Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Anant Kumar, Sunday Book Bazar
The parlour confession. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a truth universally acknowledged that the greatest place to shop for all kinds of books in the entire Delhi region is at the Sunday Book Market. For decades the bazar unfolded…
City Monument – Lodhi Garden Ruins, Central Delhi
The ‘qilas’ of Lodhi. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is a qila. That is a qila. And that also is a qila. Very common to overhear visitors to the world-famous Lodhi Garden call each of its monuments…
City Food – Summertime Roller Ice-Cream, Gurgaon
Heatwave’s consolation. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A vision in pink, so pale you fear it might vaporise under the moonlight. This mass of pink is currently a blur, moving round and round like a factory turbine. And…
Mission Delhi – Disha Dhawan, Daryaganj
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] She wakes up at her Palam Vihar residence only after her husband brings her the morning chai. The breakfast subzi-kachori is later ordered from the…
City Life – Gali Chamre Wali Part 2, Old Delhi
Life of a lane. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Walls have ears, we know that. But doors with mouths? That’s the magic happening in this gali—two facing doors are chitchatting, that too in human-speak. Blame the twilight dark….
City Food – Ghalib Street, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
On poet’s trail. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is the only Delhi lane named after Delhi’s greatest poet. Ghalib Street starts from Lodhi Road and terminates towards his deserted tomb, here in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. It has…
City Season – Summertime Rains, Around Town
Pseudo-monsoon. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Evening rush. Forceful breeze harping wildly through the clogged avenues. Suddenly the cloudy sky breaks. Illumined by the street lamps, the rain projectiles become starkly visible, pouring down on earth like iambs…
City Landmark – Charles Correa’s Tara Apartments, Kalkaji
Dream architecture. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Up, down. Right, left. Wherever you see. The place is swamped with staircases. Each stringed into zig saggy flights of steps. Some suspended in mid-air, almost. Tara Apartments is a fantasyland…
City Home – Late Scholar Abdul Sattar’s Room, Pahari Imli
The room lives on. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is gone, lying buried in Dilli Gate cemetry, but his packed bookshelves are in their appointed places. His mattress and pillows, too. The angle the afternoon sunlight is…
Mission Delhi – Muhammed Asif, Ghalib Academy Library
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This moment, the young man in white kurta-pajama is poring upon a book. This moment, he is scrawling on a pad. Now, he is thoughtfully…
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