City Landmark- Joseph Stein’s Triveni Kala Sangam, Mandi House Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 2026April 10, 20260 Double milestones. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The building changes over the course of the day. At peak sunlight, the roof of the terrace expands. The edges loosen from the concrete and extend outward. This, of course, is impossible. A building cannot shift its shape. And yet it appears to do just that. Thanks to the way it is designed, especially in relation to daylight and shadows. This shifting terrace feels like a suitable reason to revisit the building today. As this day Delhi marks the intersection of two milestones: the 114th birth anniversary of architect Joseph Stein with the 75th year of Triveni Art Gallery, the first major Delhi building that Stein designed. Triveni Kala Sangam must rank among Delhi’s most wondrous
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Ramesh Kumar Mohvy, Kasturba Gandhi Road Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 20260 Portrait of a citizen. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] One of the living landmarks of central Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi Road is Ramesh Kumar Mohvy. He has been the area’s familiar face for many years. In fact, his shoe-repairing pavement stall is marking its 40th anniversary this year. This afternoon, he graciously agrees to become a part of our Proust Questionnaire series, in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences. He takes only a single break in between to nudge a street dog to a bowl of milk that was placed for the dog in a corner of the pavement. The principal aspect of your personality. My simple way of life. What is your present state
City Faith – Hazrat Amir Khusro’s 722nd Urs, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah Faith by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 20260 On a poet's anniversary. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The news from Iran continues to be alarming. Delhi lies safely removed from that volatile part of the world, but only up to a point. For our city is a confluence of many cultures and languages, Persian among them. This week, that inheritance comes alive in the form of an anniversary, even as the world beyond is growing more dangerous. Delhi is observing the 722nd Urs, or death anniversary, of Amir Khusro, the 14th-century poet who principally wrote in Persian, the language of the elite in Khusro’s Delhi. Khusro’s poetry is particularly admired for weaving the formal Persian with the colloquial Braj Bhasha, the earthy language of parts of northern India. That said,
City Life – Munna, Near Hazrat Sarmad Shahid’s Dargah Life by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 2026April 10, 20260 Passing of a life. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The lane is full of absences. Even its name is absent—it has none. It begins with the shrine of a Sufi mystic who lost his life to an emperor’s wrath. The small shrine of Hazrat Sarmad Shahid in Old Delhi is painted red, the traditional color of his martyrdom. Sarmad lived unconventionally, known as the naked fakir. His life, or perhaps his defiance, lingers on in the street. A few steps away stood the makeshift home of an elderly transgender person who identified herself as a “kinnar.” Her name was Munna. She lived with a group of younger transgender people who called her their guru. One of her “chela”was the friendly Shigori,
City Faith – Shiv Sai Hanuman Mandir, Ring Road Faith by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 20260 A serene space. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The air is filled with the peep-paw of car horns. This April afternoon is hot. The sun is harsh, an almost blinding white. The city feels hectic and super-stressed, here on Ring Road in central Delhi’s Bhikaji Cama Place. Planes pass overhead, flying low. There is no respite from the chaos of the surroundings. And then—suddenly—a break in the pattern. A spacious courtyard opens up. A tall semal tree rises into the sky. Looking at its tip instantly lifts the senses out of the rush below. This is Shiv Sai Hanuman Mandir. The premises this afternoon are permeated in total tranquility. The discordant sounds of the busy Ring Road still reach inside, but
City Walk – Dariba Kalan, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 20260 The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] So quiet. Kucha Seth is one of Old Delhi’s more serene streets. It is also very deceptive. For without any warning, its tail end drops you into the chaos of hyperkinetic Dariba Kalan. Dariba! Daribe! Rings a bell?!—some of us of course have heard of Dariba Kalan from the blockbuster song “Kajra Re,” featuring the Bachchan family stars. The lyrics passingly mention the street, along with another Purani Dilli locality. Whatever the reference, pricey jewellers dominate this bazar lane, dealing in gold, silver, pearls… in fact, the street is said to derive its name, “Dariba,” from a Persian phrase meaning “priceless pearl.”* Priceless indeed is the hoarding of one jewellery shop. It carries
City Poetry – Ghalib in Persian, Delhi & Isfahan City Poetry by The Delhi Walla - April 2, 2026April 2, 20260 Persia is not far. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The news from Iran continues to be distressing. In Delhi, we are geographically removed from the war’s direct reach. Yet Iran is never far. Something of its cultural spirit lingers in this city, including in the work of Delhi’s great poet. To Mirza Ghalib, the Irani bhasha was the language of ambition. In the 19th century Delhi of his time, Persian commanded elite status, like the English in post-independent India or French in Tsarist Russia. Ghalib started by writing poems in both homegrown Urdu and Persian. Over time, he was drawn to the exactness and range of Persian—qualities he apparently didn’t find in Urdu. In all, Ghalib wrote about 2,000 couplets in
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Hemraj, Mandi House Metro Station Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - April 1, 20260 Portrait of a citizen. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Among the late-morning commuters at Mandi House Metro Station, on the Blue Line platform, he is the one carrying something most unusual. The man’s super-long shoulder jhola is crammed with dozens of rolled-up items. These turn out to be maps. Despite being in a hurry to reach his destination, map seller Hemraj graciously agrees to become a part of our Proust Questionnaire series, in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences. Your main fault. I’m in my 50s, and I have been selling world maps and India maps for 40 years. But sometimes, in order to sell them, I try to appeal to a potential
City Walk – Kucha Seth, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - April 1, 20260 The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s the street of the well-moneyed. At least the street shows its wealth in name, if not explicitly so in appearance. For the word seth in Kucha Seth refers to a wealthy man; while kucha denotes a locality of people sharing an occupation. Indeed, quite a few building façades here look grave and dignified despite their dereliction, mutely insisting on the street’s former grandeur. This afternoon, a brown dog is sleeping peacefully beside one such building, sleep coming to him as easily as money comes to the well-moneyed. In all, the street is exceptionally photogenic. Every doorway makes you reach for your phone camera. One striking relic bears the inscription Shri Mahavir
City Hangout – City by Chandeliers, Around Town Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 31, 2026March 31, 20260 On the gilded places. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A simplest chandelier can stir the myth of a gilded age. At United Coffee House in Connaught Place, the feeling holds. Two chandeliers hang from the ceiling. One long-ago morning, their clear reflections formed flawlessly on the surface of a customer’s black Darjeeling tea, as if miniature chandeliers had been lowered into the cup. The illusion lasted until lifting the cup broke the tea’s still surface. Here is a brief survey of some impressionistic chandeliers across the city. At Samar Guest House in Old Delhi’s Urdu Bazar, the ground floor offers little: just a long, narrow staircase rising to the reception. Yet the road-facing staircase carries an unexpected dignity, conferred by a small