City Home – Homeless Shelter, Central Delhi
A home for the houseless. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The floor is of plywood. The roof appears to be of white tarpaulin. The walls, too, are of the same white material. There are no windows. This is a home to…
Home Sweet Home – Muhammed Mintullah, Hazrat Nizamuddin East
Dwellers in a posh neighbourhood. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The daughter of the last nawab of Rampur resides in this neighbourhood. Author Vikram Seth has an apartment here. A neighbouring flat belongs to former Jammu & Kashmir…
Home Sweet Home – Nizamuddin & Others, Jama Masjid
Housing on the pave. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They literally live in the shadow of the Jama Masjid. Right under the Mughal-era monument’s west-facing wall, towards which the attendees inside the mosque offer their prayers. This late…
Home Sweet Home – House of Labourers, Ansari Road
So open, yet secretive. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The doors are locked, their wood rotting. The window jaalis are cobwebbed. The balconies are blocked with bricks. The weather-beaten building must be empty inside. Yet, it shelters very…
Home Sweet Home – Kiran Bhushi’s Terrace, Khel Gaon
Season’s space. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There are many beautiful terraces in Delhi, but this one might be the most beautiful of all—at least at this time of the year. When semal trees are still in bloom,…
Home Sweet Home – Laila Tyabji’s Window, Shanti Niketan
Her stay-at-home consolations. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Dressed in a many-hued hand-woven Murshidabad silk sari, craft activist Laila Tyabji, 73, is sitting in her book-lined drawing room in south Delhi’s Shantiniketan. Behind her sofa is a huge glass window through…
Home Sweet Home – Madame Bovary’s Windows, Golf Course Extension
A house of windows. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s midnight. Her fourth-floor house is quiet. Her daughter, husband and ma-in-law are sleeping. She settles down on the durrie by the window, lights a diya, pours herself a glass of red…
Home Sweet Home – A Mansion for Labourers, Mohalla Qabristan
Old house, new home. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It looks like a museum. Nothing like this old-fashioned balcony exists anywhere else in the immediate vicinity. What is it like to actually live in this building? It turns…
Home Sweet Home – Asmuddin Ansari’s House-Cum-Graveyard, Mehrauli
An unusual dwelling. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He has one of the most unique addresses in the city. He lives in a graveyard. Alone. “This has been my home for 28 years,” mutters Asmuddin Ansari. In his…
Home Sweet Home – Shahnawaz Khan’s Rose Garden, Pahari Imli
A private paradise. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] All roses here are white, though some have a pale pink flush, as if a drop of blood had spread through their veins. This is a private garden. What makes…
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