
City Moment – Two Dog Walkers & Two Dogs, Sector 15
A perfect Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Both Guddu and Chuck are brown. They have the same flappy ears and exactly the same size. They must be twins, no? “They are step-siblings,” says Dinesh. “They have…

City Moment – Three Labourers Enjoying a Break, Sector 14, Gurgaon
Connections to village and to the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They are some of the faces that are changing the face of our metropolis. This morning, the three construction labourers are quietly enjoying the gently warming…

City Moment – Poet Ameer Dehlvi’s Post-Pacemaker Life, Chawri Bazar
A poet’s heart. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Walled City of Old Delhi was home to great poet Ghalib. More than a century after his death, the historic quarter continues to nurture a few men (and, in…

City Moment – Get-Together of Childhood Friends, Central Delhi
Long time, no see. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Repeated hugging. Cries of delight. And now, click-click-click of group selfies. Three friends of childhood are finally meeting after a gap of nine long years. Sheetal Gurung is from…

City Moment – Offering a Rose to Villy Sorabji, Parsi Cemetery
Remembering a loved one. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The graves are arranged neatly about a red brick structure here in the small Parsi Cemetery in Central Delhi. No other visitors at the moment. Gardner Manoj Mishra is…

City Moment – Kitchen Couple, Mathura Road
Family values. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On this chilly night Mathura Road has emptied of traffic. But a flame flickers on this Central Delhi pavement—home sweet home for a family of five living under an orange tarpaulin….

City Moment – The Pavement Flute Concert, Central Delhi
Music of the street. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s a ho-hum central Delhi pavement, complete with a snoozing dog and a free public urinal, unexpectedly bursting into live classical music. Certainly not something that happens every day….

City Moment – Radio Star, Central Delhi
Pre-TV days. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He was glued to the radio, his eyes focused towards the instrument as if it were a mobile phone screen. One Sunday morning, rickshaw puller Manta Ram Sisodia was lounging in…

City Moment – Bicycle Couple, Central Delhi
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It takes them the better part of one hour to arrive home by bicycle after their long day as public park gardeners. Malti Devi sits on the back carrier while…

City Moment – A Friendly Surprise, Gurgaon
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Can you survive daily life without friendship? Not having even a single friend? Prakash Swami can. “I have no friend,” he says in a friendly tone. In his early 40s,…
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