100 Things to Do Before You Quit Delhi – Night Walk, Lodhi Gardens

100 Things to Do Before You Quit Delhi – Night Walk, Lodhi Gardens

The perfect Delhi experience. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The tree leaves are black, the grass is orange, the ducks are wide awake, and there are very, very, very few people. As part of The Delhi Walla’s series…

Netherfield Ball – Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s Book Reception, Raasta, Hauz Khas Village

Netherfield Ball – Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s Book Reception, Raasta, Hauz Khas Village

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Hello boys, there she is. One evening The Delhi Walla spotted the famous 50 Dates girl at the launch of author Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s new novel, Split, at Raasta in…

Letter from Yangon - Bahadur Shah Zafar's Tomb, Near Shwedagon Pagoda

Letter from Yangon – Bahadur Shah Zafar’s Tomb, Near Shwedagon Pagoda

The last Mughal’s grave. [Text and photos by Florian Morin] The tomb of Bahadur Shah Zafar, Delhi’s last Mughal emperor, is just a few hundred meters away from the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred stupa in Myanmar (formerly known as…

City Moment – RV Smith's Almirah Dream, Mayapuri

City Moment – RV Smith’s Almirah Dream, Mayapuri

Every writer’s problem. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The drawing-room steel rack has hijacked his mind. The Delhi Walla is at the home of Ronald Vivian (RV) Smith, the city’s longtime chronicler, who is the author of many…

Mission Delhi – Kuttey Walle Baba, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti

Mission Delhi – Kuttey Walle Baba, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is known as Kuttey Walla Baba, the man with the dog. A brown dog is always seen around him. Other stray dogs, too, are…

Delhi Archives – Paan, Around Town

Delhi Archives – Paan, Around Town

[Digging out old stories from The Delhi Walla] A foreign art critic visiting Delhi’s Connaught Place may be forgiven for thinking its red-splattered corridors are a form of abstract expression. Although the dirty white pillars of the colonial-era arcade were…

Atget’s Corner – 891-895, Delhi Photos

Atget’s Corner – 891-895, Delhi Photos

The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds,…

City Monument - Unknown Tomb, Pragati Maidan

City Monument – Unknown Tomb, Pragati Maidan

Somebody’s grave. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The tomb is covered with a white silk cloth. It’s torn. The paint on the headstone has partially peeled off to expose the bricks within. One afternoon The Delhi Walla comes…

Photo Essay – DL Number Plate, Around Town

Photo Essay – DL Number Plate, Around Town

The symbol of Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The DL number plates given to cars, auto rickshaws and bikes registered in Delhi frame the view of the city’s roads and streets. These two alphabets arranged together speak…

City Season - Living With PM 2.5, Lodhi Gardens and Elsewhere

City Season – Living With PM 2.5, Lodhi Gardens and Elsewhere

In the world’s most polluted city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Walking in the Lodhi Gardens in central Delhi is always beautiful. This winter, particularly, do look out for that misty haze of PM 2.5 enveloped around the…