City Culture – The Band of Brothers, Hauz Khas Ruins
The 7 idiots. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Their shoulders are swinging softly, their feet are tapping on the stone floor and some of them are shutting their eyes in intense passion. This is a group of seven…
City Monument – Gurudwara Seesganj, Chandni Chowk
Holy and serene. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Not as open and airy as Bangla Sahib gurudwara in Connaught Place, Seesganj Sahib is as serene as any spiritual destination should be. It was built in memory of Guru…
City Landmark – Red Fort, Old Delhi
The necessary ruin. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is nothing inside the imposing ramparts of Red Fort, or Lal Quila, except a few gardens, a couple of crumbling halls, and two museums with spotty paintings and antique…
City Monument – Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum, Safdarjung Road
Inside the Lutyens’ bungalow. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The former residence of India’s first female Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, here she was assassinated by her own bodyguards in 1984. But this memorial is more than just a…
City Landmark – Khan-i-Khana’s Tomb, Nizamuddin East
Scarred with beauty. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] A stone-paved lane hedged with marigold flowers leads to one of Delhi’s strangest monuments. The 16th century tomb of a Mughal noble, Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana, is both ugly and beautiful….
City Monument – Birla Temple, Mandir Marg
The land of Vishnu. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Spread over seven acres, Shri Lakshmi Narain temple, popularly called Birla Mandir, is a dense neighbourhood of gods. A world in itself, it is a land of plenty. It…
City Secret – Razia Sultana’s Tomb, Pahari Bhojla
India’s first woman ruler is sleeping here. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Razia Sultana’s tomb chamber in Old Delhi. No dome, no crowd here. This is no place for a queen. As the first woman ruler of the…
City Monument – Agrasen ki Baoli, Hailey Road
The well of solitude. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Amid the business towers and residential apartments of the Colonial-era Connaught Place, this 14th century baoli or ancient step-well, is flanked on both sides by niches, chambers and passageways,…
City Monument – Ghalib’s Tomb Restoration, Nizamuddin Basti
Restoring the dignity of Delhi’s greatest poet. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi By March, 2010, the 19th-century Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib will finally lie in a resting place worthy of his iconic status. “It will all be simple…
City Monument – Renovated Baoli, Nizamuddin Basti
A 700-year-old monument gets its first full makeover. [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] Add one more attraction in the historic Nizamuddin Basti, apart from its dargah and the famed Thursday qawwali sessions. The ancient baoli, or step-well, built…
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