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

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

She breaks the glass ceiling. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s College breaks a glass ceiling. The new principal will be a woman. Best wishes, Professor Susan Elias! Here are some Stephanian kissa-kahanis to mark this iconic moment. The college takes its name from Christianity’s first martyr, who was stoned to death outside Jerusalem’s city walls for his faith. Another Delhi University college named after a martyr is Shaheed Bhagat Singh College; Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom of course had a fierce anti-colonial, patriotic intent. The college traces its origins around our first war of independence of 1857, when even the British must not have realized they would remain in India for the next 90 years. The college started as a

Double milestones. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The building changes over the course of the day. At peak sunlight, the roof of the terrace expands. The edges loosen from the concrete and extend outward. This, of course, is impossible. A building cannot shift its shape. And yet it appears to do just that. Thanks to the way it is designed, especially in relation to daylight and shadows. This shifting terrace feels like a suitable reason to revisit the building today. As this day Delhi marks the intersection of two milestones: the 114th birth anniversary of architect Joseph Stein with the 75th year of Triveni Art Gallery, the first major Delhi building that Stein designed. Triveni Kala Sangam must rank among Delhi’s most wondrous

The Bahrisons Booksellers pair. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here, everyone’s watching, hoping to be watched in return. Khan Market isn’t a mere market; it’s a mirror of how Delhi sees itself and wants to be seen. Shops and cafés in this bazar come and go, each new name slipping into the place of an old favourite. Established in 1951, the market’s centrality hasn’t been dented by the invasion of shopping malls. At the centre of the front lane stands one of the market’s oldest landmarks, since 1953. Bahrisons Booksellers is run by a longtime couple. Anuj Bahri Malhotra sits upstairs in the shop; Rajni Malhotra downstairs. Their joint portrait is part of a series marking the market’s 75th year. Those who

The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] At Turkman Gate Chowk, the eye first naturally settles on Turkman Gate—a seventeenth-century stone fragment holding its ground against traffic, cables, and the chaos of street life. For years, the view toward the gateway’s west-facing side, overlooking the historic Ramlila Maidan, was choked by construction. The recent demolition of those “encroachments” has opened up the sightline. While standing at the stone gateway, you can now directly spot the Ramlila Maidan pavilion built to receive Elizabeth II in 1961—a structure so modest it can easily be overlooked. What now dominates the setting is the vertical concrete beyond: the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre (see photo). At 112 metres, this glass-and-concrete tower

Shatabdi expressed. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every Delhi walla has probably been here. It is the New Delhi railway station, which, this year, is hitting a shatabdi, or century. The city landmark first came up as an interchange station bearing a platform 800 feet long and 20 feet wide. Then came the setting up of a “wayside station,” which led to a small building. An expanded building opened in 1956, when the then President Rajendra Prasad pulled a silver signal lever, prompting a “presidential train” to chug into the platform. All these details are enshrined in a plaque outside the station. Today, the railway station with its 16 platforms is undergoing an ambitious “redevelopment” project. The station outdoors are packed with

Since 1934. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The first thing that arrests the gaze is the row of hand-woven chairs with polished wooden armrest. You no longer see such super-elegant chairs. They must be truly old. Then the gaze is hijacked by the three low-hanging fans suspended from the unusually high ceiling. One of these has to be an antique—indeed it doesn’t function anymore, and is here merely for the show. Then the gaze turns to the grand entry door, as tall as two Amitabh Bachchans. Finally, you notice the celebrity in the room—storyteller Fouzia. Delhi’s pioneering woman dastango, she is having her hair coloured (reddish-brown, if you must know). Fouzia has been a patron of SRG Unisex Salon since 2002.