City Hangout – Jia Sarai Village, Near IIT Delhi Hangouts Regions by The Delhi Walla - October 24, 20250 One of Delhi’s 369 villages. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The universe here is idyllic. The lanes are litter-free, the nooks are quiet, groceries are amply stocked, multi-stories look homely, the overall ambiance removed from the anxieties of city life… and it all is contained within chaotic Delhi. Jia Sarai is one of the many urban villages in the national capital. The patterns of its daily life are set by a gentry that is youthful, but which doesn’t display the brashness linked with youth. The young men and women living here tend to be studious, and indeed are extremely focused on their career. Almost every village home sells its services as a boarding house for these ambitious outstation students preparing for
City Walk – Katra Sheikh Ranjha, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - October 5, 20250 The Walled City dictionary. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Heer & Ranjha are among the many star-crossed protagonists of our tragic love fables. But Katra Sheikh Ranjha in Old Delhi has nothing to do with love, passion or heartbreak. Unless you find romance in nuts and bolts. The lane teems with shops selling these mechanical fasteners. Take Ganpati House. It specialises in “all kinds of machine screws, nuts, bolts, self taping screws, spring washers, stainless steel screws and brass screws.” Such is the irony. Once the world had a Ranjha bursting with mohabbat-pyar. Today the world has a Sheikh Ranjha bursting with machine-parts. That said, the place has its own idiosyncratic poetry. A beautifully illustrated hoarding of Bhola Ram &
City Monument – CP’s White Columns Part 3, Connaught Place Hangouts Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - October 3, 20250 On a colonial-era legacy. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sure, this is easier than counting the stars. But still, it is something—to manually count the columns of Delhi’s iconic Connaught Place (CP). The white colonial-era columns constitute CP’s signature persona. They support the ceilings of its many colonnades. Identical in shape and height, the stately columns line the market arcades of the Inner and Outer Circles, as well as the corridors that link the two circles. Last to last week, the first part of this series conducted a count of the Outer Circle columns. Last week was the turn of Inner Circle columns. This week, the concluding agenda is to count the columns of CP’s intervening corridors that link the Inner and
City Hangout – Dancing Girl, National Museum Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - September 30, 20250 An enigmatic citizen. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most tourists to Paris strive to see the Eiffel, and the Mona Lisa. The tower is grand; and the painting, a museum exhibit, is profoundly enigmatic. Most tourists to Delhi strive to see the Qutub. This tower too is grand. On the other hand, a particularly striking museum exhibit in the city fails to command the Mona Lisa’s wild popularity, though it is as enigmatic. Nevertheless, the Dancing Girl is one of the most celebrated souvenirs in the National Museum’s massive collection, representing various epochs of the Indian past. Last week, a university professor was briefly arrested for allegedly stealing the Dancing Girl’s replica from the museum. Sculptured in bronze 4,000 years ago, the Dancing
City Walk – Paper Market, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - September 28, 20250 The Walled City dictionary. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Streets here are littered with the usual civic litter, but also with paper shavings. We know the source of the latter—the cramped shops packed with bundles of paper sheets. This is Old Delhi’s Paper Market. Yet, you cannot locate the name on the Walled City map. The place exists, and the place doesn’t exist. Paper Market is a generic name encompassing a number of lanes and alleys of Chawri Bazar, mostly centered around Barshahbulla Chowk. But there is no chosen street, or a collection of streets, that is formally labelled as the Paper Market. The fact is asserted by shopkeeper Ranveer Singh. The paper merchant explains he essentially trades in papers that are
City Monument – CP’s White Columns Part 2, Connaught Place Hangouts Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - September 25, 2025September 25, 20250 On a colonial-era legacy. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s a thing to mull upon. If all the columns of Delhi’s Connaught Place (CP) are pulled out from their foundation, and installed one upon another, could they then reach the altitude of Mount Everest? The stately white colonial-era columns constitute CP’s signature sight. They support the ceilings of its colonnades, rooting them to the good earth. Identical in their circular shape and height, the columns line the market arcades of the Inner and Outer Circles, as well as the corridors that link the circles. Last week, the first part of this series conducted a survey of the Outer Circle columns. Today’s the turn of the Inner Circle columns. The following observations culled
City Hangout – Café Turtle & Ruby’s Café, Hazrat Nizamuddin East Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - September 24, 20250 Both alike in dignity. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Two cafés both alike in dignity, in fair “Niz East” where we lay our scene. Today’s tale is set in tony Hazrat Nizamuddin East. The central Delhi address is filled with bungalows, apartments, parks, and trees. It is also full of celebrity residents—salam Mira Nair, namaste Vikram Seth. Even so, the place is very sleepy. Nothing much is seen outside the grand residences, except for the well-fed community dogs. Finally, the “colony” got some action. Some time ago, a café opened in Niz East. The development doubles the number of cafés in the locality to… two! Inevitably, the fashionable locals, super-argumentative in dissecting highbrow literature, have lately been exchanging notes on the comparative
City Walk – Gali Jane Austen Wali, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - September 21, 2025September 22, 20250 The Walled City dictionary. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is Gali Jane Austen Wali. Sorry. Gali Jane Austen Wali doesn’t exist in Delhi. It certainly is not the name of this Old Delhi street. But then the gali’s actual name has nothing to do with its present. While its present has everything to do with Jane Austen. As you are aware, the great writer (its her 250th birth anniversary this year!) was obsessed with the theme of shaadi; all her six novels end with weddings. And here is this entire street devoted to shops for wedding cards. So, welcome to… Gali Jane Austen Wali! The narrow lane, near Chawri Bazar’s Shubh Murti Maa Chowk, is lined on both sides with card
City Walk – Sadak Prem Narayan, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - September 14, 20250 The Walled City dictionary. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nobody being accosted here is able to give any gyan on Prem Narayan of Old Delhi’s Sadak Prem Narayan. The gentleman at Junaid Bawarchi Khurram Bawarchi banquet kitchen explains his ignorance, saying “Prem Narayan was born before my time.” Next moment, he shares all that he knows on the subject: “Prem Narayan must have been somebody important.” He however gamely acknowledges the truth that the sadak, road, has too many dilapidated doorways, and too many dilapidated buildings. Sadak Prem Narayan starts from Gali Choori Wallan, and ends at Seetaram Bazar. The starting point is marked by a Greek, or Yunani, influence. Meaning: it is the site of Delhi Government’s Yunani Dawakhana and Sugar
City Hangout – Sunday Book Bazar, Daryaganj & Mahila Haat Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - September 12, 20250 A city institution is newly distinguished for being a heritage. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The mile-long pathway would be covered with beautiful hardbounds of Salman Rushdies, Jane Austens, and Norton poetry anthologies. And with hundreds of other books by other authors. But when one would bend down to pick a book from this writers-filled pave, there was always a risk of pickpocket’s fingers reaching out for one’s pants’ pocket. Such was Daryaganj’s Sunday Book Bazar. Some years ago, the weekly market moved to the exhibition ground of Mahila Haat, close to the market’s old site. Last Sunday, something unusual happened in the book bazar—a heritage tour was conducted through its landmarks present and past, led by a renowned city walking