City Walk – Cornwallis Colony, Central Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - June 3, 20260 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 Hangout – New Tiles, Khan Market Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - May 7, 20260 Proust flash. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] City of canals and bridges, Venice has no motor wali roads. Venicewale walk on paved streets; their city’s signature sound used to be the clack-clack of their footsteps. Eventually replaced by the boring hum of suitcase wheels dragged by tourists. Surface in a city matters. At the entrance to Khan Market, which turns seventy-five this year, the ground surface has recently been redone. The uneven tarmac is gone. Replaced by grey and red granite tiles, arranged like a chessboard, interrupted only by a manhole cover. The said stretch runs along the market’s front lane, from Fabphoto to Kama Aryuveda. Khan Market of course gathers the VIPs, the famous, the well-heeled. The new flooring has yet to
City Heritage – Bahadur Shah Zafar’s Throne, Humayun World Heritage Site Museum Hangouts Monuments by The Delhi Walla - May 4, 20260 The ultimate Mughal souvnier. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Behold this marble throne. Preserved inside a glass case at the Humayun World Heritage Site Museum in Delhi, it was once the stately seat of Bahadur Shah Zafar. As the last Mughal sovereign, the poet-king is likely to have sat on this throne while reflecting on the dissolution of his 300-year-old dynasty. The throne is, in fact, less ostentatious than the throne-like sofas found in the drawing rooms of Delhi’s wealthy today. Yet it is far more elegant. The armrests are supported on latticework, and faint flecks of colour cling to the marble like the last glimmers of extinguished stars. The fragile-seeming relic assumes truly epic proportions as the viewer connects
City Hangout – City by Chandeliers, Around Town Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 31, 2026March 31, 20260 On the gilded places. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A simplest chandelier can stir the myth of a gilded age. At United Coffee House in Connaught Place, the feeling holds. Two chandeliers hang from the ceiling. One long-ago morning, their clear reflections formed flawlessly on the surface of a customer’s black Darjeeling tea, as if miniature chandeliers had been lowered into the cup. The illusion lasted until lifting the cup broke the tea’s still surface. Here is a brief survey of some impressionistic chandeliers across the city. At Samar Guest House in Old Delhi’s Urdu Bazar, the ground floor offers little: just a long, narrow staircase rising to the reception. Yet the road-facing staircase carries an unexpected dignity, conferred by a small
City Hangout – Khan Market at 75, Central Delhi Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 23, 20260 An iconic place's anniversary year. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In 1951, as Delhi hosted the inaugural Asian Games at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, a quieter event unfolded elsewhere in the city. It was the founding of a modest bazar that would become one of the nation’s most recognisable destinations. This year marks 75 years of Khan Market. Today, Khan Market means different things to different people. The intellectuals nurture strong opinions about it, positive as well as negative. But one thing is certain: Khan Market cannot be ignored. Its significance goes beyond being a site to spot the powerful, the famous, or the super-rich. It in fact commands an indelible spot in Delhi’s—and India’s—collective imagination, indicating how the capital
City Season – Two Bougainvillea Trees, Lodhi Garden Hangouts Nature by The Delhi Walla - March 18, 20260 Double role story. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The two bougainvillea trees are currently in bloom, synchronising in perfect jugalbandi with each other, twinning brightly, here at Lodhi Garden. The pink flowers are drifting down continually on the ground. The pair is iconic, every Delhiwale should see it. The city itself, it seems, produces pairs in countless forms. Once you perceive the pattern, you spot it across the megapolis. Take Kasturba Gandhi Marg, where the British Council stands across the road from the American Center (both institutions are popular for their libraries, though the latter’s has severely contracted over the years). In central Delhi, statues of Russian writers stand a short walk apart: Pushkin near Mandi House, Tolstoy on Janpath. Coffee
City Hangout – Shah’s Dagger, Humayun Museum Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 12, 20260 A dagger most extraordinary. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Two museum visitors stroll past the display, not pausing by the dagger. Yet this object, on permanent exhibit at the Humayun World Heritage Site Museum in central Delhi, has acquired renewed fascination in light of the events unfolding in Iran. Like India, Iran’s long past has been moulded by the rise and fall of many empires. The dynasty that shaped the Iran we recognise today was the Safavid dynasty, founded by Shah Ismail I about 500 years ago. It was Ismail’s son, Tahmasp I, who went on to become the longest-reigning Shah of Islamic Iran, solidifying the empire during his 50-year reign. A personal souvenir of that ruler rests in Delhi: the
City Walk – Gali Ram Richhpal, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - March 8, 20260 The Walled City encyclopaedia. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is a strange street, one that almost seems unsure of its own name. Only a single signboard identifies it as Ram Richhpal Street—the faded board of Orion Public School (“Recognised English Medium”). Other establishments disagree. The signage of Blue Diamond Hotel and Dr Ahmad Mian Homeopathy Clinic both label the place as Gali Prem Narain, a lane that in fact lies just outside this one (and has already been chronicled on this page). The street is short and contains only the three establishments already mentioned. This afternoon, the school’s gate is closed, and the lane carries the stillness that often settles after schoolchildren leave. The next-door hotel stands with blue stripes
City Season – Pink Trumpet Tree, Lodhi Garden Hangouts Nature by The Delhi Walla - March 6, 20260 An American in Delhi. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Wednesday evening is slowly-slowly settling down over Lodhi Garden. The day of Holi is drawing to a close. High in the air, a cloud of pink appears to hang suspended. It resembles the gulal of the festival. But the colour is not powder thrown in celebration. It comes from the flowers of a tree. The flowers rise on long, leafless branches of a tree standing at the edge of the park’s central lawn. For most of the year, this tree draws visitors for simpler reasons. Its leaves cast a broad, restful shade. Beneath it sit green benches from which one of the garden’s most familiar views opens out: a panorama that
City Hangout – Ramzan at 5am, Outside Jama Masjid Faith Food Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 2, 20260 On the sacred month. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every year during Ramzan, Jama Masjid in Old Delhi is strung with lights. The surrounding lanes glow with lamps and buntings, drawing selfie-seekers in search of the right angle. Across the road, in Matia Mahal Bazar, pavements fill with snack stalls selling sevai and khajla. Carts are stacked with dates from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Coconut parathas—made only in this month—reappear. “Come late night,” seasoned chroniclers of Ramzan advise. The script is familiar, faithfully documented by Instagram reel-makers. Less often suggested: arrive at 5 in the morning. This is Ramzan in a quieter register. For a month, Muslims observe roza, fasting from dawn to dusk. Iftar—the evening meal that breaks the fast—is communal,