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Author: The Delhi Walla

Mission Delhi – Raj Bhai, Mehrauli-Gurugram Road

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

City Landmark – Rooftop by Jama Masjid, Chatta Sheikh Mangloo

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Chhat of Chatta. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Chatta Sheikh Mangloo, an Old Delhi street that houses the grave of the mystic Sheikh Mangloo, stretches northward from beneath the shadow of Jama Masjid's southern tower. Yet a citizen walking through the street would catch no glimpse of Old Delhi's signature monument. Hemmed in by tightly packed multi-storeyed buildings, the cramped lane teems with crowds, commerce, and noise, and shows no glimpse of the aforementioned historic edifice. As if the centuries-old stone structure towering above it belongs to some distant, rumoured world. Consequently, the street is so close to a great monument, yet so far. Whatever, the word chatta of Chatta Sheikh Mangloo refers to a private bridge-like structure that spans over

City Walk – Gali Shyam Bhawan, Old Delhi

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The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The informally named Gali Shyam Bhawan is very short. The roofed lane begins and ends as a passage, leading inward from the light and noise of Daryaganj in Old Delhi. As it stretches ahead, the lane darkens. The lane’s entrance is marked by a stall selling religious posters. This blinding afternoon, Sonu’s display bears images of Ram Darbar, Radha Krishna and Shivji Bhagwan. Further in, where the lane grows dim and feels cut off from the rest of the city, stands its defining landmark, marked only by a tiny, almost invisible scrawl of blue ink on the chipped wall: “tea wala.” Upender’s tea stall is richly detailed. The place is crammed with a

Mission Delhi – Chand Nizami, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

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One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] At 64, Chand Nizami is beginning a new chapter. After performing for more than two decades with his nephews Shadab and Sohrab as part of the celebrated Nizami Bandhu qawwali group, the veteran qawwal says he will now perform separately. “I’ll no longer be seen with my nephews,” he says. “I want to start new innings.” Plus, his three sons have grown into young men, and he wants to sing with them instead. He describes his sons as pioneers in “techno qawwali.” The decision marks a significant shift in the world of qawwali at Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, among the most important centres of Sufism. Qawwali, the

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