One of the one percent in 13 million.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Once there lived a blacksmith. His son was also a blacksmith. His son’s son is not a blacksmith. The young man is a skater.

This evening, Adnan is skating along a concrete walking track in Lodhi Garden. He glides past the faraway sunset, past the park people lounging on the rain-wet grass, past the centuries-old Sheesh Gumbad. He respectfully slows down as he overtakes an elderly gent, after which he immediately picks up speed, soon disappearing from sight.

On the following evening, over lemon tea tête-à-tête in a Walled City chaikhana, Adnan says he never skates in his Old Delhi neighbourhood. He is speaking slowly, in a low voice. “Nobody skates in my gali, I will stand out if I skate there.”

The painfully modest Adnan anyway stands out in many ways, at least within his own home. He was the first male in his family to have not taken up the occupation of the father. He was also the first in the family to be a graduate (in political science). He later received a master’s in English Literature. He was also the first in his khandan to get a salaried job far outside the confines of the historic Walled City. A software professional, Adnan works in a French multinational, commuting daily to a 15-floor office building in the Millennium City of Gurugram. (He commutes on the metro, not on his roller skates).

Shyly tracking the arch of his career, Adnan grows sentimental talking of his father, who died some years ago. While he doesn’t recall his “Abbu” to have actively encouraged him in his academic career, he did feel a “silent encouragement.” His “Ammi” was more vocal, motivating him to follow his heart’s pursuits, but also nudging him not to give up the skills of his forefathers. “Even as a South Campus student (in Delhi University), I would often assist in the family workshop… hammering the metals, making tools from khairat machine, going to sites for welding…”

As for his passion for skating, Adnan credits his father for gifting him his life’s principal joy. “Abbu had bought me my first skating equipment.”

After vanishing from sight during the aforementioned evening in Lodhi Garden, the skating Adnan is re-sighted on the other side of the park, deftly wheeling over the deserted track that curves around Muhammad Shah’s tomb. His nimble figure is effortlessly scissoring and see-sawing through the darkened air.

[This is the 618th portrait of Mission Delhi project]