City Hangout – Two Stalls and a Tree, Connaught Place Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - February 28, 20221 A perfect table for one. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is a red letterbox in Connaught Place (CP) that you must visit. But it’s not about the letterbox. Next to it is a lush banyan tree. But it’s not about this magnificent tree either. Underneath the tree are two stalls. Sanjay Yadav’s establishment serves excellent ginger-flavoured chai, while Rajesh Kumar’s establishment serves tasty tiny samosas. But it’s also not about these stalls. The stalls are circled with little slabs of concrete that serve as seats. These are refuges of shade and company. But it’s not about the seats too. The twin stalls draw a fascinating range of humanity. An auto driver was holding a flaky mathhi and a mobile phone in his hands, clasped together like a
Mission Delhi – Raj Singh, Chuna Mandi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 25, 20220 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] You might not easily spot this graceful gent amid the hubbub of the traffic intersection. But once you do, then it is difficult to be distracted by anybody else. Raj Singh has a magnetic personality. A locksmith, he has been running his trade in the city for 35 years. But his stall in Chuna Mandi came into existence only two years ago. “Because I’m now old and I cannot walk along the streets as easily as I used to do.” In his 60s, Mr Singh’s rough-edged voice is cracking with friendliness. His smile is as infectious as it is fleeting — it gets instantly lost beneath the
City Monument – Rani Tara Devi’s Derelict Grave, Nicholson Cemetery Monuments by The Delhi Walla - February 24, 20220 A resting place. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] We will never know what distresses were raging through Rani Tara Devi’s heart when she boarded a taxi at north Delhi’s Maidens Hotel, drove all the way to the Qutub Minar in the south of the city, walked up the stairs to the top, and jumped. Was it the impulse of a moment? Was it the prolonged deliberation of a melancholic mind? This was in December 1946, when the centuries-old tower was still open for visitors to climb. Rani Tara Devi, wife of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala, was buried soon afterwards, here at the Nicholson Cemetery. Today, her grave is stranded amid a sea of unwieldy grass. The historical graveyard itself has disintegrated
Home Sweet Home – Tailor “Master” Javed Iqbal’s Dwelling, Chitli Qabar Chowk Delhi Homes by The Delhi Walla - February 22, 20220 A new house. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The mattress is spread across the floor. The cooking gas cylinder is in the kitchen, already connected to the double-burner gas range. Two plastic buckets are in the bathroom. All their clothes are still inside the suitcase, though. The couple moved into the new house some hours ago, with their infant daughter, here in Old Delhi’s Chitli Qabar Chowk. Tailor “Master” Javed Iqbal is 34. His wife, Rubina Khan, is 26. Their daughter, Rida, was born in August last year. It is evening. The baby is asleep on her mother’s lap. The mother is sitting cross-legged on the mattress. The father is standing in the corner. The first-floor room is filled with sounds
City Monument – Mughal-Era Pavilion, Sunder Nursery Monuments by The Delhi Walla - February 22, 2022February 24, 20221 A secret spot. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The white walls are embossed with the likenesses of arches and flowers. The outermost skin of choona — the lime plaster on the walls — is peeling off in places, revealing an additional layer underneath. The rest is silent. Suddenly a peacock somewhere nearby starts to scream aggressively. The Mughal-era pavilion lies like a secret garden in the less frequented portion of the Sunder Nursery. This weekend afternoon, the sprawling park is as crowded and noisy as Nainital’s Mall Road on any summer weekend. There is no place here to be alone, in solitude. But this little spot is an exception, yet to be discovered by the babbling masses. The pavilion and the
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Bookseller Ajay Jain, Ansari Road Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - February 22, 20220 The parlour confession. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Does he himself read such heavy-duty books? Ajay Jain deals in scholarly books on Indian history and politics. His shop—Manohar Publishers & Distributors—is frequented by scholars from India and abroad. In his 50s, the Gurugram-born started working full-time with father, bookstore founder Ramesh Chandra Jain, at an early age of 19. He daily commutes to his shop in Delhi’s Ansari Road from his home in Gurugram’s Sector 24. This afternoon, despite being super-busy at work, he agrees to be a part of the Proust Questionnaire series in which folks are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore citizens’ distinct experiences. Your favourite virtue or the principal aspect of your personality Straight forwardness, loyalty, focused. Your favourite
Home Sweet Home – Abida’s Dwelling, Under Oberoi Hotel Flyover Delhi Homes by The Delhi Walla - February 20, 20220 A woman's house. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The evening is mildly cold. Abida and Raja are at home, sitting by the fireside. Raja has their month-old son, Piraili, on his lap. Wrapped in layers of woollens, the baby is asleep. “He was born here - at home, not in the hospital,” Raja says. Abida nods. The couple live in central Delhi, under the Oberoi Hotel flyover. Their house comprises a small white tent, with a roof so low it is impossible to stand up straight. “That’s why we sit outside when awake,” explains Raja. The rush hour shows no sign of slowing down. The beam of the headlights from passing cars are occasionally falling on their faces. The vicinity is home
City Hangout – February Light, Hazrat Sarmad Shahid Sufi Shrine Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - February 18, 20220 Stones of light. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The wall and the floor are covered with bright constellations — little stars and comets. But stretch as much as you can, fly as high as you want, you won’t be able to pluck them. These are shards of light. Rather, scattered reflections of the midday glare. This short period of the year is a most delicate time in Delhi’s annual calendar. The winter has almost ended. The brutal summer will soon begin. A few people are starting to wear sleeveless “half” sweaters, as if unable to decide between the two seasons as they overlap. Now is the time to fully enjoy daylight, which might be getting uncomfortably warmer but remains friendly. One
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Dr. Esha Jamal’s’s Poem on a Delhi Afternoon, Batra Hospital City Poetry by The Delhi Walla - February 16, 20220 Poetry in the city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] At the time, she was doing her Master’s (specialisation in ophthalmology) in coastal Pondicherry. One evening, after returning to her non-sea-facing apartment following another hectic day of work in the hospital, Dr Esha Jamal found herself intensely missing her smoggy polluted Delhi. She then did what came natural to her. She wrote a poem--Memories of a Delhi Afternoon. That was more than two years ago. So much has happened since then. She lost her father, Hafiz Akram Jamal, to the second wave of the Covid. She herself has returned to her Delhi, and now works as an eye specialist in a hospital. Chatting this afternoon about poets and poetry, during a brief reprieve from patients
City Hangout – Tulip Garden, Lodhi Gardens Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - February 15, 20220 Stuff of love songs. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A true artist never dies. Singer Lata Mangeshkar, who passed away a few days ago, continues to be an integral part of our daily life. Multiple generations of Hindi film heroines have lip-synced to her timeless renditions, while dancing about flowers and trees. Those songs lie entrenched in our bones, as well as in our parents’, and grandparents’. One of the ways in which you may offer tribute to this beloved icon is to drop by at a little enclosure in central Delhi’s Lodhi Gardens. It is officially called the Butterfly Park. Here, you will hear no song of hers, but you will feel the spirit of all the Lata Mangeshkar songs.