City Walk – Gali Wakil Wali, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - August 3, 20220 Lawyer's way. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Indeed, there is somebody walking in black. But she is a figure in burqa, not a lawyer in robes. It was an honest mistake. Blame the lane. Is Gali Wakil Wali named after a particular wakil, or lawyer, or does it simply intend to commemorate the profession? Whom to ask? This afternoon, the lane is empty—the woman has disappeared through a side-door. The street is a tributary of Galli Sooiwallan. There, the life is full of sounds and actions, but our narrow lane feels divorced from its mainstem. Its world is frozen, as if put on mute. Even though, at times, some of the most insignificant sounds of Sooiwallan travel into this narrowness, each
City Life – Ms Rani & Ms Chandra, Hazrat Nizamuddin East Life by The Delhi Walla - August 3, 20220 Two friends. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Ms Rani’s feelings seem to be as strong as anybody’s but she has a quietness about her. Ms Chandra (left) is showing more eagerness in everything, her nature being gregarious. They are friends. “We have known each other for 30 years,” says Ms Chandra, her arms swaying in the air with every lilting turn of her words. As Ms Chandra talks eagerly of their bond, Ms Rani frequently nods to acknowledge the friend’s affirmations. This morning the women are ensconced in a circular park in central Delhi’s Nizamuddin East. They are housekeepers in separate households. “My home is very near, in Nangli, so I commute on legs,” says Ms Chandra with an easy chuckle.