Mission Delhi – Sakina Mehta, Greater Kailash-II Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 26, 2011July 8, 20151 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Gazing at her husband’s photograph, she says, “He taught me a lot.” A pause follows after which 80-something Sakina Mehta continues in her soft voice, “He gave me the courage to go out into the world.” Tyeb, Mrs Mehta’s husband, was one of India’s most celebrated modernist painters. In 2009, he died of a heart attack. Since then Mrs Mehta has been dividing her time between Bombay, where her son lives, and Delhi, the home of her daughter. The Delhi Walla meets her at her daughter’s second floor apartment in Greater Kailash-II. Thanks to a wall-sized glass window, the living room is filled with the clear
Mission Delhi – Faisal Khan, Mehrauli Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 9, 2011February 12, 201318 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Taking off his yellow T-shirt and flexing his muscles, he says, “I’m eating too much biryani. I need to tone up my body.” The Delhi Walla meets Faisal Khan, 24, at his one-room apartment in Mehrauli, one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods. Mr Khan, who works as a customer care executive with Lufthansa airlines at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, is however currently less focused on his abs, and more on his broken heart. His girlfriend is refusing to see him. “I’m a Muslim, she’s a Hindu,” he says. “Her parents promised to drink poison the day we would marry.” A native of Rampur, a town in
Mission Delhi – Usha Hooda, Hauz Khas Village Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 19, 2010April 22, 20165 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s mid-morning but it doesn’t matter to her. “Time doesn’t exist in my life,” says painter Usha Hooda as she dabs her brush in a heap of burnt sienna. “I’m 54, I think, but I’m not bothered. If you start believing that you could do only this at this age, that’s the end. You can’t limit yourself, especially for someone in my situation. I’ve cancer.” The Delhi Walla is meeting Ms Hooda at her second-floor studio in Hauz Khas Village, a neighbourhood in south Delhi. Commissioned by a collector, she is painting buzkashi horse riders of Afghanistan with a controlled recklessness. Nimbly moving her brush across the
Mission Delhi – Vijay Kumar, Paharganj Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 24, 2010November 24, 20102 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] For the last 10 minutes, his grey eyes haven’t blinked; his posture on the green plastic chair hasn’t changed. Vijay Kumar, 56, is selling second-hand books in Paharganj, central Delhi, for 30 years. “Nothing has changed since 1980, when I started this stall,” he says. The Delhi Walla meets him one winter morning at his pavement stall on Rajguru Road, near Imperial cinema. “The only difference is that, cell phone hoardings have come up and more hotels have mushroomed. Paharganj is less residential now.” Jostled between Blessing Hotel and Rajasthani Music Emporium, Mr Kumar’s establishment has novels and guidebooks in English, Hebrew, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian
Mission Delhi – Raghavendra Vanjre, Hauz Khas Village Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 2, 2010November 2, 20102 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Approaching the table where two new guests have seated, he looks curiously at the book one of them has placed beside the flower vase. It is the paperback edition of Sam Miller’s Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity. While presenting them the menu, he asks if he can borrow the book for a minute. They oblige. The Delhi Walla met Raghavendra Vanjre, 31, in Naivedyam, a south Indian specialty restaurant in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village. A staff captain, he is fond of reading. In the restaurant, he has established bonds with regular guests, who are fellow book lovers. If they happen to be dining alone, Mr Vanjre
Mission Delhi – Ankit Verma, South Extension-I Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - October 8, 2010October 11, 20106 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sitting beside the commuters, he suddenly gets up, sits down again and says, “I want to stand out among the normal people. I want to be famous.” The Delhi Walla met Ankit Verma, 20, at a bus stop one night in South Extension-I, a market famous for expensive showrooms. With his gelled hair, fit body and dimpled smile, Mr Verma looks more groomed than the ‘normal people’ around him. He lives in the neighbourhood and is out for a night time walk, resting for a few minutes at the bus stop. It is 10 pm and shops have started shutting down. Over the din of the Ring
Mission Delhi – Siddhartha Gigoo, Indian Coffee House Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - September 20, 2010February 20, 20156 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Unzipping the leather bag, he takes out the Lenovo laptop, switches it on and opens an image file. “See, the cover,” says Siddhartha Gigoo, 36, a Classic-smoking senior manager in an IT company whose first novel is to be published by Rupa in a few months. The Delhi Walla met him on the terrace of Indian Coffee House, a rundown café in Connaught Place, which has history, tea-kettles, turbaned stewards and the mood. Since the laptop screen is reflecting sunlight, we squint our eyes to look at the image but it’s not coming out clear. We move inside the lounge. “It’s titled The Garden of Solitude,” says
Mission Delhi – Muhammad Chand, Connaught Lane Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - September 3, 2010April 11, 20165 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] With tiny forceps, he plucks out the steel caseback of the wristwatch. The insides reveal a net of springs, clips and wires. He pores into the maze. His customer, too, peers down. The Delhi Walla met watch repairer Muhammad Chand, 38, in Connaught Lane. It is a busy street near Scindia House, Connaught Place, the Capital’s premier commercial district. Mr Chand’s stall, licensed by New Delhi Municipal Council, has been here for 20 years. A native of Nalanda, Bihar, he came to Delhi in 1991 and opened this stall a year later. “Nothing has changed here,” Mr Chand says, waving his arm towards the street. The pedestrians
Mission Delhi – Naresh Chandra, Lodhi Road Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - August 16, 2010August 24, 20101 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The lamplight is not falling on him, but on the puddle behind him. Looking like his own silhouette, he re-arranges the stuff in his basket. Naresh Chandra, 30, sells ram ladoo, the classic Delhi street food. These are fried dumplings made of moong daal batter that are served on a leaf bowl with coriander chutney and grated radish. We meet in Lodhi Road. It is late evening. The traffic is heavy and fast. Mr Chandra is stationed on the pavement that has been newly built as part of the reconstruction drive to spruce up the city for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. Mr Chandra has thin moustache
Mission Delhi – Ajeet Singh Chauhan, Green Park Market Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - August 1, 2010August 1, 20107 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] He fills the jug with cold milk, checks the temperature on the thermometer (it should be 32 F) and keeps the jug aside. He switches on the espresso machine and brews the ground coffee into the white primo cup, then turns on the steam muzzle and fills the milk jug with foam. After banging (breaking the air bubbles) and swirling (mixing the froth), he pours the milk into the primo cup and sprinkles chocolate powder on the top. Cappuccino is ready to be served. Ajeet Singh Chauhan, 28, has made the morning’s first coffee. The Delhi Walla meets him at a Costa Coffee outlet in