City Landmark – Jackson’s Books, Paharganj
Delhi’s most charming second-hand bookshop. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Jackson’s bookstore in central Delhi’s Paharganj sells novels and guidebooks at discount prices. This cramped shop has books in more than 10 languages, including French, German, Italian,…
City Landmark – SKV School, Zeenat Mahal, Lal Kuan
A neighborhood’s future. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A cat’s drawn-out meow cuts through the squawking of chickens. These sounds, typical of Old Delhi, recede as the empty yard fills. The morning assembly at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya (SKV)…
City Landmark – Jawaharlal Nehru University, South Delhi
Kremlin on the Jumna. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A spectre is haunting Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) — the spectre of Indian dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism, as anyone in JNU will tell you, is a philosophical approach…
City Landmark – Sapru House, Mandi House Chowk
The decline of an institution. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] More than 50 years ago, on the first day of May, Jawarharlal Nehru flashed a smile (recorded by a grainy b&w photograph) as he flung open the doors…
City Landmark – St Stephen’s College, North Delhi
The algebra of infinite merit. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sorry, Stephanians. You will never get as majestic a view as enjoyed by the college across the road. “Hinduites are so lucky to have us facing them,” says…
City Obituary – New Book Depot, 1925-2012
The legendary bookstore in Connaught Place becomes history. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] New Book Depot, the legendary bookshop in the colonial-era Connaught Place known for its vast collection of classics as well as for its eccentric owner,…
City Landmark – St Paul International Book Center, Connaught Place
Jesus loves you. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Halleluyah. St Paul International Book Center is one of the very few shops in Delhi selling Bibles in all the 22 official languages of India. Situated in an Outer Circle…
City Landmark – Nehru Archives, Teen Murti Bhawan
It goes online. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Until August 2011, anyone with the ambition of understanding Jawaharlal Nehru had to fly to Delhi and spend hours at the members-only library in Teen Murti Bhavan, Nehru’s British-built residence…
City Landmark – Mohan Singh Place Shopping Cum Office Complex, Baba Kharak Singh Marg
A New Delhi oddity. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a colonial-era commercial district that is getting colonized by multiplex chains and fast food joints, the Mohan Singh Place ‘shopping cum office complex’ in Connaught Place has no…
City Landmark – Manohar Bookstore, Ansari Road
Best collection of non-fiction on India. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] If it were a book, it would be thick, dense, informative, wonderfully engaging, but wrapped in unattractive grey paper. Manohar bookstore in central Delhi is that sort…
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