Believe it or not. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A ball floating in air with no regard for gravity; a seat of nails actually comfortable to sit on. Discovering science at the National Science Center is fun. The learning is incidental and the exploration unending. Staircases lead up to more exhibition halls. Galleries open up more wonders – including a cave alive with the farting sound of dinosaurs – and an entire section devoted to replicas of these prehistoric giants. Thankfully there is no smell. Beware of the maze of mirrors. You may get lost in their reflections. Get inside a giant kaleidoscope to see multiple reflections of yourself. Walk into a cabin to freeze your shadow. Those tormented by

Into the wild. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Situated between Purana Qila and Mathura Road, National Zoological Park has 75 species of animals, birds and reptiles. The area is wooded. Squirrels hop across trees with slanting branches. Tired visitors lounge on the grass. Each tree is marked by a steel plate bearing its name. One dead trunk is identified as White Mulberry. It takes two hours to walk through the zoo. There are benches along the way. Parents with small children ask the shortest route to lions and bears. You can hire a ‘trolley’ to be driven through the garden in 45 minutes (charges applied). Life in the zoo is lethargic. Mynahs perch listlessly on the backs of sea

Cramped and cool. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] At an altitude of 239 metres, Everest Café cannot fit more than a dozen people at any given time. Tucked in a shaded lane, it is off the main street in Paharganj Main Bazaar, a central Delhi market favoured by foreign backpackers for its inexpensive hotels and close proximity to New Delhi railway station. Opened in 2000, the café is hippie-like. Come here if you want to get a sense of the carefree 1970s when things like bathing were considered a bourgeoisie indulgence. Wicker chairs and low tables occupy a space so small that you find yourself squeezing against barely-clothed backpackers. One rack is stacked with toilet paper rolls; it faces the

Everything and more. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Think of Sarojini Nagar, or SN, as the setting of a trashy fairy tale. It is fit for a beautiful princess, robbed off her principality and left with little to buy a dress for the evening ball where she is to meet her dream prince. A haven for bargain, SN is the people's bazaar. On sale – T-shirts, skirts, frocks, jeans, sandals, saris, lehengas, nighties, hankies, bags, inflatable bathtubs, hair pins, toys, pillows, suitcases, plastic tulips, Italian softy and bunta drink, among other things unimaginable. Every serious shopper converges here – from students on a budget to bored housewives, tourists from other Indian states, and East Europeans. Fronting the larger shops and showrooms

The poet's ghetto. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Khwaja Mir Dard Basti, or Shakur ki Dandi, is crude and poorly constructed. Yet it has poetry, music and handmade art. It is sandwiched between the city’s tallest high-rise and a college that traces its origins to the 17th century. The basti is a 5-minute drive from Connaught Place, but feels miles away from Delhi’s bustle. Beggars sing, girls play kikli, and cats prowl for food. The sun never enters the narrow alleys. In summer, they stay cool. In winter, they keep the cold winds at bay. Will the basti survive? Some residents are fearful of change. Those who don’t live here may simply not care; that is, if they are aware of its

Once it was happening. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Dry fountain, broken benches, shoe shine boys, doped beggars, stray cows, and palmists making suspicious predictions. Don’t judge Basant Lok Market by its rundown look. In the heart of south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar – home to foreign diplomats – this shopping plaza has a history. India’s first McDonald’s opened here in 1996, as did the first TGIF (now closed). The legendary Priya cinema that screened dirty English movies in the old days is now the flagship property of PVR Cinemas, India’s first multiplex chain. When vodka was first served in a golgappa, it also happened here, at Punjabi by Nature restaurant. One of Delhi’s most eclectic bookstores, Fact & Fiction, is situated

Lovely and sad. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Two blackened kettles, two ceiling fans, some wooden benches, a few plastic chairs and a roughly carved pillar makes it one of Old Delhi’s most charming chaikhanas, or tea houses. The air of Maulana Aagan Chaikhana in Mohalla Kabristran neighbourhood, Turkman Gate, is saturated with quietness. The street teems with people but inside there is the comfort of reclusion. This is an illusion for the chaikhana is rarely empty. The shop’s daily turnover is Rs 1,200; it uses 35 liters milk everyday. The Delhi Walla met trader Raees Ahmad who is coming to the chaikhana every single day without fail since it opened 30 years ago. “You are walking down from some place

Kafka with kebabs. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Those who love their mutton rolls and masala milk may like Spell & Bound at the SDA Market in south Delhi. Opened in May 2011, the bookshop and café has 17,000 books — it also has kathi kebabs and flavoured milkshakes. The ground level has subtle lighting, floor-to-ceiling shelves, a rotating bookcase, a wall covered with framed photos of authors like Anton Chekhov, Salman Rushdie, Virginia Woolf, Arundhati Roy, Alice Munro, Jhumpa Lahiri … and a spiral staircase that goes up to a café and down to a basement with more books. Enter, and it’s like being transported to a quaint book store where the lady at the counter obviously wouldn’t have the

Delhi's wild side. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Secretive and silent. Intertwined trees, twisted trunks, thorny twigs, rocky slopes, and clumps of grass. The nearest McDonald’s is two miles away. The Delhi Walla is on Delhi’s Central Ridge, a forest in the Capital’s heart abutting Sardar Patel Road in Chanakyapuri. For a city on the edge of a desert, Delhi is remarkable for the number and diversity of its trees. This dry, dusty metropolis is home to 252 species (New York has 130). We could just as well be in a rainforest. The 2009 Forest Survey of India records Delhi’s forest area at 85 sq. km, which is 5.73 per cent of the city. In the period between 2005 and 2009,