Mission Delhi – Syed Ameen Meer Dehlvi, Chandni Mahal
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The cat is observing him. Syed Ameen Meer Dehlvi is helping his wife make tea. The Delhi Walla is standing outside their kitchen. The second-floor…
Mission Delhi – Tasleem Bibi, Matia Mahal
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She is sitting at the entrance of Syed Rifani mosque, next to Shreen Bhawan sweet shop. It is 6 am. She has just woken up….
Mission Delhi – Billi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He gazes down on the marble floor. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Eleven minutes. He is immobile. Pilgrims walk around him. A few pat…
Mission Delhi – Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Connaught Lane
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sitting on his patch of the pavement, he takes a sip of the chai, and again looks at the blur of people walking in front…
Mission Delhi – Savitha Sastry, Greater Kailash I
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Wearing a flamenco skirt, she enters the practice room at her apartment in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash I, and breaks into the classical movements of…
Mission Delhi – Pradip Krishen, Mangarbani
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Walking down the hilly slope, he says, “It’s like a little museum of what the rocky past of the ridge must have looked like before…
Mission Delhi – Muhammed Iftikhar, Jamat Khana Mosque
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 5.25 am. The sky is still black. It’s freezing. Holding the microphone close to his lips, he opens his mouth to recite the azaan, and……
Mission Delhi – 50 Faces, Around Town
The faces of Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On November 11, 2011, The Times of India carried a news story: Researchers to preserve city’s oral history NEW DELHI: Museums have for long recorded the tangible heritage of…
Mission Delhi – Amir Dehlavi, Shahjahanabad
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Waving towards Jama Masjid, he says, “It inspires me to write verse.” The Delhi Walla met Amir Dehlavi, 82, at a dilapidated lodge in Shahjahanabad…
Mission Delhi – Hitting the 50th Delhiwalla
Profiling one percent of Delhi’s population. [Photos by Solveig Marina Bang; text by Mayank Austen Soofi] One November afternoon in 2011, The Delhi Walla’s attempt to profile one percent of Delhi’s population reached a significant milestone. The Mission Delhi project…
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