City Travel – Paris Potty, Eiffel Tower
The Delhi Walla in the French capital. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla began the dinner with a half-dozen oysters on the half shell. Then arrived the sole meunière. It was perfectly browned in a sputtering…
City Travel – Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris
The Delhi Walla in the French capital. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Trees, fountains, flowers, cafes, sculptures, graveled paths, busts of important artists, a pond, and, of course, a palace, which serves as the seat of the French…
City Travel – Musée d’Orsay, Paris
The Delhi Walla in the French capital. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla is spending his days in Paris walking down the streets, stopping at cafes for a 1 euro coffee and browsing for English-language novels…
City Travel – Jardin du Palais Royal, Paris
The Delhi Walla in the French capital. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A family is having baguette and cheese. A middle-aged woman is jogging with her dog. A girl is kissing a boy. A young bride in white…
City Travel – Yamuna Expressway, Greater Noida
Delhi to Agra and back. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There are no dhabas, no burger joints — not yet. Neither is there a rail crossing. You will not pass through a single town. The Yamuna Expressway takes…
City Travel – Rampur, Uttar Pradesh
200 km from Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In the Shikargah, two derelict brick pavilions face each other across a fish-stocked pond observed by mango and jamun trees. “On this one sat the nawab sahib hunting for…
City Travel – Shatabdi Express, New Delhi-Jhansi
India’s fastest train. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is a stench of urine, and cockroaches and rats scurrying around. It is 6.05 am. At the New Delhi railway station, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express is on platform No.1,…
Kashmir Diary – The Happy Haven, Srinagar
The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In its issue dated 21 April 2012, Open, a Delhi-based newsweekly, published a cover story on Kashmir titled “Sorry, Kashmir is Happy.” The author Manu Jospeh asks: “Why is it…
Kashmir Diary – The Sufi Soul, Srinagar
The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Situated on the southern side of the Hari Parbat hill, the Sufi dargah of Makhdoom Sahib offers the most spectacular views of the old town. The Delhi Walla is in…
Kashmir Diary – The Faces, Srinagar
The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A pizza-maker at Café Arabica. A police constable at the Jamia Masjid. The Delhi Walla is in Srinagar, Kashmir’s capital. An old woman at the Boulevard. A tailor in Maisuma….
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