City Hangout – Shahpur Jat Village, South Delhi
A designer getaway. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] In Shahpur Jat (SPJ) village, south Delhi, the turbaned elders smoke hookahs in street corners while primped mannequins gaze out through glass windows. More than a hundred stores – from…
City Hangout – The Art Galleries of Hauz Khas
The 14th century village as an art destination. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Besides its haunting ruins, Hauz Khas Village in south Delhi is known for its designer stores, curio shops, two South Indian specialty restaurants, one lounge-bar…
City Hangout – The New Landmarks, Connaught Place
Four hours in Delhi’s premier shopping district. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Connaught Place, aka CP, Delhi’s Colonial-era shopping district, is changing rapidly. Old landmarks are giving way to new. Under extensive renovation in 2010, CP is returning…
City Hangout – A Booklover’s Connaught Place
The definitive Delhi guide for book lovers. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The book is not dead. Not in Connaught Place, central Delhi’s colonial-era shopping district. One winter afternoon, The Delhi Walla visited all the bookshops in the…
City Hangout – India Habitat Center, Lodhi Road
Delhi’s swish space. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Little must have Joseph Allen Stein, the American architect of India Habitat Center (IHC), imagined that the six restaurants, four galleries, one auditorium, amphitheatre and a sprawling atrium in his…
City Hangout – Coffee House, Majnu Ka Tila
The new-age Lhasa. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] House No. 39. Basement at New Tibetan Camp, Majnu Ka Tila – For five decades, Majnu Ka Tila (MT) is where Delhiites go to experience the Capital’s Little Lhasa. A…
City Hangout – Café Turtle, Khan Market
The Proustian pleasure. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Soft jazz. Handmade Thangka paintings. Gentle murmurs. Every city needs a bubble where you can pretend to be what you fancy yourself as. The Café Turtle in Delhi’s Khan Market…
Dateline Connaught Place – CP Goes Grassy
The greenification of the British-era district. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is this the new look Connaught Place (CP)? The other day The Delhi Walla was walking in A Block, Inner Circle, expecting to see the usual sights…
City Hangout – National Archives of India, Janpath
Delhi’s best kept secret. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is no reason for this treasure tucked at the Capital’s heart to remain rundown and unexplored. As the storeroom of the non-current records of the Indian government, the…
City Hangout – Kunzum Travel Café, Hauz Khas Village
A pocket-friendly haven. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] T-49. Ground Floor, at Hauz Khas Village (9650702777) – Though there is no crunch of hangouts in this historic village, anyone weary of The Living Room lounge, Gunpowder restaurant, designer…
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