Once it was happening. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Dry fountain, broken benches, shoe shine boys, doped beggars, stray cows, and palmists making suspicious predictions. Don’t judge Basant Lok Market by its rundown look. In the heart of…
The fifth city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Built as the citadel of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, along the banks of the Yamuna, this is now a ruin. Firuzabad, the fifth city of Delhi, once extended from Hauz Khas…
The black & white Delhi. [Text by Mayank Austen Soofi] A city is built of dreamed memories. More than three centuries have elapsed since the founding of Shahjahanabad on the banks of the Yamuna. Shahjahanabad today is a different country….
The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Meet the Julia Child of Civil Lines, a genteel neighbourhood of bungalows and apartments in north Delhi. Passionate about writers like Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, George Bernard…
Death of a Delhiwalla. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Zubeida Bano, a cultured dweller of Shahjahanabad, died on August 9th, aged 72. The Delhi Walla had profiled her in the website’s Mission Delhi project. The arc of Ms…
The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is evening. The Delhi Walla is walking down the principal lane in Nizamuddin Basi, a 14th century village in central Delhi, named after a sufi saint. The street…
King of brews. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] As Delhi acquires the trappings of a modern metropolis, the carts dedicated exclusively to serving tea are becoming fewer. But it is still possible to stop in the middle of…
Inside the walls. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon The Delhi Walla entered the home of Muhammed Rashid Khan. There is no doorbell because there is no door. Mr Khan, 40, lives with his wife and three…
A vanishing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One late evening The Delhi Walla knocked at the door of author Chandrahas Choudhury. In his 30s, Mr Choudhury lives on the second floor of a bungalow in Kalkaji, south…
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