City Obituary – Shabana Banu, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
A life, passed. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] No sign of her things—neither of her bundle, that served as a pillow at night, nor of her hand fan. She had been living on this spot of the pavement…
City Walk – Chatta Chuhiya Mem, Old Delhi
World of a street. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] How was she like? What were her passions and pursuits, her joys and despairs? Where is her grave? There are no answers. Nothing substantial is known about this mysterious…
City Life – Handwritten Sentiments, Around Town
Or lives in chits and scraps. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] “If we lose this, we lose everything”— and so concludes the romantic note, handwritten by a person to their beloved at the back of a Khan Market…
Mission Delhi – Razi Zahoor Qureshi, Haji Hotel
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is silently taking turns. Razi Zahoor Qureshi is exercising his routine walk, here on Haji Hotel’s balcony with a panoramic view of the Mughal-era…
Delhi Homes – Barsati, Around Town
The vanishing rain shelter. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is raining hard on the terrace of an 18th floor flat in Gurgaon’s Golf Course Road. Monsoon is giddily beating down on this multitude of high-rises. Yet, it…
City Landmark – Lost Banyan Tree, Connaught Place
You’ll be remembered. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some may think it is no big deal. That in this city of ruins, this is just another ruin. But this tree in Connaught Place (CP) was a friend to…
City Season – Monsoon Spaces, Around Town
Rain-drenched city. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] “A little tap on the window-pane, as though something had struck it, followed by a plentiful light falling sound, as of grains of sand being sprinkled from a window overhead, gradually…
City Food – Jamun, Around Town
Season’s gift. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Go no further. Here’s the season’s talk of the town. They are everywhere. With vendor Sant Ram in south Delhi’s Jangpura, and with vendor Kailash at the deserted bus stop in…
City Hangout – Sidewalk Cafés, Lado Sarai
New wave in the village. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Three coffee drinkers perched on street-side chairs, on the pave. Their arms are swaying up and down with the passions of an animated chatter. This could be a…
City Hangout – 9pm at Sunder Nursery, Central Delhi
Night revellers. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The smoggy sky is pitch black. Amid the trees, a procession is standing silently with flaming torches. No, these are lamps lining a pathway. This is Sunder Nursery at 9 pm….
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