Julia Child in Delhi – Leena’s Pink Soup, Vasant Vihar Food Julia Child's Delhi by The Delhi Walla - May 30, 20250 An extraordinary life. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The world is her home, so to speak. Leena Lemoine is intimate with scores of cultures—through their cuisines. A cook in the Vasant Vihar residence of Lithuanian ambassador Diana Mickevičienė, she has a friendly disposition and an infectious laughter (see her photo with the ambassador). One evening, after preparing a dinner of Lithuanian dishes—Bulviniai blynai and cheese donuts—Leena sits down with ambassador Mickevičienė on the latter’s living room sofa and graciously agrees to give a sense of her remarkable career. She started working years ago at the Delhi home of two Spanish ladies. Initially, she explains, she was mostly skilled in Indian khana, but her kind employers taught her about their country’s
City Landmark – Triveni Kala Sangam, Tansen Marg Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - May 28, 20250 A city institution. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Discreet daylight streaming through green vines, music percolating through painting… and Delhi fellows soaked in artistic pursuits. Triveni Kala Sangam marks its 75th jubilee this year. It was established in 1950 by Sundari K. Shridharani, who had launched her career as a dancer in the troupe of the legendary Uday Shankar. Its name, meaning the confluence of three streams, is said to have been coined by artist and musicologist Vijay Raghav Rao. That said, the Triveni Kala Sangam that we know today dates from the 1960s, when the institution was moved from its two-room status in Connaught Place to its present four-storey locale in the art district of Mandi House, on a road
City Landmark – H.A. Mirza & Sons, Faiz Bazar Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - May 28, 20250 A super-rare Delhi book. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Thousands of books have been written on Delhi. Historians, novelists, poets, journalists and photographers continue to mine the inexhaustible megapolis, producing even more books. One of these volumes is truly precious. Published around 1900, it is largely unknown, and so rare that it isn’t available even in any online bookstore specialising in books of such themes. This reporter discovered it recently in a shop for old random used books in a most unlikely place: a small town in Normandy, France. The book was originally priced at rupees 5; it was now acquired for 10 euros (around a thousand rupees). The book is actually the size of a booklet. The title is simple:
City Life – Neem Tree Lives, Kasturba Gandhi Marg Life by The Delhi Walla - May 26, 20250 Portrait of a scene. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Consider the scene. This tree in the heart of Delhi stands on the sidewalk of Kasturba Gandhi Marg, towards the turning to Connaught Lane. A woman and a man are sitting under it, as still as statues. Nothing remarkable, one might say. But in a furiously changing city, the extraordinariness of the scene lies in the fact that it has remained unchanged for years. The neem tree has in fact been here for many decades, according to a few people working in the vicinity. It stands amid a row of peepal trees. (Another majestic neem used to stand across the pave, but fell down some years ago.) The woman under the tree is
City Walk – Gali Mandir Wali, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - May 25, 20250 The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The temple is locked. The pink door is tightly shut. So much so that pushing it doesn’t make the two panels loosen even slightly. The temple is almost always locked. In spite of that, it gives the street its identity. Old Delhi’s Gali Mandir Wali is very small, very narrow, and is home to around 20 families. A passerby remarks that a priest does occasionally visit the temple, and when he does, he keeps the door open for a few hours. Emanating from Pahari Bhojla, the gali is deserted this afternoon. It ends with a house. The door of this last house is open, the curtain is wavering due to the strong breeze. Now
City Life – Ruskin Bond, Around Town Life by The Delhi Walla - May 23, 2025May 23, 20250 Ruskin, as the Delhi Walla. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Ruskin Bond, the writer who lives in the Himalayan foothills, turned 91 this week. Here are 9+1 nuggets on his connections with our Delhi. 1. Although Ruskin’s literature is mostly set in the Dehradun-Mussoorie foothills, his childhood was briefly spent in Delhi, during the war years, from 1942 to 44. 2. Following the separation of his parents, little Ruskin moved to the capital to be with his beloved stamp-collector father, who worked in the Codes and Cyphers section at the Air Headquarters of the Royal Air Force. His office was near India Gate. 3. The baap-beta team initially lived in the so-called Air Force hutment, close to Humayun Tomb. (They later lived in
City Monument – Summertime Ruins, Lodhi Garden Monuments by The Delhi Walla - May 22, 20250 Heatwave resorts. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such an unbearably hot summer noon. Lodhi Garden is understandably deserted, except for a few romantic couples (of course!). Plus, a young man in shorts, strolling purposelessly. And two friends sitting on the grass—Vaishnavi is singing a song, Shristi is her solo audience—see photo. Then, there are the uniformed guards on duty. In summer days, the gardens of Lodhi Garden continues to be picturesque, but not hospitable. The burning air might as well boil a pot of moong dal. This naturally becomes an opportunity to skip the lovely outdoors and re-examine the interiors of the sprawling park—that is, the stone monuments dispersed across the garden. These ruins anyway came up first, the landscaped garden
City Library – Sushant Mittal’s Library, Noida Library by The Delhi Walla - May 21, 20250 Shrine to words. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The radiologist seems to unite some of the best blessings of existence. He lives in a Sector 50 high-rise in Noida, sharing a spacious apartment with his parents, his wife—a dermatologist—and their two children. The bed in his bedroom is of Burma teak wood, inherited from his late grandmother, who had acquired it when she lived in Burma. And then Sushant Mittal has something more. His bedroom has a wooden case filled with books. This is his library. Last week, a college library in the capital caught fire; thousands of books at Pitampura’s Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce were burned to ashes. It was a short circuit accident, and fortunately no injuries
City Life – Mashak Wallas, Old Delhi General by The Delhi Walla - May 20, 2025May 20, 20250 On a Walled City heritage. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It all began one afternoon in Delhi’s Sunday Book Bazar, on fishing out the first edition of an out-of-print guidebook on the Walled City. Published more than 35 years ago, ‘Old Delhi: 10 Easy Walks’ was authored by two English women, Gaynor Barton and Laurraine Malone. The cover shows a man standing in front of the Jama Masjid. He is in check lungi, with something slung on his shoulder. It is a mashak, an old-fashioned goat-skin bag. Long ago in Purani Dilli, a mashak walla would draw water from the well, pour it into his goat-skin bag, and hawk the water from house to house. Today, Jama Masjid still stands in
City Walk – Gali Bawarchi Wali, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - May 17, 20250 The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This Walled City street is frequently suffused with the spicy fragrance of fresh biryani, or mutton stew… or korma, or yakhini, or chicken do pyaza, or kofte, or nihari. The faintly sweet scent of crispy browned onions permanently lurks in the air. Truth be told, this small lane in Mohalla Qabristan has no official name. You may simply call it Gali Bawarchi Wali. For it is home to a community of bawarchi, the traditional cooks who prepare bulk meals for special occasions, such as weddings, etc. The street’s four principal bawarchi khanas go by the names of Mughlai, Hasinuddin, Yameen and Kamran. The lane also has three tandoori roti bakeries. They go