The home of headless ghosts. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Khooni Darwaza means ‘bloodied gateway’ and legend has it that blood drips from its ceilings during the monsoon. Built by Sher Shah Suri in 1540 it is in…
Believe it or not. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A ball floating in air with no regard for gravity; a seat of nails actually comfortable to sit on. Discovering science at the National Science Center is fun. The…
[Photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] An Evening with Urdu poet Zehra Nigah on Thursday, 29 March 2012, 6.30 pm, at The Attic, The Regal Building, Connaught Place. The Karachi-based poet will recite her poetry. Zehra Nigah is a legend in…
A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] ATTENTION: Due to unavoidable circumstances, the 15th meeting of The Delhi Proustians will be held on 2 April 2012. The inconvenience is regretted. Today is the 14th…
The city softened. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] When the sun is going down, you must leave the company of other people to be with yourself. Go and stand under the Barakhamba traffic light in Connaught Place. Look…
A strange dish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Really, it oughtn’t to be allowed, to make dosa like that. The South Indian staple is a crepelike pancake of fermented lentil-rice flour batter stuffed with mustard seed-flecked potato mush….
It’s a distinction. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] In March 2012, The Delhi Walla was discovered by the Guardian, one of the world’s most respected English newspapers. In a cover feature called ‘Tales of the City’, the daily said: “From Delhi…
Delhi’s grand Friday mosque. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] “How can anybody live in this place?” This is the first thing that a new visitor to Shahjahanbad might want to know. The honking. The beggars. The loosely-hanging electric…
A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 13th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…
The ghost story. [Photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The March 26, 2012, issue of Delhi-based Outlook magazine carries an essay on capitalism by Delhi’s greatest living writer, Arundhati Roy. Here’s the piece Is it a house or a home? A…
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