City Monument – Madrasa Aminia, Kashmere Gate Monuments by The Delhi Walla - November 21, 20230 A lesser-known beauty. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] First, the eyes are drawn to the arched pool. Then, to the greenish water in it; to the sky in the water; to the reflected crows flying in the reflected sky. And then, in the same crowded water, you see minars and arches. This whole world is still, but suddenly it trembles. A breeze is passing over the pool, causing a minor waterquake. Nestled amid the frenzied Bara Bazar in Kashmete Gate, Madrasa Aminia lies in seclusion. The gate on the cramped street opens into an airy courtyard with the pool as its centrepiece. The reflected minars in the pool are of the Masjid Panipatiyan that stands beyond—so named because the mosque was
City Vox Popili – A Life in Grishika’s Day, Delhi General Life by The Delhi Walla - November 20, 2023November 20, 20230 As part of The Delhi Walla series asking citizens to “write down everything you did in one day.” Send yours in 400 words max to thedelhiwallasoofi@gmail.com [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] [By Grishika Arora, a 12th grade graduate sailing through a gap year before starting university life.] I started the day at home in Sadlfdarjang Enclave by reading Feynman's letter to his dead wife ("I love you. I want to love you. I always will love you"), followed by attempted bibliomancy (Azar Nafisi on page 153 said, "Who will pay for all these ghosts in my memory?"). I then headed out into the city, handing myself over to Delhi in all her lawless, loving glory, to her vague rendition of a November sky. Had
Mission Delhi – Shakeel Artist, Old Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 18, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is the signboard hand-painter of Shahjahanabad. Almost every existing (and fast disappearing) hand-painted shop banner in the Walled City bears his painted signature at the bottom corner—Shakeel Art. See, there it is, on the banner hoarding of Ghee Wala Guest House, on Madina Book Depot, Supreme Tent House, Good Looks Beauty Parlour, Star Flower, Hiri Ayurvedic Pharmacy, Taj Welding, Furqan Foods, National Bakery, Nadim Buffalo Halal Meat Shop, Sharif Restaurant, Alvi Dental Clinic, and on and on. Shakeel Artist (real name Shakeel Akhtar) is one of Old Delhi’s very few surviving signboard painters who work by hand. He is the only one here skilled in not just
City Walk – Civil Lines, North Delhi & Gurugram General Walks by The Delhi Walla - November 18, 20230 Double Lines. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is the balmiest of places. It is the balmiest of places. It is called Civil Lines. It is called Civil Lines. It is in north Delhi. It is further south, in Gurugram. The all-knowing Wikipedia describes Civil Lines as “the residential neighbourhoods developed during the British Raj for its senior civilian officers like Divisional commissioner and District magistrate.” Here’a brief account of a smog-soaked wintertime walk in both the aforementioned Lines, lined with bungalows and trees. Indeed, to stand under these roadside arbors and purposelessly watch the slow-moving cyclists on the road lulls the senses—as if you have finally orbited out from the worldly loop of WhatsApp alerts and instagram reels. Delhi Civil This
City Walk – Gali Nal Wali, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - November 17, 2023November 24, 20230 The too-short lane. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This story ought to be really short and must have only three sentences. For this is about Old Delhi’s shortest street, which has just three residential addresses. You can walk the whole of the gali in 14 itsy-bitsy steps. Gali Nal Wali used to have a nal, or water tap, at its mouth until 25 years back, informs Umesh Kumar who works in nearby Akbar Dairy. The lane begins at Gali Shah Abul Khair and concludes into the stately Hameed Manzil. This afternoon, the mansion’s blue door is partly open, giving the glimpse of a staircase within. An elderly gent in topi walks down slowly. He is wearing a crisp mustard-green kurta paired
Mission Delhi – Raghav, Connaught Place Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 16, 2023November 16, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] At first he was—how to say it—a burger. Then, a “joker.” Now he is being himself. All three versions—call them garbs, or roop in Hindi—are a part of his job profile. Raghav’s career in the “sales and marketing line” has matured over the years through a series of Connaught Place (CP) eateries. He hangs around in the colonial-era colonnades, holding a placard or menu, inviting market strollers to his employer’s establishment. In his last two jobs, Raghav’s uniform was specifically designed to catch the darting eyes of CP’s restless shoppers. While with a burger outlet, Raghav would dress as a burger (see left photo). After switching to a
City Walk – Patli Gali, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - November 14, 2023November 14, 20230 The too-narrow lane. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] You are walking nonchalantly through this severely cramped walled lane in the Walled City. Suddenly somebody approaches from the opposite direction. One of you will have to give up the ego by shifting aside, pressing the back to the wall, and letting the other to slide through the passage. Else, a stalemate. Patli Gali is as patli as an ittar bottle’s neck. Sandwiched between two super-high walls, it is so narrow that no two passers-by can walk side by side. A pardesi unfamiliar to the area might misconstrue it to be a private walkway. Stepping into the secretive street is thrilling. The bazar noise fades, the daylight dims, the sky vanishes. You feel
City Food – Daulat ki Chaat, Paharganj Food by The Delhi Walla - November 14, 20230 The winter season delicacy. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] His uplifting smile is the rich icing to the sweet lightness of his daulat ki chaat. Namaste winter, and salaam to the season’s first sighting of Old Delhi’s cold weather street delicacy. This daulat cart however isn’t loafing about in the Walled City galiyan, but a little outside its vanished walls, in the Main Bazar of Paharganj. But make no mistake: the young vendor lives in Purani Dilli’s Chawri Bazar, he insists urgently, as if that aspect is important to him. Although Vinod himself is a native of Chandausi, the UP town famous for desi ghee. A passer-by pauses by the cart. Looking sceptical, he points an accusing finger at the snowy
Delhi Homes – Windows of Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti & Elsewhere Delhi Homes Life by The Delhi Walla - November 10, 20230 That opening in the room. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] With an upsurge in extreme weather conditions, along with pollution, smog and dengue mosquitoes, most of us are obliged to keep our household windows curtained and shut. The window now invites notice only while booking a seat on a plane or train, or while reserving a room in a resort. The household window might as well become obsolete, if not extinct. Here’s a brief citywide selection. 1. This small room at Old Delhi’s Haji Hotel belonged to poet Aamir Dehlvi, who helped manage the hotel. Its plain window shows the grand Jama Masjid, along with a bit of the sky (with birds in it). The window is designed in such a
Mission Delhi – Ashok, Somewhere in Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 9, 2023November 9, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is late afternoon. He steps to the side of the busy street holding a glass of chai, sitting down on the low boundary wall of a cinema theater. “The chai is for 10 rupees, I’m left with 20 rupees..” This is all the money he has, he says. Ashok introduces himself as a “dihari mazdoor,” a daily-wage labourer. “I have not yet found any work since morning.” Yesterday had turned out well comparatively, he observes. “I earned about 250 rupees.” Almost the entire amount however was exhausted in the lunch and dinner, as well as in many glasses of chai, he says. That is the reason he