City Landmark – Nizamuddin’s Curio Corner, Metropole Market
Alibaba’s cave. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A painted portrait of King “George Pancham” at the Delhi durbar. A Romeo y Julieta cigar box from pre-revolution Cuba. A helicopter model from some unspecified country. A metallic telephone with…
City Hangout – 32 Parks, Hazrat Nizamuddin East
Neighbourhood of gardens. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Found, a bench bearing a most unusual dedication. Found, a huge cat. Found, a serene Buddha. Each of these is in a different park. But all three parks are in…
City Hangout – Lodhi Garden in White Light, Central Delhi
Lodhi’s light ages. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The green of the green hedges is coated in a semi-transparent film of white. So is the grass on the baldy lawn. Tonight’s moon is super-generous, liberally bestowing its white…
City Neighbourhood – Katra Baan Wale, Old Delhi
A place-name in the Walled City. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In the old days in Old Delhi, Purani Dilli wale would have beds of baan, strings made of “munj” or “kans” plants. These beds were called charpai,…
City Landmark – Anil Book Corner, Connaught Place
The friend around the corner. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Volga river is in Russia. Connaught Place (CP) too had its Volga, the restaurant. A denim showroom exists on the site. Also a part of CP’s history: Gaylord…
City Hangout – India Habitat Center Architecture, Lodhi Road
So Stein. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Head to the tranquil atrium at the India Habitat Centre (IHC). Enter through gate 2. Make sure you reach around 10.15am, when the morning shift staffers are sprucing up the courtyard…
City Hangout – Blue Chai, Kale Tea Stall
The street of the tailor’s needle. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Winter in, blue out. Neela aasman kho gaya—the blue sky is lost. Soon the air above Delhi will be all grey, dusty, smoggy, cold. Indeed, in our…
City Hangout – Tracking the Pigeons, Chitli Qabar Chowk
Bird’s-eye view. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Suddenly, the house of lawyer Nilofar “advocate” starts moving. Nahi nahi, these are actually the dark ripples moving along the building’s walls that give that impression. The restless pigeons are flying…
City Hangout – Altering Indian Coffee House, Mohan Singh Place
A changing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The discreet way the daylight streams through the glass windows has remained the same. The silhouette-like reflection of the people falling on the tiled wall hasn’t changed much, either. The…
City Hangout – 20 Hyperlocal Chai Spots, Around Town
Trees of Kasturba Gandhi Road. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here are Delhi’s 20 hyperlocal chai spots. Each of these places deserves a page-length praise but the detailing has been kept minimal. Sequenced randomly. 1. Zina Tea Stall…
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