City Library – Book Lover’s Diary, Around Town Library Life by The Delhi Walla - February 10, 20250 The year was 1983. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A blue book is lying forlorn on the dusty floor. Here in a Delhi shop for used books. Turns out the book is not really a book. It is somebody’s private diary, belonging to the year 1983. Every page is scribbled over in blue ink. A more detailed investigation reveals it to be a thing even more extraordinary. It is a booklover’s diary, jotted with hundreds of book titles; some of the titles are accompanied with the scribbler’s brief opinions about the books. The diary does bear the person’s name but no point in sharing it publicly. Perhaps the diarist died, and the descendants accidentally gave away the handwritten diary while disposing what must have
City Hangout – Bhaijaan Market, Sir Syed Ahmad Road Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - February 8, 20250 Bro's bazar. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Jaan means life. Bhai means bro. So bhaijaan maybe implies a bro who is as dear as one’s own life. Whatever, one of the most commonly heard words in Old Delhi streets is bhaijaan. The word is instinctively summoned to hail a friendly chap--or even any random male encountered on the street. And here’s this little-known multi-storey in the Walled City called Bhaijaaan Market! The ground-floor is essentially a U-shaped corridor lined with shops and offices. The complex is located on a noisy street named after legendary scholar Syed Ahmad Khan. (This historic Walled City figure is too revered to be a mere Syed Bhaijaan; he is instead Sir Syed.) Bhaijaan Market is fronted by the
City Monument – Khooni Darwaza, Bahadur Shah Zafar Road Monuments by The Delhi Walla - February 8, 20250 House of spirit. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Who’s there? Bhoot! One existential question for this city of djinns is—do ghosts exist? We’ll never arrive at a definitive conclusion until perhaps after our own death. Until then, you may like to snoop around certain landmarks in the Delhi region considered (at least by some!) to be ghost-friendly. Here is one of them. Khooni Darwaza means ‘bloodied gateway’ and legend has it that blood drips from its ceilings during the rainy seasons of July and August. Erected by Sher Shah Suri about 500 years ago, it is in the middle of the four-lane Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, conveniently close to the ghostly Dilli Gate graveyard. Also known as Lal Darwaza, the red sandstone gateway was
City Life – Ghalib Dehlavi & Kader Abdolah, Central Delhi Life by The Delhi Walla - February 6, 20250 From the Farsi universe. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Best to start at the beginning. Farsi took its earliest form a long time ago in Persia. The language thrived in its homeland, and gradually transcended the geographical borders of modern-day Iran, building homes in other lands. Take Delhi’s Mirza Ghalib, acknowledged among the greatest poets of Farsi. Some decades ago in a politically turbulent Iran, a young man had to leave his country, and was eventually obliged to make a new home in the Netherlands. All these years later, he has become a bestselling author writing in Dutch. This afternoon, the worlds of these two literary figures of the Farsi universe intersect. Kader Abdolah of Delft is in Ghalib’s Delhi, heading to
City Hangout – Hazrat Nizamuddin East Market, Central Delhi Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - February 5, 20250 Mom-and-Pop around the corner. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In black Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses and a black Givenchy dress, Audrey Hepburn gazes at a Tiffany window in New York. This iconic portrait of the actress is hanging on the wall of a coffee shop in Delhi. Once, outlets of this same Café Turtle thrived in some of our city’s fanciest markets. One by one, they all shut down—except for this one, located in Delhi’s most discreet commercial destination. Nizamuddin East Market must be the capital’s quietest bazar, nestled along the back lane of Nizamuddin East. It is as serene as the colony streets, the only sounds being the incessant cawing of crows, the circling cries of kites, and the announcements from
Mission Delhi – Sunita, Sitaram Bazar Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 4, 20250 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Her life is hectic. She gets up early in the morning, prepares the household for the new day. Then she marches out to relaunch herself as a hyperlocal entrepreneur. Sunita administers a paratha establishment, close to her home. Her stall in Old Delhi’s Sitaram Bazar consists of a simple cart. This early afternoon, the cart is crowded with a two-burner gas range, a couple of metal pans—one is filled with spiced aloo mash (paratha stuffing!), the other pan is covered with a lid. A platter is filled with kneaded atta. A plastic box is crammed with sliced onions and hari mirchi pickle. Then there’s the chakla-belan
City Landmark – Rakesh Kumar’s Magazine Stall, Connaught Lane Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - February 3, 20250 Life goes on. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was a pavement stall for used magazines. It had been standing on this spot for decades. One day last year the stall didn’t open. Weeks passed, the stall didn’t open. Months passed, the stall didn’t open. This afternoon the stall is open, standing at its usual spot on Connaught Lane, the pedestrian-friendly stretch connecting Kasturba Gandhi Marg to Janpath Road. “I was unwell,” stall proprietor Rakesh Kumar explains, giving reason for the long absence. The stall looks as rooted to the place as the sky above, making it difficult to believe that it was closed for half a year. As always, it is stacked with the old issues of New Yorker and Economist
City Faith – Basant Festival 2025, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah Faith Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - February 1, 20250 Colour us yellow. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] There shall be yellow flowers, and happy people in yellow turbans, yellow scarves and yellow kurtas. Such scenes shall unfold Sunday evening tomorrow to mark the debut of 2025 spring Basant at the dargah of Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. (The photo above is of the last year’s festivity). The historic shrine in central Delhi is dotted with centuries-old graves of Mughal-era royalties (including an emperor), along with graves of poets, fakirs, scholars, nobles. Of course, the principal grave here is of Hazrat Nizamuddin himself. Everyday, pilgrims arrive in the dargah to offer prayers. Many in the crowd also happen to be tourists wanting to experience the world-famous qawwalis performed daily at the dargah’s
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Kevin Kelly, Sardar Patel Marg Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - January 31, 20250 Portrait of a citizen. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Proust Questionnaire series has been appearing on this page for some years. The respondents have been waiters and writers, beggars and booksellers, ear cleaners and home makers. This time, we have the ambassador of Ireland—and for good reason. The birth anniversary of Ireland’s greatest writer falls this Sunday, 2nd February, which also marks the anniversary of the publication date of his greatest book. James Joyce’s Ulysses is the most descriptive city novel ever written, and reading it feels not only like walking the streets of Dublin, where the novel is set, but also like wandering through the galis and kuchas of our very own Purani Dilli. Over to Dubliner Kevin
City Walk – Gali Chunnamal, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - January 30, 20250 The Walled City encyclopedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some walls are continuing to stand, so do some shelves and doorways. A flight of stairs as well. All else has become a huge pile of bricks. Anyhow the debris of the old building, which locals say fell some years ago, looks integrated to the texture of the land. This afternoon, passers-by are haring by busily, no one looking at this heap. Such is the surreal start to Gali Chunnamal. Located close to the Walled City’s vanished city wall, the lane this afternoon is dappled in shade, splashed here and there with spheres and squares of sunshine. The gali is rich in stylish old doors; all of which are locked. Some are