The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.They're lovable and beautiful.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Event: a beauty contest. Time: Morning. Place: FICCI House, Mandi House. They all were beautiful. They all wanted to win the crown. They came in cars, autos, DTC buses. They were from Delhi, from small towns near Delhi. A few came from as far as Benares. The first round was a catwalk followed by a short introduction to the judges. The Delhi Walla got their stories there. In their own words (and grammar).What will happen to me?"I'm pursuing my graduation from

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.A PhD scholar at Stanford gives his take on this blogsite.[Text by Gaurav Sood; picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]The Delhi Walla is a journalist's blog, albeit without the drama and urgency with which journalism and journalists are often associated with today. The writing on the blog represents that prior tradition among journalists which was about subtle observation, gentle humor, as evinced in journalists' travelogues, and in shows like BBC's 'From our own correspondent'. The blog is a significant achievement. More so because reporting on cities is generally skillfully and

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.Delhi’s English is a very funny language.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Delhi was once the capital of British India. Maybe that’s why we Delhiwallas can walk English, talk English and live English. Go to the backside of any building and you would find some signboard or the other – in English, of course. And mind you, our English is always funnier than the English people’s English. Here is a sample. (Don't mind the proofing errors.)Above Palika Bazar ParkingAt Daryaganj's Sunday Book BazaarAt Nizamuddin BastiAt PaharganjAt Hazrat Nizamuddin DargahAt a

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.A case for complex identities sans politics.[Text by Lahore-based Raza Rumi; picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]Lahore, December 31, 2008: As clouds of war hover in the skies of Lahore, I am missing Delhi and lamenting the relatively difficult venture to visit the city.The December of 2008 was a month of promise. I was meant to visit the Jawaharlal Nehru University, read a paper, participate in a conference and enjoy the environs of the campus that would have glowed in December sunshine. Not to forget that I was meant to pick

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.Starting the New Year with a Delhi cliché.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]If the going gets tougher in 2009, there’s always grass, ruins, birds, trees and air. Lodhi Garden, I mean. Of course, this place is no city secret. Everybody knows it. Expats swear by it. VIPs want to be seen in it. Lovers find it safe from the watchful eyes of their parents. But perhaps Lodhi Garden's true companions are those city souls who fancy there are better things than Beings – like the stroll of a koyal,

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.Let's meet next year.[Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; picture by Solveig Bang]On the last day of 2008, I'll share one of my best and a quintessential Delhi day with the readers of The Delhi Walla. But first: Happy New Year.1pm: Khan Market. Hey-hi to a friend at Café Turtle. I ask for carrot juice; she orders sweet lime soda.1.37pm: Café Turtle is expensive. To Sidewok for lunch. The friend is the sugar daddy today. She'll pay. We have dim sum, shredded lamb, Chinese greens and steamed rice.2.25pm: Strolling in Lodhi

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.A former Delhi-based journo writes his first book on homeland Kashmir.[Text by Sumaira Samad; picture by Inigo Arza]This is the memoir of young Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer, recounting his youth in the troubled valley during the ’80s and ’90s. A harrowing look at the political strife and armed conflict that has torn Kashmir apart over the last 30 years, the book is personal. The people, places and events Peer describes are his parents, neighbours and friends. Yet, despite this intimacy, Peer’s narrative has no polemic, and sentimentality, self-pity, melodrama take

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.How do they cope.[Text and picture of Ms Anima Dungdung by Mayank Austen Soofi]Delhi is not exactly a gay-friendly city. Here life is complicated not just for the gay person but also for his parents, siblings and… the maid.After spending three decades in expat households, Jharkhand's Ms Aneema Dungdung thought she had seen the world. She hadn't. On May 1, 2006, she got new masters in Defence Colony. Two American men. Ms Dungdung presumed them to be friends who slept in the same room. "I was happy since I would

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.On the footsteps of an unsual band of carol singers.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]The Aravali hills are alive with the sound of Christmas carols even though the D-day is still two days away. In the rarefied air of Jawaharlal Lal University (JNU), a tune of guitar-twanged Jingle bells, jingle bells... is soaring up in the air. It is floating somewhere over the Staff Academy Center, a smart brick structure tucked deep into the bowels of the JNU campus. An incredible sight here – a few of Delhi's most

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIESContact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.A south Delhi landmark is coming to west Delhi.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Browsing at the Bahrisons will no longer necessarily mean you are in Khan Market. “In January, 2008, we are opening a branch in Rajouri Garden Main Market,” says Mr Anuj Bahri, the bookseller. On the face of it, there’s nothing new for a south Delhi establishment to spread to other parts of the city. PVR cinemas, for instance, did that by opening its first not-in-South-Delhi multiplex at Naraina in 2001. Five years later, Basant Lok’s Punjabi