City Hangout – Secretive Garden, Outer Ring Road
A place for the invisibles. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Quietness is the reigning monarch here. Greenery is entwined with solitude. Squirrels are frolicking about. Marooned in isolation, this secretive tree-filled place feels detached from all the news…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Isha Ahuja’s Poem on Post-Recovery, Janak Puri
Poetry in the city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Her life is returning to some sort of normalcy, but the recent days were a nightmare. In April her “Nanaji” was lying terminally ill with cancer. The whole extended family was attending…
Mission Delhi – Sant Ram, Jangpura
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Seasons dominate his life. This is in the nature of his occupation, which depends on the month of the year. It’s early June and hawker…
City Monument – Shadow Corridors, Fatehpuri Masjid
Dark side. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] These dark, shifting shapes are falling upon the walls and floor like arabesques. Every day they expand, contract, grow blurry and eventually disappear with the progress of hours. This interplay of…
Mission Delhi – Dr Shivani Rawat Adhikari, Noida
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] She’s always been a writer, maintaining a private diary. But after losing her husband to Covid about a month ago, Dr Shivani Rawat Adhikari, 37,…
City Life – Somebody’s Photo Album, Sunday Book Bazar
Life’s souvenir. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The cover is black. The album’s hundreds of photos are in black and white. The back label says—Made in England. This photo album is discovered by The Delhi Walla one afternoon…
Mission Delhi – Tribhuwan Narayana Singh, Ghaziabad
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such honeyed voice. An assistant general manager in Bharat Electronics Limited, he sings exceptionally well. That’s the opinion within his friend circle, especially among his…
City Library – Jawaharlal Nehru’s Book Collection, Teen Murti House
Statesman’s books. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Hundreds of books have been written on India’s first prime minister. One day The Delhi Walla checked out the books that Jawaharlal Nehru kept in his home. Millions of people have…
City Hangout – Happy Bench, Friendship Park
The cheery spot. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One of the most hauntingly beautiful park benches in Delhi is in Lodhi Garden. This is the one under a dead tree, its back picturesquely turned towards the Sheesh Gumbad…
City Faith – Tree God, Hanuman Temple
Sacred green. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This small Hanuman temple stands in a sprawling yard, here in south Delhi. A peepal tree’s sharp-tipped leaves make a jungle of shadows on the temple’s back wall. But the compound…
Recent Comments