Monuments to water. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He raises his arms, lowers his head, stands motionless, seeming to take a deep breathe, and—oh look—he is jumping down from his high altitude! Splash. He crash-lands into the water….
In cold red. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi’s monuments are usually made of red sandstone. One exception is a red sherbet, its origins tightly entwined into the dense tapestry of Purani Dilli’s rich history. Say salam-namaste to…
Midnight’s street. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The groceries, the veggie stalls, the lazy dogs, the cats, the rats, and us people. Everything’s ordinary along the street. Until it isn’t. The dull spell is broken on spotting a…
Taste of ramzan. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A hand reaches out in the night sky, plucks the full moon, plunges it into a cauldron full of hissing hot oil. The moon swells up, turning brown. You may…
A Walled City street [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The door’s tatty curtain was to hide the once-affluent family’s wretched poverty, its threadbare predicament instead exposed its decline. Yashpal’s iconic short story Purdah immediately comes to mind on…
Season’s spectacle. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Following are a few observations made in a city park one uncomfortably warm noon this week. 1. Currently, the most beautiful sight in Delhi is of two side-by-side bougainvillea trees in…
Into a citizen’s heart. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] He restores torn clothes, for he is a rafoogar—belonging to a diminishing segment of tailors who specialize in the art of darning. A yumna-paar dweller of Khureji, Inam Khan…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Walking snail-like along a sleepy passage lined with residences, she repeatedly turns to make sure the young boy and the little girl are keeping behind…
New leaves. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the holy Holi. This day of colours ends in hours, but some of the colours of Holi shall linger amid the trees of Delhi (even though the season’s red…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s the cart for gol gappe. The other cart is selling nariyal pani That one is crammed with bananas. The street outside RK Ashram metro…
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