Mission Delhi – Sumit Tokas, Connaught Place Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 2022December 29, 20220 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is holding a book-sized power pack battery charger, but he isn’t busy with his mobile phone. He is writing—employing the endangered duo of pen-and-paper. A blue journal is lying opened on his lap. Broken phrases from the page jump out towards a passerby’s accidental glance: “why do we”, “you can achieve it,” “feel alone.” Sumit Tokas isn’t in some expensive café speckled with writers showing off their cardboard cover moleskines and skinny pumpkin frappés. He is sitting discreetly on the subway stairs in the Outer Circle of Connaught Place. It is one of those subways rarely used by pedestrians. “So much shanti here,” mutters the young man.
Mission Delhi – Pavel, Connaught Place Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 2022December 29, 20220 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] He has the casual accessories of a foreign backpacker from backpackers’ Paharganj, but is manning a pavement stall of photos in Connaught Place, this evening. He is pestered for a tell-all. Who are you? I’m a traveller—Pavel, from Russia. I sell photos. Clicked these in my many journeys. During my first trip to Asia, in 2016, when money was over, in Laos, and I wanted to continue travelling, I started selling these photos on the streets. Some Delhi people give me 10 rupees for one, some 100 or more. Sometimes I give a photo for free if a person has no money. How is the city treating you? Been here for