City Hangout – Vegetable Mandi, Near Gurgaon Railway Station Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - December 22, 20210 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 wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and were again learning to wade into outdoorsy excursions of daily living, the new Omicron variant is now threatening to restrict this newly regained luxury. Who knows how long one can go uninterruptedly to the Sabzi Mandi near Gurgaon’s railway station in the Greater Delhi Region. For now, it is flamboyantly decked up with the beauty of the winter’s produce. The place is a visual delight throughout the 12 months, but it is at its most colourful at
City Life – Ms Kashmiro & Harish Chander, Sadar Bazar Life by The Delhi Walla - December 20, 2021December 22, 20210 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 with her. She starts to roast them one by one on her small stove with her bare hands. Her face shows no expressions. Her movements are slow. With a pink shawl draped about her blue sari, she seems too advanced in years to be working on such a busy street, while being saddled with so many belongings to handle at the same time. “I work because I am alone.” Ms Kashmiro says in a mournful tone, explaining that her husband died when he
City Walk – Winter Stroll, Hauz Khas Lake Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 19, 2021December 19, 20210 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 cold. Winter evenings in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas, around the lake, make the place become more than it really is. For a moment this pool, or hauz, of partially-treated wastewater, surrounded with a tree-lined walking track, gets infused with an assortment of colours and moods, overwhelming in their fleeting duration. On one rare evening the sky is free of the customary Delhi smog, enabling the setting sun to take centre stage. From certain vantage points, its golden colour seems to be bleeding straight into
City Life – Abdul Sattar’s Scholarly Pursuits, Pahari Imli Life by The Delhi Walla - December 18, 20210 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 mask and stepped out of his home in Pahari Imli to walk to Kucha Challan, a few lanes away, where he met the computer typist in charge of typing the manuscript of his book-in-progress. “I’m compiling a collection of previously written profiles (by various authors) on the eminent personalities of Old Delhi,” says Mr Sattar, 77, sitting in his study. His sprawling house, filled with his children and his children’s children, is an amalgamation of many rooms (with a roof that, accessed by
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Nishat Ahtesham’s Poem ‘I stare at the emptiness’, Connaught Place City Poetry by The Delhi Walla - December 15, 2021December 15, 20210 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, which is a short distance from her office in Central Secretariat. She is talking about her relatively recent initiation into the rapping scene. “I found the raps in the movie Gully Boy really inspiring—the language, the words, the way of expressing… it was all hard-hitting but not crude. My heart was touched.” A month ago, Ms Ahtesham, who lives with her parents in north Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh, wrote a poem in “simple urdu” over the course of several days. She would jot down
City Library – 3L Library, Defence Colony Library by The Delhi Walla - December 15, 2021December 15, 20210 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 miniature time capsule in south Delhi’s Defence Colony market is too delightful to be ignored. To a certain generation that came of age in the 1960s and 70s, this corner place might bring many emotions. During those times, many neighbourhoods in the city would have at least one lending library from where to borrow a novel at a very affordable rate. Today, such libraries have become history. But 3L Library (full name: Love, Laugh and Learn) is trudging along. Stepping into it is
Mission Delhi – S. Kumar, Near Raj Cinema Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 13, 20211 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 his early 30s, Mr Kumar, a History (Hons.) graduate, describes himself as a kabadiwalla. In fact, this afternoon he is walking by the Gurgaon roadside in the Greater Delhi Region, carrying a huge white sack on his shoulders filled with empty water bottles, discarded chips packets and other pavement detritus. Stopping by a pile of bricks, Mr Kumar gives a sense of his previous life. These are his own words, with some identifying details omitted at his request—“I was born and brought
Mission Delhi – Ms Phoolwati, Connaught Place Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 11, 20210 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. But fruit seller Ms Phoolwati, 60, is seen everyday at the same spot on the KG Marg pavement for forty years. She sits still and quiet, with such a calm composure that the mere act of buying an apple or a guava from her might turn out soothing, or meditative. This afternoon, as always, Ms Phoolwati is sitting motionless amid her fruit baskets. The shoe repair man behind her is lying sprawled on his pavement stall, asleep. A pedestrian has paused by
City Walk – Chhanhirai Gali, Near Roshanpura Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 11, 2021December 11, 20210 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 Roshanpura in the Greater Delhi Region is one of those relics of old times that have managed to survive, so far, in this brave new universe of high-rises. The buildings here have their walls coated in rusty patina of several decades. They are accompanied by old doors and windows that have become a rare sight even in the gallis and kuchas of Purani Dilli. It feels like being transported into some atmospheric Old Delhi by-lane. The street’s name is evocative of its ambiance. Chhanhirai
City Landmark – Tajuddin Vegetable Shop, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - December 11, 2021December 11, 20210 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 like the procession of a caravan. The bitter karelas, on the other side, are arranged in stand-up position inside another gravity-defying container. And then there are the humble laukis, hanging individually in front of the counter like a row of chandeliers in a hotel lobby. This has to one of Delhi’s most eye-catching vegetable stalls. The fresh veggies are arranged artistically, as if great amount of thought and planning had gone into the execution of the display. It is proper manners at