfectly dressed up and waiting for my ‘love interest’ to notice me and pass…
Atget’s Corner – 1161-1165, 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,…
City Walk – Sounds of Alleys, Pahadi Imli
Going aural. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is no one to be seen. It is totally empty. And yet this is the same Old Delhi, that historic quarter, very picturesque — but usually so cramped and noisy….
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Ode to High-Rises, Gurgaon
Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The first time he saw a host of buildings that “almost touched the sky” was when he was just 18. He had gone to Calcutta from home in Dhanbad,…
City Season – Floss-Silk Flowers in Bloom, Lodhi Garden Lake
Season’s gift. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Pink, but slightly faded—this is their colour. The flowers of floss-silk — or kurejia — trees are blossoming across Delhi. A brash display stands near the ITO crossing. Another is showing…
City Moment – Two Dog Walkers & Two Dogs, Sector 15
A perfect Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Both Guddu and Chuck are brown. They have the same flappy ears and exactly the same size. They must be twins, no? “They are step-siblings,” says Dinesh. “They have…
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