City Faith – Hazrat Amir Khusro’s 719th Urs, Hazrat Nizamuddin Sufi Shrine
Commemorating a legend. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Attention please. Now is the most important time in the calendar of Delhi’s poetry aficionados. Usually, a person’s birth anniversary is celebrated. In poet Amir Khusro’s case, it is his…
City Hangout – Frangipani Yard, Nehru Park & Elsewhere
Heaven on earth. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Last night the moon broke and fell into pieces. Some of those pieces fell in central Delhi, close to the prime minister’s residence. In Nehru Park. See photo. Citizens obsessed…
City Life – Villages of Gurgugram, Gurgaon Village
Village in the city. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] You see those buildings? Those were the khet, carpeted with gehu, once upon a recent time. The housing block there was a baagh of ber, the very berries that…
City Food – Shikanji, Matia Mahal & Elsewhere
The machine lemonade. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He fills up the glass with “machine ka thanda paani.” Flicks into it a chammach-full of cheeni. Squeezes a lemon. Tosses in ice cubes. Salt too. Stirs. Your shikanji please….
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Lafazuddin, Dilli Gate
The parlour confession. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] He just finished his lunch, and is ready to launch into his second round of collecting discards from the city streets, here in Dilli Gate. Waste recycler Lafazuddin agreed to be a part…
City Hangout – The Delhi Walla’s Speech on Hazrat Nizamuddin Area, Sunder Nursery
Text of The Delhi Walla’s speech delivered during the release of DK Eyewitness Guide: Humayun’s Tomb, Sunder Nursery and Nizamuddin on April 29. [Photos by Narendra Swain of Aga Khan Trust for Culture] Hello friends. You know, I’d like to…
From The Delhi Walla Archives – A Selection of Prints, “Somewhere in Delhi”, Second Batch
Tangible souvenirs [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Hello friends! I’ve come out with a second batch of “Somewhere in Delhi” prints! The selection is curated and designed by Venetian designer Anna Gerotto, and professionally printed on high quality…
City Hangout – Dilli Gate Nukkar, Old Delhi
In the big city, a small town. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Khurja, Kalpi, Najibabad, Sandeela… these are the small towns where expresses never stop. The train hisses by the platform in great speed and arrogance. Sympathetic window-side…
City Food – Bel Juice, Ashram & Elsewhere
Brief and intense. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A chunk of the sunset scooped out of the evening sky, put into a platter, softened with a cupful of creamy milk, kneaded into a dough of very viscous consistency….
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