City Landmark – Charles Correa’s Tara Apartments, Kalkaji
Dream architecture. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Up, down. Right, left. Wherever you see. The place is swamped with staircases. Each stringed into zig saggy flights of steps. Some suspended in mid-air, almost. Tara Apartments is a fantasyland…
City Landmark – Plaza Amphitheatre, Basant Lok Market
Today with yesterdays. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sail boats in the harbour. Their white sails arrayed beside each other—see photo. But there’s no hulk, no deck, no mast, no river. No boats either. The sail-like objects are…
City Landmark – Pushkin’s Statue, Mandi House
Pushkin in the time of war. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The poet’s long coat is unbuttoned, his thoughtful arms crossed on the back, his inward gaze turned towards the speeding autos. Only three poets adorn the baggy…
City Landmark – Indian Christian Cemetery, Burari
Summer’s cool envoy. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] But then it was never easy to catch him. Say, he’s spotted with a Matia Mahal gossiper on Jama Masjid stairs. That very hour he’s seen enjoying a plate of…
City Obituary – People Tree, Connaught Place
Passing of an era. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such a teeny-weeny dukan, but it fashioned a subculture, and became a Connaught Place icon. Some may even call it a Delhi institution. And now People Tree at 8,…
City Landmark – Faizan’s Charging Point, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
Stall we all need. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It can’t be the only one in the entire megapolis. There must be such stalls elsewhere too. May be you have to dander along the bazars more attentively. Even…
City Landmarks – Two Bridges, New Delhi and Gurgaon Railway Stations
Bridge to bridge. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] All bridges cross over something to reach somewhere. But some bridges are themselves an overwhelming destination. Here are two such unusual landmarks in the Delhi region. They happen to be…
City Landmark – Mall Wall, Gurgaon
The other walled city. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Blue sky and cottony clouds. Silently sliding Metros. Stalagmite-like towers. All of these elements are only slightly out of focus. This is no painting. This is a real world…
City Landmark – The Arches, Lodhi Colony
The see-through taaks. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] An arch-shaped niche in the wall, the taak is almost history. Some are still sighted in the Walled City. In days gone by, when Delhi homes had no Western-style sofas…
City Landmark – Chauhan Bros. Stationery & Hosiery, Paharganj
The small shop around the corner. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The white hoarding, the blue and red letters painted on this hoarding, the yellowing shutters. All these adds to the shop’s engrossing ambiance. Merely looking at it…
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