City Nature – Falling Leaves & Blooming Flowers, Around Town Nature by The Delhi Walla - March 10, 20260 Season's contrasting phenomenon. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Across the megapolis, some trees are letting go of their leaves, while others are bursting into colour. In March, Delhi stages a drama of opposites. Consider a peepal in Punjabi Bagh. Every leaf has fallen. Sunlight is passing cleanly through its branches. On the other hand in Malcha Marg, a bougainvillea is ablaze with new pink. During this time of the year, Delhi’s many avenue trees stage an annual retreat, shedding foliage ahead of the long, dry summer. The peepal is among them. By discarding leaves, such trees reduce water loss through transpiration. Bougainvillea, meanwhile, is doing the opposite. It flowers through most of the year, but peaks between March and May, as confirmed by
City Life – Iran & America, Around Town Life by The Delhi Walla - March 9, 20260 Two influences coexisting in Deelhi. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The world is watching three nations locked in conflict. For Delhi, the confrontation carries an unexpected intimacy. The cultures of two of these countries are deeply woven into the city’s life. The American imprint is easy to spot. It flickers across OTT platforms through films and shows (Ross and Rachel!), lines the streets with coffee and burger chains (India’s first McDonald’s opened in apna Basant Lok!), and travels through family WhatsApp groups connecting Delhi homes to uncles and cousins in New Jersey and Silicon Valley. A village in Gurugram is in fact named after a US president. Iran’s influence in Delhi is less conspicuous but far older. The United States emerged a
City Walk – Gali Ram Richhpal, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - March 8, 20260 The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is a strange street, one that almost seems unsure of its own name. Only a single signboard identifies it as Ram Richhpal Street—the faded board of Orion Public School (“Recognised English Medium”). Other establishments disagree. The signage of Blue Diamond Hotel and Dr Ahmad Mian Homeopathy Clinic both label the place as Gali Prem Narain, a lane that in fact lies just outside this one (and has already been chronicled on this page). The street is short and contains only the three establishments already mentioned. This afternoon, the school’s gate is closed, and the lane carries the stillness that often settles after schoolchildren leave. The next-door hotel stands with blue stripes
City Season – Pink Trumpet Tree, Lodhi Garden Hangouts Nature by The Delhi Walla - March 6, 20260 An American in Delhi. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Wednesday evening is slowly-slowly settling down over Lodhi Garden. The day of Holi is drawing to a close. High in the air, a cloud of pink appears to hang suspended. It resembles the gulal of the festival. But the colour is not powder thrown in celebration. It comes from the flowers of a tree. The flowers rise on long, leafless branches of a tree standing at the edge of the park’s central lawn. For most of the year, this tree draws visitors for simpler reasons. Its leaves cast a broad, restful shade. Beneath it sit green benches from which one of the garden’s most familiar views opens out: a panorama that
City Library – Book on Iran, Ghalib Academy Library by The Delhi Walla - March 3, 20260 Persia in the shelf. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] There are worlds concealed in the remote corners of public libraries. Few citizens venture that far. The books lie untouched, like artifacts raised from a wreck, awaiting rediscovery. One such world rests inside the library of the Ghalib Academy in central Delhi. Metal shelves hold thousands of volumes in Urdu and Farsi, with a scattering in English—bearing titles as unexpected as Soviet Cinema Today. Among them sits an extraordinary book: Persia: The Immortal Kingdom (photo shows library staffer Taslima holding the same). The book opens with a portrait of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, captioned, “His Imperial Majesty, Shahanshah of Iran.” Published in 1971, the hardbound volume was commissioned by the Shah to mark
City Hangout – Ramzan at 5am, Outside Jama Masjid Faith Food Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 2, 20260 On the sacred month. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every year during Ramzan, Jama Masjid in Old Delhi is strung with lights. The surrounding lanes glow with lamps and buntings, drawing selfie-seekers in search of the right angle. Across the road, in Matia Mahal Bazar, pavements fill with snack stalls selling sevai and khajla. Carts are stacked with dates from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Coconut parathas—made only in this month—reappear. “Come late night,” seasoned chroniclers of Ramzan advise. The script is familiar, faithfully documented by Instagram reel-makers. Less often suggested: arrive at 5 in the morning. This is Ramzan in a quieter register. For a month, Muslims observe roza, fasting from dawn to dusk. Iftar—the evening meal that breaks the fast—is communal,
City Walk – Gali Hotel Taj Wali, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - March 1, 20260 The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Fluted columns, that are only partially discernible in the dark. Wide arches supporting dust-covered ceilings. And a narrow, corridor-like, lane stretching far into deepened shadows. This afternoon, the lane is filled with scores of men, young and old. Yet, the place is quiet. The blinding sunlight outside sends no message within. It feels like being in an underground vault. But this gali is above ground. The Old Delhi lane is lined exclusively with small shops specialising in motor spare parts. An elderly shopkeeper in white, a graceful and courteous gent, says that “this lane has no name,” explaining that it is considered a part of the Jama Masjid Motor Market, which lies
City Season – Semal Trees in Blossom, Around Town Nature by The Delhi Walla - February 27, 20260 Delhi in red alert. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] On the morning of Holi, colour becomes a universal language. Water thickened with powder flows across terraces. Colony get-togethers dissolve into red and pink; Mummy and Papa look unrecognizable. By late afternoon, the work of body-scrubbing begins. Skin holds magenta in its pores. Nails are rimmed blue. In short, synthetic colour outlasts the fun. It is worth asking why the city’s Holi revellers do not make use of what the city already has by that time: the red semal. Though Holi is still a week away, the red semal flower has arrived. They are already falling on the roadsides. On Lodhi Road, outside a super-fancy hotel, the pavement is thick with semal.
City Life – 1982 Directory, Jangpura Extension Life by The Delhi Walla - February 26, 20260 Time capsule from a Delhi colony. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is not every day that a bound directory, printed on dull white paper and meant for hyperlocal consumption, acquires the aura of an archival treasure. Take this slim book, titled Portrait of a Colony. It was rescued last week from a pile of roadside litter. This was a publication destined for a Delhi locality in the early 1980s, but, forty years later, it has mutated into a time capsule from a less guarded city. The book is a rare record of a middle-class Delhi neighbourhood finding its groove, documenting the place with unintended frankness. Published in 1982 by the Jangpura Extension Welfare Association, the directory is essentially a listing
City Food – Roller Wali Ice Cream, Outside Jama Masjid Food by The Delhi Walla - February 25, 20260 Summer's rotating treat. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The entire setup is as showy as a theatre, with a modest street cart as the stage, and a metal roller as the main actor. The sealed roller is filled with crushed ice and salt. Thick layers of milky cream lie spread evenly about the roller’s outer surface. The heavy roller is continuously rotated by a hand-operated handle to keep the cream frozen. While the air around the cart bears fruity aromas—no artificial colours or syrups in sight.* This is the world of roller wali ice cream. Unlike industrial ice cream, it is made right in front of the customer. The recipe is simple: ice, and cream, and fruit. Freshly cut pieces of