City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – XI, Indian Coffee House

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – XI, Indian Coffee House

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 11th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

Photo Essay - Sleeping, Around Town

Photo Essay – Sleeping, Around Town

Our fundamental right. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In February 2012, the Supreme Court of India declared that a citizen has a right to sound sleep because it is fundamental to life and falls within the purview of…

City Food – Litti Chokha, Around Town

City Food – Litti Chokha, Around Town

Delhi’s best-kept secret. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If Bihar were a country, Delhi should be its capital and litti chokha its national dish. The capital is home to a large migrant population from Bihar, but… ‘Just what…

City Sighting – Arundhati Roy, Pragati Maidan

City Sighting – Arundhati Roy, Pragati Maidan

Delhi’s principal mischief-maker. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One evening, The Delhi Walla sighted his most beloved Delhiite – author Arundhati Roy. She was in hall number 11, Pragati Maidan, a sprawling complex in central Delhi that was…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – X, Indian Coffee House

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – X, Indian Coffee House

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the tenth meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

City Moment – Sadia Dehlvi’s The Sufi Courtyard, Nizamuddin East

City Moment – Sadia Dehlvi’s The Sufi Courtyard, Nizamuddin East

The author with her new book. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon The Delhi Walla entered the home of author Sadia Dehlvi in Nizamuddin East. The house was all happiness. Ms Dehlvi’s publisher HarperCollins India had just…

Photo Essay – The Juice Sellers, Near Jagat Cinema

Photo Essay – The Juice Sellers, Near Jagat Cinema

Life of street vendors. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everyday in the summer, sugar cane juice sellers Harsh and Ishwar can be seen walking through the back-lanes of Shahjahanabad. The Delhi Walla met them behind the building of…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – IX, Indian Coffee House

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – IX, Indian Coffee House

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the ninth meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

Mission Delhi – Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Connaught Lane

Mission Delhi – Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Connaught Lane

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sitting on his patch of the pavement, he takes a sip of the chai, and again looks at the blur of people walking in front…

City Style – The Classy Delhiwalla, Turkman Gate

City Style – The Classy Delhiwalla, Turkman Gate

Searching for the stylish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla saw this man one morning at Turkman Gate, one of the five surviving gateways built to protect the Mughal-era Shahjahanabad. He was in a white shirt,…