The Dushera ground [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Bhagwan Ram exiled. Maa Sita abducted. In the end, sinful Ravan punished. As is the tradition every year around the Dusshera, hundreds of Ramlilas are currently being staged in Delhi. This 10-day theatrical representation of Bhagwan Ram’s epic revolves around both mortals and immortals, as familiar to us as our own family and friends. One of the places hosting the Ramlila is Ramlila Maidan, the vast grounds outside the Walled City’s vanished walls. The Maidan’s Ramlila began on Thursday evening. (This photo of the crowded audience is from the previous year’s Ramlila). Once upon a time there was no Ramlila Maidan. The whole area was a keekar jungle teeming with geedar. This is the

On independent Delhi's greatest architect. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This Sunday, 6 October, is the 23rd death anniversary of post-independent Delhi’s greatest architect. Here’s his legacy in 23 points. 1. Joseph Stein’s modernistic designs took cues from India’s past, each consisting of a bunch of buildings fused with trees, gardens, pools. 2. Stein was born in the US, and completed his masters in architecture from the University of Illinois, and post-graduate studies at Cranbrook Academy, near Detroit, under architect Eliel Saarinen and sculptor Carl Milles. 3. Stein’s early career involved working in California. He was briefly in Mexico, where he became friends with the legendary Frida Kahlo. 4.

One more layer over the past [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The sky is blue. The market is bluer. This is the same old Kashmere Gate, just touched up a bit. The blue was rendered early this year by the local market’s association, says a shopkeeper. To be sure, Kashmere Gate’s Bara Bazar is a sprawling enterprise filled with a variety of businesses. The blue is limited to its handsome colonnade that overlooks the historic St James Church. A dark cerulean shade has been painted on the colonnade’s slim metallic columns, on its intricately patterned wrought iron screens, on the corridor’s ceiling, and also on the shop shutters. The blue shirt of a fruit seller stationed outside the colonnade this afternoon

Life in a mansion. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It I s a mansion only in name. In its contemporary avatar, Haveli Anwar Ali resembles to some extent a typical Old Delhi street. Like any Purani Dilli gali, it too comprises of residences and shops. The mansion’s sole portion that remains wholly intact—at least in the publicly accessible part—is the sandstone gateway. The darwaza is sculpted with taaks, arches and flowery patterns. Its two tall wooden panels lie detached, leaning against their respective walls. These panels are severely discoloured. One shows a faded “STD ISD PCO” sign, indicating the long-ago presence of a phone booth. Another has the haveli’s name etched in Urdu, as pointed by a passer-by. The haveli’s more

A pre-partition edifice. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This greyish Old Delhi landmark is simply known as “building.” The storeyed structure looks profoundly different from the surrounding storeyed structures. It is decidedly more elegant in an old-fashioned way, apparent even to those among us with no insights on architecture. The “building” stands at Mohalla Qabristan Chowk, and is the vicinity’s only pre-partition edifice still wholly intact. The intersection has been visited on these pages, but the “building” is demanding an exclusive appraisal. A much taller multi-storey has lately risen right in front of it. The development is significant. Until the turn of the century, the “building” used to be the tallest in this part of the Walled City. Its initial presence was

A place from past [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s a game. Go, find this mysterious showroom in Connaught Place. The place opens almost daily, but--this is a big but!-- it doesn’t sell anything. Although the shelves are partly stocked with things that were originally intended to be sold (hint: it isn’t a bookstore!). The landmark’s name shall not be divulged, but it isn’t tough to locate. (One reason for not sharing the name is because the showroom’s friendly staffers requested for the place not to be explicitly identified). Even so, the establishment is deeply linked to CP’s origins, and ought to be recorded for posterity. The showroom is almost as old as the colonial-era shopping district—it came up in 1937. The

Lest we forget. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is commemorated in the Millennium City of Gurugram as a shaheed, a martyr. In 1999, honeymooner Rupen Katyal boarded with wife a Delhi-bound flight in Kathmandu. He was the only one among the 155 passengers killed by the hijackers in IC 814, which is also the name of a talk-of-the-town web series that purports to recreate the hijacking episode. One afternoon, Shaheed Rupin Katyal Marg was full of raised dust. A portion of the roadside was taken over by a snack stall with a broken chair, a citizen lay sprawled nearby. Delhi-NCR has many roads named after the nation’s shaheeds—such as Shaheed Major Vikas Yadav Marg, Shaheed Sukhbeer Singh Yadav

A Walled City landmark. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Pahari Imli takes its name from being a hill that once boasted of a tamarind tree, Gali Mem Wali was the lane housing a “ma’am,” and Amrood Wali Masjid is a mosque that had a guava tree. The origins of Old Delhi place-names are easily relatable, with notable exceptions. Take this landmark. Its name feels as foreign as caviar will in Chandni Chowk. Oxford dictionary dates the word to 1778 when it originated as the Latin motto (‘higher’) on the seal of the State of New York. Say salam-namaste to Excelsior (pronounced "ek" + "sel" + "see" + "aw".). Shut since 2016, the single-screen cinema at Bazar Sirki Walan stands discreetly behind the

In the world of public art. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A classical dancer in a classic dancing mudra, two tablas and two larger-than-life faces exuding such calmly trance that they could only be of artists in the middle of their early morning sadhana. This is among Delhi’s newest art installations. No big deal in that, for many have lately come up around Bharat Mandapam. This one is unique because it sits on the very heart of the capital’s art district—the Mandi House roundabout. Mandi House is the address of art galleries, concert halls, theatres and music schools. It has something of the Montmarte district of Paris where at one time bohemian artists would wander around with their paint brushes and canvasses.