City Life – Labourers’ Load, Central Delhi
Big city dreams. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s another cold morning in a city bazar, where a thousand bricks stacked in a by-lane somehow need to be hauled to a construction site nearby. A crew of young…
City Life – Mohammed Basheer’s All-Purpose Karsa, Around Sufi Shrines
Fakir’s priceless possession. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Offhand The Delhi Walla can’t recall how many times I’ve spotted this cheerful fakir seen wandering around Sufi shrines across Delhi–and with a pretty bowl called a karsa hanging around…
City Life – Abdul Kayum’s Radio, Central Delhi
Soulmate melodies. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This impressive radio resembles something our grandfathers might have owned and cherished. It comes complete with a frequency display and a rexine cover. In fact, the unit is only around 10…
City Life – The Shriram Family’s Pine & Seeta Ashok Trees, Sardar Patel Road
Private treasures. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On a cool central Delhi evening, The Delhi Walla is drinking tea with businessman Madhav Shriram and his wife, Divya, at their park magnificently enhanced by a Seeta Ashok tree. But…
City Life – Somwar Kumar’s Roadside Stove, Central Delhi
Notes from a kitchen. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The other day, The Delhi Walla ran into Somwar Kumar encamped on the pavement in central Delhi. He’d just eaten his homemade lunch. He had cooked aloo gobhi and…
City Life – Chhotu’s First Winter, Central Delhi
A baby goat’s life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It stands to reason that you’d want to bundle up your baby goat on a cold morning in central Delhi. It’s also obvious that The Delhi Walla would love…
City Obituary – Muhammed Waseem, aka Saeed Bilgarami, Ghalib Academy’s Library
A life extraordinary. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Like any unwieldy metropolis, Delhi is full of extraordinary lives, but how many of those do we know? Take Muhammed Waseem, a homeless man who used to spend all his…
City Life – Meraj’s Future Telling Machine, Daryaganj
Automated soothsayer. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] We all have our own way of making a living, but Mr Meraj is definitely a trailblazer. He goes around the city with a machine that would be hard to duplicate….
City Life – Street Dogs of H. Nizamuddin East, Central Delhi
A home for the houseless. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Who wouldn’t want to live in Nizamuddin East? This outrageously wealthy enclave in central Delhi is nestled amid gardens and monuments, including the grand Humayun Tomb. Calling Niz…
City Life – A Room in the Red Light, GB Road
The world of a sex worker. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The room is smaller than the kitchen of an average DDA (Delhi Development Authority) flat. The walls are painted pale purple. A small ceiling fan hangs down…
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