The market innards. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Chimneys painted in funky yellow and red. Long AC ducts of varying lengths, spreading out like the pipes of a plumbing system. Black water tanks perched like giant insects. The…
A steady landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He’s here, still all smiles—or so it seems, for he’s in a mask. He has survived through the two surges of the coronavirus pandemic. He is the face of a…
Going with the wind. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A gate just big enough for a car to pass through. Beyond it, a small lawn on the side, not fanatically trimmed. And then the single-storey house, not modern-looking,…
Back story. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Parked outside a narrow lane in Gurgaon’s Bhim Garh Kheri in the Greater Delhi Region, the handcart is stacked with bricks. Two labourers are carrying these to a house being built…
Season’s sight. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The ground looks like a fresh battlefield, splattered with blood stains, slippery with hundreds of used bullets. The blood isn’t red, but purple. And the bullets are actually jamuns. They have…
A Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Rickshaw puller Syyed lives alone. That’s not entirely correct, he clarifies. “I’m not completely alone. I have a saathi (companion).” Syyed explains that at night he sleeps on his rickshaw….
The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] This lawyer-cum-writer has challenged tradition. A resident of Delhi’s Bengali Market, Siddharth Kapila has appended a “modern healthy-ish take” to dal makhanni, the dish whose joy lies…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] These days you rarely see hand fans. Most of them, anyway, tend to be of plastic. But this hand fan is so distinct that you…
Summer’s landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Mughal-era Turkman Gate marks the border between New and Old Delhi. It’s been here for centuries; its stony ramparts a symbol of steadfastness in this world of constant shift. Now,…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] I’m resting—the thought has taken over Muhammed Saif. At this time of the afternoon, he would be hauling large amounts of construction material on the…
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