City Hangout – On Mummy, Humayun Museum Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - June 15, 20260 Exhibition on mother-and-child. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Hundreds of years ago, when the Lodhi kings were ruling over Delhi, a great artist in Florence painted a picture of a mother and her child. Today, that painting, Madonna and Child by Botticelli, is on a short visit to our city. The painting’s subject was common then, as artists had depicted mothers and children for centuries, and it remains common to our day. While the theme is familiar, each such artwork feels slightly different. This very motherhood sits at the heart of One Mother, Many Mother Tongues, opening next Monday at the Havells Gallery in Central Delhi’s Humayun World Heritage Site Museum. The exhibition dwells on a bond that transcends time and
City Landmark – Gate No. 1 & Gate No. 1, Jama Masjid Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - June 14, 20260 On a place-name. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Place-names in Purani Dilli, belonging to streets, mohallas, and markets, are fiercely individualistic. They preserve memories of occupations, vanished landmarks or long-forgotten patrons. Sometimes a place acquires identity without acquiring a proper name. Take "Jama Masjid Gate No. 1". The phrase has become a part of the Walled City vernacular. Two distinct places share this same label. First is Gate No. 1 of Jama Masjid, one of the three gateways of the iconic landmark. The other is Gate No. 1 of the underground Jama Masjid Metro Station. One gate serves visitors to the 17th century monument. The other serves commuters of the twenty-first century transport system. Gate No. 1 of Jama Masjid forms
City Life – USA at 250, Delhi in 1776 Life by The Delhi Walla - June 14, 20260 One city, one nation. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] See the photo. It alone is enough to tell the whole story. An auto-rickshaw is parked on a Delhi roadside bearing a “Happy Birthday America!” placard announcing the forthcoming 250th anniversary of American independence. The placard is part of an outreach initiative by the US Embassy. Behind the auto rises Dilli Gate, a monument that had already stood for more than a hundred years when the United States was born on the Fourth of July, 1776. This is not an attempt to diminish the story of present-day America. The photo simply offers perspective. When the American colonies declared independence from Britain, Delhi was already a very, very old city weighed down by centuries
Mission Delhi – Raj Bhai, Mehrauli-Gurugram Road Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - June 10, 20260 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The first thing a passenger notices in the auto rickshaw is that this is no ordinary Delhi auto. It sustains a sprawling world. The auto has two fans, a small LED television, a mirror on the ceiling, a rear-view camera, charging points for mobile phones, free Wi-Fi for passengers, a stack of tissue paper, a couple of newspapers, a pen, mineral water bottles, and the national flag. The back bears a photo poster of the driver himself. Rajesh Sinha, aka Raj Bhai (that’s the name grandly displayed on the auto), has been driving on Delhi roads for more than a decade. The vehicle is a 2015 model, but
City Hangout – Masjid Udyan, Gurugram Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - June 10, 2026June 10, 20260 A boring park. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Lodhi Garden it is definitely not. It has no breathtaking beauty. Masjid Udyan Park in Old Gurugram is a small rectangular patch of land and, honestly speaking, it is a park more in name than in substance. The park’s lawn is mostly bare earth (see photo), pimpled by rat holes. In fact, the park was featured in this space some years ago, for it is special due to many reasons. And then there is another perspective. The park serves as a connecting point to some of the most fascinating aspects of the surrounding vicinity. Within a few steps of the park, three distinct self-contained worlds unfold; one of these, a tiny landmark, is
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Mateen Amrohi, Mathura Road Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - June 9, 20261 Portrait of a citizen. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Heat and dust. Autos and buses. The evening rush is surging along Central Delhi’s Mathura Road. A sluggish stream of noise and impatience beneath the grainy gold of a dying sun. Abruptly, an otherworldly figure in sherwani and astrakhan cap appears like an apparition, wading through the exhaust and commotion with fluent grace. Poet Mateen Amrohi is returning home from a book launch. He graciously agrees to join our Proust Questionnaire series, in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences. The principal aspect of your personality. I write prose. I write poetry. Where would you like to live? Two places. Delhi, where I already live, and
City Walk – Gali Batashan 2, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - June 6, 20261 The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] How do memories map a place? Just study the photo above. A few weeks ago, this space featured Gali Batashan, an Old Delhi street crowded with commercial establishments dealing exclusively in kagaz, or paper. The piece was read thousands of miles away by a 90-year-old gentleman in England, and soon after, his daughter contacted The Delhi Walla on Instagram. Mohan Behari Lall spent the first 29 years of his life on this Walled City street before leaving India for higher education. His family home, Sukh Bhawan, named after his great-grandfather, had 11 rooms, four kitchens, and three rooftops. In 1984, Mohan eventually settled in England, where he worked as a mechanical engineer. He
City Landmark – Village Well, Lado Sarai Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - June 5, 20260 Beyond the baoli. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The old well in Lado Sarai still stands in a corner of the South Delhi village. This afternoon, a few men sit facing it and talking. At first glance, the scene could belong to the era when villagers would gather at the village well to draw water, and to exchange news. But the well no longer supplies water. Its mouth is covered with a metal grille. Residents say there is still water below, but nobody draws from it. Like most of Delhi, the village now receives piped water. Even the village no longer resembles a village of conventional imagination. Quite a few posh-type artists have studios here. That said, wells survive in many of
City Food – Lakshmi Dhaba, Humayun Road Food by The Delhi Walla - June 3, 20260 Table for many. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The menu of the day is nearly as long as the table itself. This afternoon, a row of pans claiming most of the table holds kali masur dal, makhani dal, matar paneer, chhole masala, aloo gobhi, and anda curry. There is also a choice of chawal and fresh rotis. Lakshmi Dhaba, on Central Delhi’s Humayun Road, beside a cab stand, has all the basic features of a roadside eatery. Yet it feels unusually welcoming. Is it the long table and the scattered chairs around it, which give the place an informal, relaxed atmosphere? Or is it the fact that despite the sweltering June heat, it remains comfortable enough for tired and hungry citizens
City Walk – Cornwallis Colony, Central Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - June 3, 20260 American connection in the Indian capital. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is littered with scraps of history that seem unrelated until they are placed alongside one another. Then a single narrative thread emerges from the scattered pieces. Over the past few weeks, you may have noticed auto-rickshaws bearing placards (see photo) announcing the forthcoming 250th anniversary of American independence, as part of an initiative by the US Embassy. Yet the story of American independence is far closer to Delhi than this publicity campaign suggests. Within walking distance of Khan Market, a sleepy, virtually hidden, locality preserves the name of a man who played a significant role in American independence. He also played an equally significant role in Indian history. Most of Delhi's