City Food – Delhi-Food Writers, Around Town Food by The Delhi Walla - November 19, 20240 Ode to some cookbook writers. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such profound consolation when a fellow Delhi wala brings fresh international prestige to our smoggy unliveable city. Delhi-born gourmand Madhur Jaffrey’s book on Dilli ka khana has been distinguished this week by New York Times as among “the 25 most influential cookbooks from the last 100 years.” The list includes classics such as Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Claudia Roden’s A Book of Middle Eastern Food. Published in 1973, An Invitation to Indian Cooking was subtitled as “Mostly the subtle, spicy cooking of Delhi.” The introduction claimed to give “Indian recipes completely adapted to the American kitchen.” Maybe that’s why the book is unintentionally funny
Mission Delhi – Akbar, Central Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 18, 20240 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Where is Noor? And where is his cat? The elderly subway guard hasn’t been seen for a long time in this underground passage. He had been its guard-cum-unofficial custodian for many years, always sitting silently on one side of the subway with the day’s newspaper, beside a black-and-white cat. He in fact lived in the subway, and had a chair and a folding bed. He also occasionally administered a small stall of knickknacks for subway passers-by. All day long, the cat ambled about within the subway, sometimes climbing the staircase, and escaping into daylight. But she was a lazy cat, according to Noor, and spent most of her waking
City Hangout – Kucha Pati Ram, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - November 16, 20240 Line of beauty. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] When not much subsists of a city’s material past—after the elderly people are gone, after the things are broken and scattered—what happens of the place? Then, it likely resembles Old Delhi. The Walled City lanes are littered with timeworn wreckage. One street, though, is stubbornly holding onto an unusually substantial portion of architectural heritage, and it is remarkably well-preserved. The façades of Kucha Pati Ram residences remain dense with quaint balconies, windows and doorways. Kucha traditionally referred to any lane where the dwellers exercised the same occupation. And Pati Ram… well, neither shoe repairer Sonu, nor nankhatai seller Heera Lal, or chai stall owner Praveen, could tell anything precise about the
City Hangout – Palika Bazar Terrace Garden, Connaught Place General by The Delhi Walla - November 15, 20240 A re-landscaped garden. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Reclined along the grass, a loner in white kurta-pajama is lazily looking up at the moon. Steps away, a masked gent is strolling with hands folded on chest. The crowd in the garden also comprises a pair of romantic couples, a bunch of people huddled in a close circle, a woman with a book, a man with a bouquet… plus scores of folks staring raptly at their mobile phone screens. This evening, the garden above the underground Palika Bazar—sometimes called Palika Bazar terrace, as well as terrace garden— is strewn with discarded chip packets. The unfortunate litter tells a lot about us Delhiwale. That said, the park, newly re-landscaped by the New
City Food – Chai Spots, Paharganj General by The Delhi Walla - November 14, 2024November 14, 20240 Tea places in the hotel district. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It remains in cooling darkness even during sunny afternoons. Shailain’s tea stall in Paharganj stands at the mouth of picturesque Katra Husain Baksh. The lane is shaped like a tunnel, the roof adorned with a series of arches. The hotel district has cafés, bars, curio shops, leather goods stores, temples, and mosques. It also has a strong concentration of chai spots. Take Jacksons. Technically speaking, it is a store for used books. But if bookseller Deepak Dialani decides to like you, then each time you visit his shop, he would treat you to free tea, along with a tin box containing an assortment of biscuits and salty mathis.
City Walk – Pandara Road, Central Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - November 13, 2024November 13, 20240 Path of the Pandavas. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The empty footpath is shadowed by a dense cover of tree leaves. This smoggy November afternoon, Pandara Road in central Delhi is dead silent. The adjacent houses too aren’t showing any outward sign of life. It is like strolling through a deserted city. The ambience nevertheless is not at all hostile. The area is lined with standard-issue apartments and bungalows. These are homes of high-ranking government personnel. According to recent reports, Bangladesh’s exiled leader Sheikh Hasina is currently residing somewhere in the vicinity. Her “safe house” might not exactly be on Pandara Road, but during her earlier exile to Delhi in the 1970s, following the assassination of her father along with
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.