City Walk – Gail Choori Walan, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - May 5, 20240 Street of the bangle folks [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Did you know that Snow White and the seven dwarves isn’t just a fairy tale? True, those eight folks used to live in Old Delhi, here in Gali Choori Walan, the street of bangle wale. The proof is this aged mansion. Count yourself. One, two, three… eight doors! Count the balconies above—eight. Extraordinarily elaborate cobwebs are woven along these doors. Their translucent strands seem to have been spun out of invisible air. Passing by the doors, bookbinding manufacturer Iftikhar Ahmad (see photo) says that all the houses in this building of eight doors are empty, except for one. He points to the only door that is not locked. Himself a
City Landmark – New Wall Clock, Turkman Gate Hangouts Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - May 3, 20240 Timeless gets new time. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The lush banyan tree stands by the old marble grave. High up in the smoggy air, the leafy branches bend over the chaotic street, keeping it marooned in perpetual shade, here in the crowded entry point of Old Delhi’s Turkman Gate Bazar. The timeless scene has been enriched with a new wall clock. This moment, though, nobody is looking at the clock. Maybe because there is so much else to look at in the vicinity—Standard Chicken Point, Ansar Pan stall, Delite Stationary Store, Ghalib Biryani, Bismillah Bakery, Tabish Medical Center, Shahji Doodh Bhandar, Nanha’s meat shop, Moinuddin’s tea stall… this same Moinuddin installed the clock during the ramzan that ended
Mission Delhi – Neera Chopra, Rajpur Road Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - May 2, 2024May 2, 20240 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every morning she gets up at five, walks into the dining room, opens the door outside to the porch, and there “I look at my babies.” Her babies are adeniums, which are “such uncommon flowers in Delhi that I didn’t spot them even in my trip last year to that famous garden beside Humayun’s tomb.” Mother to an investment banker and a multinational’s business head, Neera Chopra unites some of the best blessings of existence. A proud alumnus of Lucknow’s Loreto Convent (“from kindergarten to BA in political science”), she lives with her lawyer husband in north Delhi’s genteel Rajpur Road. Almost a bungalow, her
City Nature – Amaltas in 2024 Bloom, Around Town Nature by The Delhi Walla - May 2, 20240 Summer’s gift [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] By yellow-and-green autos speeding along the Mathura Road, the heat-stricken citizen is walking wearily, past a deserted bus stop, past a woman selling bottled water, past a… here it is, right beside a “Go slow accident prone area” signboard. This tree in bloom. The Amaltas. See photo. Shivering feverishly in the light breeze, these golden-yellow flowers have shown up just in time, spotted on the last day of April. Amaltas marks the entry of summertime heatwaves. Use this city guide for a definitive darshan of the tree in blossom. Stroll along central Delhi’s Hailey Road. The dozens of Amaltas trees here tend to be entirely clothed in flowers. All day long they fall on the