City Life – 2025 Losses, Around Town Hangouts Landmarks Life by The Delhi Walla - December 31, 20250 The year that was. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] We feel most acutely for what we have lost. As the year reaches an end, here’s an accounting of three profound losses that the city suffered this year. One is a tree, one is a tea house, and one is a bookstore. Truth be told, this tree was never alive in our living memory. It had always seemed dead and leafless. Nobody could even tell what kind of tree it was. The woody skeleton, however, had stood upright in Lodhi Garden for many years. Its bare branches, ending in prickly tips, were in constant use as a resting place for birds in flight, just as the grassy ground below served as
City Places – “Wale” Census, Around Town Life by The Delhi Walla - December 26, 20250 On place-names. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] We are the Delhiwale. The ‘wale’ in Delhiwale loosely means ‘belonging to.” Indeed, very many place-names in the city end with ‘wale.’ So do the names of citizens; their name mostly pertaining to their profession. Two years ago, this page conducted a census of names ending with ‘wale.’ The list also included the citizens lying buried in the city graveyards. The gravestones being inscribed with their “wale” identities: such as Sheikh Mohammad Aslam Chashme (eye glasses) Wale, Mohd Aqil Khilone (toys) Wale, and Sultan Ahmed Ghari (clock) Wale. Over the ensuing 24 months, The Delhi Walla has come across many more wale, obliging to update the census. So, let’s start by stopping at Bhure Bhai
City Life – 100 Years of New Delhi, 1926-2026 Life by The Delhi Walla - December 18, 20250 A milestone in time. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The year 2025 is about to end. The forthcoming 2026 is very special to Delhi. Or shall we say to New Delhi. For this name—New Delhi—is set to turn 100. It was on December 31, 1926, that the colonial British empire christened the “new imperial capital” as New Delhi. To mark the looming milestone, here is a quiz on new New Delhi road names, as they were known in the old New Delhi. We call out the roads by their colonial-era names, your job is to identify them by their new names. Answers are at the bottom, but no cheating! Keeling Road The road was named after Hugh Keeling, the chief engineer of New
City Life – Ren Basera Night Shelters, Around Town Life by The Delhi Walla - December 17, 20250 The world's a ren basera. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Ren implies night-time in Hindi, basera means shelter for transitory rest. Ren basera translates to shelter for the night. It is also a name for government-supported porta cabins and camps that come up across the city during winter months to protect the homeless citizens from extreme cold. These roadside ren basera tents are usually identifiable by their conical tip. One such basera stands against the backdrop of a tower-in-progress. See right photo. Another basera stands a short walk away from its aforementioned counterpart, beside a pilkhan tree. (In summer months of May and June, the area’s homeless citizens often congregate under this same tree to shelter from the deadly heatwaves.)
City Anniversary – Jane Austen’s 250th Happy Birthday, Daryaganj General Life by The Delhi Walla - December 16, 20250 She wrote for Delhi people too. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Let us be grateful to our scholars. They undertake the hard labour of analysing the joyful novels of Jane Austen under the probing lens of very many isms—colonialism, feminism, etc. Their brainy chore helps us, readers, to better understand our beloved writer. That said, all the six complete novels of the English novelist are essentially love stories, and each ends with at least one wedding. Yet, not a single novel gives a detailed description of the wedding. Today, the world is celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th birth anniversary, and one way to offer homage to the great novelist is by compensating for that perplexing gap in her books. Here’s the
City Life – Bungalows of Gurugram, Sushant Lok and Other Places Life by The Delhi Walla - December 12, 20250 Built heritage, forever fluid. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The house must have had two storeys. But the upper storey rooms seem to be gone, except for a few leftover walls. A pair of labourers are standing up there, relentlessly hammering on the floor, right beside their feet. The building is meanwhile cloaked in a thin layer of dust. Yet another residence is being pulled down. Greetings from Sushant Lok. As things stand, many stand-alone houses in the so-called Millennium City of Gurugram have been replaced by sleek apartment complexes. Some old single-storey bungalows continue to survive though. A few of these survivors lie deserted in a ruinous state, probably waiting for their turn to be erased from the face
City Life – Olive Trees, Around Town Landmarks Life by The Delhi Walla - December 5, 20250 Rare presence. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The cold evening is unfolding smoothly in an “exclusive” gathering at the Italian ambassador’s residence in central Delhi’s Chandragupta Marg. Imported wine is being circulated among the privileged set. The highlight is a dinner buffet curated by a Michelin starred chef visiting from Sardinia. Indeed, the society people are greedily queuing up at the risotto counter. Meanwhile, a tree stands outside in the residence’s large garden, looking a tad smudgy in Delhi’s winter-time smog. The tree is short, its disproportionately vaster foliage hanging upon the stumpy trunk like a halo. See photo. It is an olive tree. The all-knowing Wikipedia says that the natural home of olives is the Mediterranean region. But Delhi is 4000
City Life – Graveyard Epitaphs, Around Town Hangouts Life by The Delhi Walla - December 4, 2025December 4, 20250 Grave words. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A grave has limited dimensions, and yet possesses a sentimental scope without a limit—to the person whose loved one lies buried in the grave. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Delhi is a city of graves. Some neighbourhoods stand on former graveyards, such as Kaka Nagar. There is even a 5-star hotel standing upon an ex-qabristan, (but we won’t name it!). One city locality takes the cake—it is called Mohalla Qabristan. Here’s a survey of select graves spread across Delhi’s many graveyards. To be more precise, this is a tribute not to those graves, but to lines inscribed on the graves. These carefully considered words memorialise our fellow citizens who once walked
City Life – Street Dogs List, Hazrat Nizamuddin East Life by The Delhi Walla - December 1, 20250 Namrata’s extraordinary buddy list. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] We may as well start with her mobile phone. A hospitality industry professional, Namrata Rynjah’s mobile is filled with photos of very many dogs. The photo album is named Nizz east buddies. “Nizz east” being Nizamuddin East, which is Namrata’s central Delhi neighbourhood; and the “buddies” in the album’s name refers to… well, Nizamuddin East’s street dogs! Namrata is like the Dr Salim Ali of dogs. The ornithologist catalogued the birds of India, Namrata has catalogued all the street dogs of her neighbourhood. Indeed, many dogs are living here, spread across residential blocks, community parks, including in the sleepy backside market. Since the “colony” is a bit upscale, these street dwellers are
City Life – Jane Austen Readers, Aryabhatta College Life by The Delhi Walla - November 10, 20250 Jane Austen in Delhi. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such happiness to join a party cheering for Jane Austen. The coming December marks the novelist’s 250th birth anniversary. As a buildup to the auspicious occasion, the English literature students of Delhi University's Aryabhatta College have assembled this afternoon in the college’s… oh well, one wants to call this hall a ballroom, but ballrooms belong to Jane Austen’s rural England, where rich men and handsome women fall in love over dance, gossip, and piano forte. This hall is simply called Student’s Activity Center. The consolation is that many students present here happen to be reading Jane Austen, that too for the first time; her novel Pride and Prejudice being a part of