City Hangout – Vegetable Mandi, Near Gurgaon Railway Station
Season’s bounty. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nothing can be taken for granted, one always knew that. The ongoing pandemic has simply made this realisation bitingly real. Just as we started to emerge out of the traumatic second…
City Life – Ms Kashmiro & Harish Chander, Sadar Bazar
Two lives. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] She sits down on the pavement, as people pass to and fro, here in Gurgaon’s Sadar Bazar in the Greater Delhi Region. Ms Kashmiro has a large bundle of raw papads…
City Walk – Winter Stroll, Hauz Khas Lake
Sunset boulevard. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The receding sun has stained the sky with tints of red. And not only the sky — it looks like the lake’s waters, too, are on fire. Yet the air is…
City Life – Abdul Sattar’s Scholarly Pursuits, Pahari Imli
A scholar’s life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The bookish pursuits of Old Delhi scholar Abdul Sattar are as steadfast as the coronavirus pandemic. Just this morning, the venerable gentleman put on his beret cap and N95 face…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Nishat Ahtesham’s Poem ‘I stare at the emptiness’, Connaught Place
Poetry in the city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] She is a statistical officer in the ministry of labour. She is also a poet and a rapper. She writes her own songs. This afternoon Nishat Ahtesham, 29, is in Connaught Place,…
City Library – 3L Library, Defence Colony
An old-world lending library. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One doesn’t always want to stumble upon the past. After all, there is so much contemporary stuff to handle. But Delhi is littered with souvenirs from yesterday. And this…
Mission Delhi – S. Kumar, Near Raj Cinema
One of the one percent in 13 million. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Each person is an anthology of stories. So is S. Kumar. “My life is full of unfortunate incidents,” he says in fluent English, in these very words. In…
Mission Delhi – Ms Phoolwati, Connaught Place
One of the one percent in 13 million. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] She’s a living landmark of Connaught Place. The colonial-era commercial district has seen rapid transformation over the recent decades, and very few longtime institutions have managed to survive….
City Walk – Chhanhirai Gali, Near Roshanpura
Lane to another time. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is a world of yesterday. Which is very rare to land into in a metropolis that is also known as the Millennium City. This narrow lane near Gurgaon’s…
City Landmark – Tajuddin Vegetable Shop, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
Here veggies meet art. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The plastic container, filled with neatly stacked green shimla mirch, is defying gravity by clinging vertically to the wall. Little plastic packets, containing corn, are hooked along the wall…
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