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City Food - Daulat ki Chaat, Gali Kallan Kahar
The snow dish.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]Is it a snowy desert, or a dessert?One winter morning The Delhi Walla came across street food vendor Kamal and his Daulat ki Chaat on Gali Kallan...
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Photo Essay - Delhi Feet, Around Town
The low life.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]Hello feet. So, what do you plan to do today? Why not again go to Salim Bhai’s tea-stall in Kucha Chelan and have chai in one of his disgusting...
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Home Sweet Home – Pratyush Pushkar’s Residence, Hauz Khas Village
Inside the walls.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]His home is like his Facebook page; it has writings on the walls.One freezing evening The Delhi Walla knocks on the door of photographer,...
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City Moment - The Woman in the Anti-Pollution Mask, Khan Market
Love in the time of pollution.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]The evening air is pleasantly chilly. Fairy lights are strung around the trees. It will soon be Christmas. The Delhi Walla is in...
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City Faith - Midnight Mass, St James' Church
Holy night, cold night.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]The night sky was not clear enough to show its thousands of stars but the white moon glowed radiantly. That was hardly a comfort. It was...
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Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Living Poets Society, Ghalib Academy
The world of Urdu poetry.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]Three men sat in the front row. The rest of the house was deserted; the rows of chairs looked like empty bookshelves. The three seemed...
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City Life - Gilli Danda Players, Mehrauli
The forgotten game.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]It looks like cricket but it isn't cricket. It is gilli danda, a game not commonly seen on Delhi's streets. Even so, one winter afternoon The...
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City Travel - Puraini Village, 100 Miles from Delhi
A perfect world.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]Tall rose bushes grow in every house. Walls are painted with most brilliant colors. A well is overgrown with wild grass.The Delhi Walla is in...
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City Landmark -- Hem Raj Jain Clinic, Paharganj
The dream palace of a doctor.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]An elderly man is patiently looking out into the street through a curtained glass window. He is dressed in a three-piece suit,...
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Atget’s Corner – 891-895, Delhi Photos
The visible city.[By Mayank Austen Soofi]Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures.I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes,...
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City Notice - State of The Delhi Walla, Website Stats
The 2015 accounts.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. The Delhi Walla was a respectable run-up. The website was viewed about 820,000 times in...
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City Season - Living With PM 2.5, Lodhi Gardens and Elsewhere
In the world's most polluted city.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]Walking in the Lodhi Gardens in central Delhi is always beautiful. This winter, particularly, do look out for that misty haze...
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Photo Essay – DL Number Plate, Around Town
The symbol of Delhi.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]The DL number plates given to cars, auto rickshaws and bikes registered in Delhi frame the view of the city’s roads and streets. These two...
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City Monument - Unknown Tomb, Pragati Maidan
Somebody's grave.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]The tomb is covered with a white silk cloth. It’s torn. The paint on the headstone has partially peeled off to expose the bricks within.One...
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Atget’s Corner – 891-895, Delhi Photos
The visible city.[By Mayank Austen Soofi]Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures.I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes,...
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Delhi Archives – Paan, Around Town
[Digging out old stories from The Delhi Walla]A foreign art critic visiting Delhi’s Connaught Place may be forgiven for thinking its red-splattered corridors are a form of abstract expression. Although...
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Mission Delhi – Kuttey Walle Baba, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
One of the one percent in 13 million.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]He is known as Kuttey Walla Baba, the man with the dog. A brown dog is always seen around him. Other stray dogs, too, are...
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City Moment – RV Smith's Almirah Dream, Mayapuri
Every writer's problem.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]The drawing-room steel rack has hijacked his mind. The Delhi Walla is at the home of Ronald Vivian (RV) Smith, the city's longtime...
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Letter from Yangon - Bahadur Shah Zafar's Tomb, Near Shwedagon Pagoda
The last Mughal's grave.[Text and photos by Florian Morin]The tomb of Bahadur Shah Zafar, Delhi's last Mughal emperor, is just a few hundred meters away from the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred stupa...
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Netherfield Ball – Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s Book Reception, Raasta, Hauz...
The party secrets.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]Hello boys, there she is.One evening The Delhi Walla spotted the famous 50 Dates girl at the launch of author Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan's new...
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100 Things to Do Before You Quit Delhi – Night Walk, Lodhi Gardens
The perfect Delhi experience.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]The tree leaves are black, the grass is orange, the ducks are wide awake, and there are very, very, very few people.As part of The...
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City Monument – Hijron ka Khanqah, Mehrauli
Into another world.[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]Beautifully maintained, surprisingly serene, and almost always empty, this is a sufi spiritual retreat for hijras, or eunuchs, who beg for...
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Photo Essay - Shakespeare's World, Around Delhi
Living with the Bard.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]Disclaimer: This article has stolen many phrases from the complete works of a writer who had a history of taking inspiration from people’s...
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Netherfield Ball – The Flop Show at Tavleen Singh's Book Launch, India...
The party secrets.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]It was a scandal and it was very distressing. Only a few people were there to celebrate the iconic Tavleen Singh, the bestselling author and...
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City Food - Kallu Mian Nihariwalle is Dead, Unchi Masjid, Old Delhi
The legendary nihari cook is no more.[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]Old Delhi’s legendary cook Kallu Mian Nihariwalle died on 18 April, aged 60.He was famous for his nihari, the delicious...
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