City Monument – Sequence of Taak, Deer Park Monuments by The Delhi Walla - March 8, 20231 A disappearing element in architecture. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] All are dusty, and some are cobwebbed. But it doesn’t matter. After all, it might be the most exquisite collection of taaks in the entire Delhi region. Taak, this arched niche inside a wall. Today, an endangered element of old architecture. The historically minded might cherish this unnamed mosque in south Delhi’s Deer Park for its Lodhi past and its floor littered with anonymous graves. But the great joy of the ruined edifice lies in a sequence of twelve taaks adorning the unused mosque’s western wall, the monument’s only surviving remnant. Everything else is gone, including the roof—if the roof ever existed. Your grandmother might easily tell you stories of typical household
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Maliha Sultan, Gurgaon Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - March 8, 20230 The parlour confession. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] She spent her growing years in a home that overlooks Humayun’s Tomb. Perhaps it was the perfection of the Mughal-era dome that inspired her to become an architect. Maliha Sultan’s work has straddled across India and the UK. Currently, she divides her days between Gurugram, where she visits her son in Sector 65, and Ahmedabad, where she lives with four housemates and is pursuing her PhD on “socially relevant architectural education.” She agreed to be a part of our Proust Questionnaire series in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences. Your favorite qualities in a man Honesty, understandability, adaptability, respect for other human beings. Real courage to take this
City Hangout – Exercise Trail, Deer Park Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 8, 2023March 11, 20230 The language of health. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s not rocket science. Try deciphering the directives painted on the board: • Stand erect • Feet together • Jump stride • Bringing arms to shoulder level Follow these, and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)—its seal is painted on the board—might just help you become a “Jumping Jack”. Tucked by the fashionable Hauz Khas Village, Deer Park, like most public gardens in the city, is managed by the DDA. The garden’s Swasth Path (health trail) is lined with a series of metal signages, each painted with the name of an exercise, accompanied with bulleted how-to-do instructions. See yourself some of the exercise names: Lateral Exercise, Balancing Beam, Straddle Walk, and the aforementioned Jumping Jack. Certainly, you, dear reader,