Mission Delhi – Devki, Hazrat Nizamuddin East
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This role, to her, is both familiar and strange. Familiar, because being a working woman is by no means a novel experience. She has been…
City Hangout – Cul-De-Sac, Jacobpura
Dead-end destination. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Undeniably, some words are more intriguing than others. One can spend an entire afternoon thinking of them, uttering them out loud, seeing the image their very mention forms in the mind….
City Walk – Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Central Delhi
On emperor’s path. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It no longer needs to be known as Delhi’s Fleet Street, the London road famous for newspaper offices. At least some newspapers that were once located here have wholly or…
City Food – Barfi with Mask, Dilshad Garden
Double bonus. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] No, you don’t commonly spot this delicacy on the streets. Certainly not with this combination—brown barfi with face masks. “I used to sell only barfi, and then the bimari arrived,” says…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Kandala Singh’s Poem Birdwatching, Munirka Enclave
Poetry in the city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Kandala. Such an uncommon name. “It means ‘golden’ and suggest someone who has the properties of gold, such as beautiful, precious, rare,” says Kandala Singh. The word is from Punjabi, her mother…
City Hangout – Pintu’s Penguins, Sunday Book Bazar, Mahila Haat
A new star. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Times change, institutions alter. The iconic book bazar that used to unfold every Sunday on Daryaganj footpaths has been moved to the exhibition ground of Mahila Haat. It is very…
City Nature – Monsoon Blush, Pilkhan Trees
Time of their life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Do trees blush like we, humans, do? When the face turns red out of intense shyness? Well, these days some of Delhi’s trees, the pilkhans, are in full blush….
Mission Delhi – Kamal Kishor, South Delhi
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He doesn’t know what water chestnuts are. Neither has he ever tasted any Thai dish, he says. But he has brought coriander dimsums with water…
City Monument – Blue Mosque, Hauz Khas Enclave
aka Neeli Masjid. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s the grand Blue Mosque in Istanbul, built centuries ago that commemorates an Ottoman Sultan. And then there’s the Blue Mosque in Delhi. It was built centuries ago too, but…
Julia Child in Delhi – Dharmender’s and Vinod’s Karhi without Dahi, Green Park
The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] A dish as beloved as only comfort food can be, kadhi’s primary ingredient is dahi (yoghurt) and besan (chickpea flour). But that’s not true for Dharmender and…
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