City Season – Leaf Fall, Around Town Nature by The Delhi Walla - March 23, 20222 Autumn in March. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is a particularly friendly tree in Jacobpura in old Gurgaon, under whose shade the area’s cart pullers would sit for a few minutes of repose. But today the place is empty. The shade too is missing. The verdant tree is bared of leaves, its spindly branches are looking like a giant’s unclipped fingernails attempting to scratch the sky. Isn’t this supposed to be spring? In the West, new leaves are appearing on trees that were bare in winter. In Delhi region, it is the opposite. Our trees are letting go of their leaves as they prepare for summers. Author Pradip Krishen explains that “for a tree to survive in prolonged drought, it needs to shut
City Monument – Toy Qutub Minar, Mahipalpur Monuments by The Delhi Walla - March 23, 20220 Dummy history. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Next time your flight lands at Delhi airport, look outside carefully from the aircraft window. Moments before the plane’s wheels hit the runway, you are likely to spot the iconic Shiv Murti in Mahipalpur. Immediately afterwards, you will spot the much smaller Qutub Minar. But, isn’t Qutub Minar very tall? Isn’t it in Mehrauli? Well, this is a miniature model of Qutub Minar. If three Amitabh Bachchans stand on top of one another, then their human tower will easily eclipse the peak of Mahipalpur’s Qutub. The Minar is at the centre of a grassy tree-filled roundabout, across the highway from a 5-star hotel. This sunny blue afternoon, some people are lazily sprawling on the warm grass