Jacob's ladder. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Staircases are surely one of the great human inventions though there is no knowing just when the world’s first staircase was built. Neither is it clear which civilisation came up with the radical idea to build something for easily navigating a vertical distance. In modern times, the proliferation of lifts and escalators has made the very idea of staircase a bit dated. Even so, seedhiyaan continue to be built as emergency fire exits and similar such utilitarian necessities. It’s easy to forget that these functional stairs can also be things of incredible beauty. Such as the grand stairway at L’Opéra in Paris or, closer to home, the sweep of stairs at the Polish

A family with dogs. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This industrious family of ragpickers manages to earn around 10,000 rupees every month, which they reckon is sufficient for themselves and their three dogs--Kaloo, Laloo and Julie. But, on this warm February afternoon, Mintu and his cheerful family are just taking it easy, basking under the deliciously warm sun. Otherwise, they’re mostly patrolling Central Delhi avenues picking up discarded bottles. “We leave all our things on the pavement while foraging and our dogs look after them,” explains his wife Sabeeta. “They are our rakshaks (protectors).” Along with their two sons, the couple has been living in the city for years, picking rags every day, with all family possessions crammed into a little cart—blankets

A house in Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There are as many staircases in the big house as there are sights of the Walled City from the roof. This is the Old Delhi home of Arshad Ali Fehmi and his wife, Sheeba Aslam. He, in his words, is an activist “trying to revive the pristine glory of the Jama Masjid with the help of likeminded people”. She is pursuing a PhD thesis on the “Absence of Protest among Indian Muslim Women Post-Shah Bano.” The couple lives with their son, Omaiyer, a restaurateur and university student. Their home in Chhatta Sheikh Mangloo offers a half-view of the grand Jama Masjid. Spread over 500 square yards, it has 25 rooms, two courtyards and

Cooking in the Old Quarter. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A mobile phone lying forgotten beside a spice box. Oil leaking out from a pickle bottle and staining the transparent plastic jar filled with masoor dal. And a tea strainer dumped in the sink. This might be a kitchen anywhere in the city. But it’s not. More than 100 years old, this pint-sized kitchen caters to an entire household in Old Delhi. “No, it’s not that tiny!” retorts Mehvash Sattar, who’s been doing the cooking for her elderly father for years. “I can even squeeze three people into it, if I have to, and it’s been retiled as well… just some years ago!” Many citizens flock to this historic part of the city to

Family possessions. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is morning and he is home alone. “My wife has gone with our son to the public toilet... it will take her an hour to come back... she’ll also be washing the clothes.” Anil Sharma’s home is a pavement in North Delhi. His entire material possessions include a torn bed sheet spread out on the ground, two steel bowls, a glass tumbler and two bags, one of which is filled with his spare “shirt-pant” and his wife’s spare sari. The other bag has his son’s toys: two small plastic yellow plates, a pencil box and an empty candy box. Spreading out the toys on the mat, he observes “my son is lucky to have

Her private oasis. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She’s readily agreed to give The Delhi Walla a guided tour of her pleasing balcony, but with a condition. No snapping her face photos, so she can remain anonymous. For a very good reason that is disclosed later in this dispatch. At this very moment she is gesturing towards the frangipani on her charming balcony, “that I got from friends who recently moved to Buenos Aires,” she explains. “And, yes, I know it’s strange... no flowers in it. And they’re blooming just about everywhere in Delhi except right here.” As a designer with her own label, she’s furnished her south Delhi perch with an elegant wooden breakfast table, along with a cane chair padded

A nameless address. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such a world of colors here. Red and orange saris are hanging down from the wash lines, while the little doors are painted in bright hues of green and blue. This small narrow lane in Gurgaon’s Sector 31 is home to security guards, courier-delivery men and pavement-stall owners. It consists of 16 windowless rooms; each room housing a full-fledged family. Two public bathrooms serve the entire community. The lane does not have a name. How do the residents receive their letters? The young Ravi shrugs in mild amusement. “We have been here for decades… everybody knows about us, including the postmen and the courier wallas.” Ravi’s father runs a vegetable stall; he himself sells aloo-tikki

Life at the top. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nobody can mistake Delhi's so-called Millennium City of Gurgaon as a holiday resort. But Divya Babu’s balcony feels like one of those weekend getaways in the mountains that Delhiwallas escape to in the superfast Saturday morning Shatabdi Express trains. In her 30s, Ms Babu lives on the 30th floor. Her apartment complex is one of the tallest in DLF Park Place, Sector 54. Its balcony is like a hill-top lodge and seems detached from the world, as if it’s a floating balloon. Gurugram itself looks heavenly. This afternoon the day isn’t very smoggy and you can see the high-rises spreading out to a blur. On the left side is the busy Golf

Biography of an aangan. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The little courtyard, or aangan, is placed in the big house as snugly as a nest in a tree. The aged mansion in old Delhi’s Ganj Meer Khan was built more than a hundred years ago on a private garden. The house used to have just four rooms until the 1970s. As the family expanded, so did the private quarters to accommodate its new members. Today, there are 10 rooms with two additional floors, and each room is patterned after an independent household with its own kitchen and toilet. One such room belongs to Faridu Jaffery, his wife Shazia Zahid and their daughters Alisha and Alina. Shazia, who is also Faridu’s cousin,

A flat of her own. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Perhaps The Delhi Walla is afflicted by an overly active imagination. But it does seem as though every second person on the street is young, has a tattoo and is wearing shorts. In other words, they are all college students here at Old Gupta Colony near Delhi University. Where young adults such as Saloni Srivastava are clustered in architecturally drab apartment blocks. “I just pretend these buildings don’t exist,” she laughs, “and sit on the balcony gazing at the sky above.” Not much time for that, though. This student from Agra is now applying for a PhD in American Literature, despite no evidence whatsoever of books in her room. Instead, she’s decked