City Moment – The Late Night Street Qawwali, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most of the street was immersed in darkness. But one corner was flooded with light. There, a makeshift stage had come up on the middle of the lane. A roof…
City Notice for 4 PM, 27 March – Artist Dayanita Singh To Celebrate The Delhi Walla Website as Delhi’s Archivist
On cloud nine. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla has never met the great Dayanita Singh although she lives in Delhi. Of course, I have come to know her over the years through her books. I also once sighted…
City Life – The Book Shop Walks With Bahrisons Booksellers, Jor Bagh
Two landmarks. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They are walking together. One evening The Delhi Walla sees Nini KD Singh and Aanchal Malhotra at a public park in the quiet Jor Bagh. The two women are intimately connected…
Mission Delhi – Catherine Lama, Lodhi Road
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A red rose is tucked into her hair. A green scarf is tied under her chin. Her wrinkled hands lie folded on her lap. Her…
Delhi Proustians – First Meeting With Marcel, Venice
First day, first show. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Very soon, his life will revolve around a single object—a book with 2,058 pages. And if in this world of million distractions he manages to read even five pages…
Netherfield Ball – Sadia Dehlvi’s Grand Bash, Nizamuddin East
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everybody who is somebody in Delhi is Sadia Dehlvi’s friend. That doesn’t mean that the author of Sufism: The Heart of Islam does not have important friends outside Delhi. One…
City Monument – Chhoti Gumti, Green Park
Small wonder. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a beautiful nothing. Chhoti Gumti in South Delhi’s Green Park Colony is of no historic consequence. It is such a tiny Lodhi-era ruin that its survival is a marvel….
City Nature – The Two Bougainvillea Trees, Lodhi Gardens
The true city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The truth is that the actual city consists of only two bougainvillea trees—the rest of Delhi is an illusion. The two trees stand in Lodhi Gardens. One March afternoon The…
City Moment – The Solitary Man’s Private Prayer, Hazrat Nizamuddin’s Sufi Shrine
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His palms were folded together; his lips occasionally trembled. The young man stood at one side of the courtyard. It seemed he was praying. The Delhi Walla saw him one…
City Library – Riccardo Calimani’s Books, Venice
A vanishing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The weekend edition of The International New York Times is lying in one corner. It has a story on the ancient Jewish district of Venice. The full-page feature, timed to…
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