The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Et tu William Dalrymple? The great historian who, in his usual modest fashion, brought ignominious Delhi to the notice of the wider world showed up shockingly late at the launch of Things to Leave Behind, and failed to mention the happy occasion on his very, very active Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Many were taken aback, and rightly so. After all, this novel is authored by his accomplice Namita Gokhale. The two of them are the very powerful co-directors of the authoritative Jaipur literature Festival. And, as everyone knows, Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple also happen to be very, very close friends (chuckles). This was a pleasantly polluted evening in the terrace garden

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi's a bitch. You can smell conspiracies even in the most innocent dealings. One smog-filled evening The Delhi Walla was at the outdoor launch of Anglophone politician Shashi Tharoor's book An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India at The Taj Mahal Hotel (relax, it’s not a Trump property). This was an assembly of some recognizable names including the venerable Vice President, Hon’ble Shri M. Hamid Ansari. Poor man. He had worked hard on his speech and, therefore, it was memorably dull. What raised eyebrows, however, had nothing to do with Mr Tharoor. I'm talking of novelist Manu Joseph, a faithful fixture in the book launches hosted by HarperCollins India's

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] So many people and for... literature! Beyond belief. One evening The Delhi Walla attends the book launch of Daughters of Jorasanko at the India International Center. The evocatively-named Multipurpose Hall is packed with so many literary-minded gentry that there is not a spot to stand with ease. There are many women, and every woman is dressed in an extravagantly gorgeous sari (see photo 5 below). Each face--irrespective of the gender--is beaming with such eager happiness that its blinding radiance can re-ignite one’s doubtful belief in the supremacy of the written word. It soon becomes clear that all these beautiful people are looking for Sharmila Tagore, the evening's principal guest. The fawning admirers are unaware that

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most dresses were flowery, and since white people love Bali, most complexions were decidedly pale. One evening The Delhi Walla attended the opening of Ubud Writers & Readers Festival on the lawns of the Bianco Renaissance Museum. An over-flowing number of writers from across continents strutted around in their beautiful grey hair--one man was an exact replica of Gabriel García Márquez (see photo 8 below). The prime stunner, of course, was columnist Jennifer Lindsay--she looked like Meryl Streep’s improved edition (see photos 6 and 7). Like so many successful people in this part of the world, Ms Lindsay divides her time between Indonesia and Australia. The most important face was Ms Janet DeNeefe's,

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is such happiness when old friends meet over chicken biryani, especially when the friends are very, very, very old. One afternoon The Delhi Walla gatecrashes into a get-together of the Old Boys' Association of Anglo-Arabic School & Delhi College. The capital’s oldest educational institution is just a short walk from the capital’s red light district—but we shall not dwell on this point. The historic school building is like just another grand Delhi monument with its mosque, domes, and a great number of tombs but the old boys of the school look more monumental. Almost every second guest has a long white beard and each face is like a history book where one may

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The ear whisperers are nowhere to be seen. Perhaps this is not their world. One evening The Delhi Walla attends a gathering at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. The solemn-faced people have assembled to mark the end of the brief self-imposed exile of Perumal Murugan, the martyr-writer from Tamil Nadu. At a time when the present right-wing regime is overthrowing the principles of the established order, these left-leaning intellectuals are said to be suffering morally. Indeed, they all are looking as pious as the early Christians. Probably as a mark of disdain for the ruling polyester class, a great number of women are in handloom saris and artisanal sling

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One person almost always seen at Delhi’s book launches is novelist Vikram Seth’s mother, Leila Seth. A retired High Court justice as well as a memoirist, this graceful woman is always given a front row seat. The author of the evening as well as the publishing house editors would make it a point to greet her. Any Vikram Seth fanatic can tell you that Ms Seth was the inspiration behind Lata Mehra, the spunky heroine of Vikram Seth’s celebrated novel A Suitable Boy. The Delhi Walla has been stalking Ms Seth for many years. I even photographed her the day author Khushwant Singh died—she was standing outside his residence with her novelist son, and

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A few of them looked adequately solemn to be practitioners of long-form journalism (see photo 8 below). One evening The Delhi Walla attended journalist Madhu Jain’s get-together at India Habitat Center. It was the anniversary of The Indian Quarterly (IQ), her highbrow magazine. While Ms Jain made admirable efforts to look joyous, publisher Chiki Sarkar of Juggernaut Books discreetly eyed for writers who could help make ‪#JuggernautApp trend again on Twitter for at least two or three hours. This ambition explained the supporting cast of Ms Sarkar’s colleagues, the enigmatic R. Sivapriya (admired for producing page-turning English translations of long, respectful Urdu novels) and the charming Parth Mehrotra (no relation to poet Arvind Krishna

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] News anchor Barkha Dutt looked like a Prime Time killer in her flowing silky-white pajamas. Publisher Meru Gokhale, wearing white from head to toe, seemed as fragile as late night moonshine. Filmmaker Aradhana Seth, too, was in white. While Delhi’s great recluse, author Mala Dayal, refused to be photographed (see photo 4 below). And two women with fabulous grey hair were spotted (see photos 10 and 11). It was an infinitely marvelous gathering. One evening The Delhi Walla attended the book launch of Siddhartha Mukherjee’s book The Gene: An Intimate History at The Stein Auditorium in India Habitat Center. Married to a New York artist, the Delhi-born author conducted himself with all the

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most people looked grave enough to pass off as authors. The curly-haired Vinay Sitapati was not one of them (see photo 3 below). He looked like an author only on his book’s back cover. The Delhi Walla was at the India International Center to celebrate the launch of Mr Sitapati’s book Half Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India. The power couple of Delhi’s literary circle was also there. Writer Ananya Vajpeyi and her husband, writer Basharat Peer, glowed with the confidence of successful Delhi intellectuals on intimate terms with influential foreign correspondents. Mr Peer was solemnly chatting with sociologist Ashis Nandy while Ms Vajpeyi was engaged in a tête-à-tête with Max Rodenbeck,