Mission Delhi – Faizan, Gali Dakotan Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 12, 20240 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] “I have switched three schools since my childhood. In each school I would meet new folks. Some of them became good friends, but such friendships would end with that school. Although good in studies, I was constantly in search of a friend for life. Finally, in 11th standard, I found such a friend--a cigarette.” So begins Hookup se Mohabbat, a story that Faizan is reading aloud from his mobile to Asad and Hammad. The three friends are huddled about a parked scooter this smoggy evening on a city street. In his 20s, Faizan finished writing the story a day ago, and is expecting an honest critique
Mission Delhi – Poonam, Janpath Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 11, 20240 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sitting cross-legged on the raised sidewalk, she is busily fussing over a jumble of pans, jars and jugs. Four dogs are plopped down on the facing pathway, as still as statues. It is early evening at the Tibetan Market in central Delhi’s Janpath. The traffic on the road behind the woman is growing dense. But she is totally engrossed into her job of the moment, her bare hands flitting from one pan to another, which are filled with some mushy soup-like stuff. “Mix of boiled rice and boiled chicken,” she says, momentarily raising her head. Feeding the four Janpath dogs is Poonam’s daily routine for eight years. Every evening,
City Landmark – Dilli Gate Qabristan, Bahadur Shah Zafar Road Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - November 9, 20241 Walled City's primary graveyard. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] One morning, a funeral procession in Old Delhi halts the rush-hour flow of autos in front of Delite Cinema. The mourners are carrying a janaza towards the direction of Dilli Gate Qabristan. The graveyard behind the newspaper offices on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg happens to be the final address of thousands of Purani Dilli’s Muslim dwellers. It is as dense with graves as Meena Bazar is with machinery stores. Located slightly outside the Walled City’s vanished walls, the qabristan contains some of contemporary Old Delhi’s most distinguished gentry. Urdu poet Mushir Jhinjhianvi, who lived in a house overlooking Chitli Qabar Chowk, lies buried somewhere amid this sprawl. So does the great
City Nature – Trees of Connaught Place, Central Delhi Nature Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - November 8, 2024November 8, 20240 Leaves of the colonnades. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] You must agree that the architectural essence of Connaught Place lies in its hundreds of sturdy white columns that gracefully support the colonial-era colonnades of inner and outer circle. The other significant but overlooked aspect of CP’s essence is its innumerable trees. The area was a forest of babool before the British destroyed it to make a commercial district. Here’s pointing out a few of the very many trees of Connaught Place, merely as a starting point for you to explore the jungle that our historic CP continues to be in its own signature style. A tree in G-Block is miraculously made of both peepal and banyan. Plus, it is super-gigantic.
City Hangout – Kamla Nagar, North Delhi Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - November 7, 20240 A town in the city. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Eyes darting around wildly, as if desperate to soak in all the sights along all the paves. Kamla Nagar in north Delhi always lifts the mood with its wondrously kaleidoscopic disposition. Especially catchy is the buzzy road that cuts through the main market. The multifaceted universe is inevitably youthful due to its nearness to Delhi University colleges. But it doesn’t have the alienating vibes of an age-arrogant college campus. Instead, it exudes the calmly pace of a small town bazar where everyone feels welcome, irrespective of age or style. (So appropriate then that the place-name ends with the Hindi word for town). The tick to best experience the Nagar is
Mission Delhi – Zubair Ul Hasan, Chitli Qabar Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 5, 20240 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such huge crowds, he remarks on peering down from the window of his parents’ upper-floor bedroom. The view of the narrow intersecting lanes is partly obstructed by loopy power cables. Oblivious to the chaos below, grey pigeons are silently circling about the rooftops. This pulsating world of Old Delhi’s Chitli Qabar Chowk virtually courses through Zubair Ul Hasan’s bloodstream. In his late 20s, he is the grandson of an acclaimed Urdu poet, and has spent all his years here at his family residence, overlooking the Walled City intersection. But now Chitli Qabar must adjust its bonds with Zubair. Early in the year, he boarded a flight for the
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Ramchander, Central Delhi Pave Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - November 4, 20240 Portrait of a barber. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] On Diwali evening last week, Ramchander, a pavement barber, lit up two diyas and two candles on the exact spot of the darkened tree-lined Central Delhi pave where he daily operates his stall, although that day it stayed closed due to the festival. After offering his prayers (see photo), he agreed to become a part of our Proust Questionnaire series, in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences. The principal aspect of your personality. My profession. I have been doing this work of hair-cutting and hajamati (shaving) as long as I can remember of my earliest days spent back home in the village. I would
City Hangout – Sunday Book Bazar, Mahila Haat Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - November 2, 2024November 2, 20240 Evolution of a place. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Place-names are frequently deceptive. Logically speaking, it ought to be a village market for female artisan-entrepreneurs. It actually is Ali Baba’s cave for secondhand books. Opened atop a basement car park in 2012, Mahila Haat overlooks the Walled City’s vanished walls on Asaf Ali Road. The planners had expected it to be Delhi’s second Dilli Haat, that much-loved Disneyland of art-and-craft stuff. The good intentions failed, and Mahila Haat stayed deserted and squalid. Its kismet turned in 2019, when it was chosen as the site for the capital’s iconic Sunday Book Bazar, which earlier would unfold every week on the pavement of nearby Daryaganj. (The new location proved far superior due
City Life – Diwali Lights, 2024 Nature by The Delhi Walla - November 1, 20240 Let here be light. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Do you take note of shaam ka twilight sky when the sun has gone but the light has not? Aaj ka din (today!) is an idyllic occasion to celebrate some select places in the megapolis that look divine under the evening’s fleeting light. Make your way to any of the three foot over- bridges that span the multi-lane avenue in Gurugram’s DLF Cybercity. At this moment, the sky is pink, stained so by the light of the sun that had set moments ago behind a bunch of Millennium City high-rises. Indeed, the top half of one tower is virtually ablaze in that same pink. In Hauz Khas Village, the monument-facing rooms of
City Life – Rampal & Ramesh, Harsh Vihar Life by The Delhi Walla - October 30, 2024October 30, 20240 Two lives. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Dal, roti, mooli, hari mirchi. This is house painter Rampal’s meal this afternoon. While colleague Ramesh has got aloo-lobhiyan and roti. Rampal’s khana is prepared daily by wife Durgavati Devi. Ramesh’s wife Manju Devi lives in the village, so he cooks his own meals. Both men live in Harsh Vihar, but in separate addresses. They however always operate as a two-member team, and are working today in a housing society flat. For a change, the assignment hasn’t got anything to do with putai, or painting. They have been commissioned to clean the entire apartment in anticipation of the forthcoming Diwali festival. Sitting cross-legged on the drawing room floor, the men finish the lunch