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Home / Author / Mayank Austen Soofi

Mayank Austen Soofi

Mayank Austen Soofi

Mayank Austen Soofi is a writer-snapper trying to capture Delhi by heart.

Articles by Mayank Austen Soofi

Delhiwale: A house for the river goddess

Shri Diwan Swaroop Lal and Shrimati Panno Devi gaze directly toward Ganga ji’s idol on the opposite wall.

Updated on May 24, 2026 23:04 IST

Delhiwale: This way to Ballimaran

This early morning, all the chashma shops are lying shuttered. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 22, 2026 21:42 IST

Delhiwale: Summer’s familiar notes

This is the season when vendors of cooling drinks begin reclaiming corners of the bazar lanes. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 21, 2026 22:56 IST

Delhiwale: Citizen Vijay versus 42 degrees

The bridge is totally deserted, except for vendor Vijay, manning his modest stall of ear pods. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 20, 2026 23:14 IST

Delhiwale: His life, like a Persian poem

Years ago, while hosting this reporter in his book-lined study, Dr Jaffery was flipping through a photo album.

Updated on May 19, 2026 22:22 IST

Delhiwale: A bookseller’s son

(Mayank Austen Soofi)

Updated on May 18, 2026 22:18 IST

Delhiwale: A portrait of the poet as a DTC bus driver

In the American film Paterson, the hero, played by Adam Driver, is a city bus driver who writes poetry, earnestly jotting down the lines in a notebook. In Delhi, there is a man as striking as that film actor. Plus, Pawan Kumar Tomar too drives a city bus, with the Delhi Transport Corporation. And he too writes poetry, earnestly jotting down the lines in a notebook. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 17, 2026 21:38 IST

Delhiwale: This way to Chatta Abdul Hakeem

Mujib, a resident, is returning home from a two-hour workout at a gym near Pataudi House, several streets away. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 15, 2026 21:46 IST

Delhiwale: Game kulfi plays

Customers first hand over a fixed amount to him, five rupees or ten. In turn, Nizam hand them the fateful kancha, the tiny glass ball that decides their day’s kismet. Nizam’s cart has a slanted wooden board leading into numbered compartments partitioned by red-painted nails. The customer’s aim is to land the kancha in the highest-numbered slot and win that many kulfis. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 14, 2026 22:56 IST

Delhiwale: Chaikhana by Ghalib’s

Ghalib died about 150 years ago, while Dilkhush Tea Stall appeared twenty years ago. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 12, 2026 21:36 IST

Delhiwale: ACs of the old times

Gandhak ki Baoli (Mayank Austen Soofi)

Updated on May 11, 2026 21:34 IST

Delhiwale: A zila Ghaziabad drink

In Gurugram, one danedar shikanji cart stands in Sadar Bazar, near the Civil Hospital. (Mayank Austen Soofi)

Updated on May 10, 2026 22:18 IST

Delhiwale: This way to Gali Batashan

It is full of beautiful gateways; one gateway is completely derelict. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 8, 2026 17:12 IST

Delhiwale: A rickshaw-puller since 1984

Lakhi Sahu, son of Garbhu Sahu, was born on the New Year’s day in 1957. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 7, 2026 17:23 IST

Delhiwale: Proust flash in Khan Market

At the entrance to Khan Market, which turns seventy-five this year, the ground surface has recently been redone. The uneven tarmac is gone. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 6, 2026 22:54 IST

A cart’s double thrill

Rajesh has been selling cooling drinks on Delhi’s streets for nearly 30 years. (HT)

Updated on May 5, 2026 21:36 IST

Delhiwale: His poetic grace

Naseer Jhinjhanvi, a distinguished resident of the Walled City, died on Thursday after a prolonged illness, aged 63. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 1, 2026 21:48 IST

Delhiwale: The ballad of Jangpura

Labelled the “Directory of Residents of Jangpura Extension, Link Road and Birbal Road,” the booklet presents the place as a kissa-kahani of memory, displacement, and community camaderie.

Updated on Apr 29, 2026 22:48 IST

Delhiwale: His days of summertime hostility

Fruit seller Zareef is selling muskmelons—kharbooja. (HT Photo)

Updated on Apr 28, 2026 21:38 IST

Delhiwale: Seeing the Raghu Rai way

Raghu Rai died on Sunday, aged 83, following a cancer-related illness.

Updated on Apr 26, 2026 21:46 IST

Delhiwale: This way to Gali Altaf Hussain

The most striking element in Gali Altaf Hussain is its blue signage, painted on white in Hindi and English. (HT Photo)

Updated on Apr 24, 2026 17:29 IST

Delhiwale: This place a poem

Lodhi Garden might not appear as timeless as its crescent moon, but it does look very, very old, owing to its centuries-old monuments. (HT Photo)

Updated on Apr 22, 2026 22:12 IST

Delhiwale: The hawker of eyeglasses

Citizen Shaan is a street hawker of eyeglasses. (HT Photo)

Updated on Apr 21, 2026 21:32 IST

Delhiwale: A monument against temperature extremes

The structure predates the larger tomb of Ghiyasuddin. (Mayank Austen Soofi)

Updated on Apr 20, 2026 22:56 IST

Delhiwale: This way to Gali Nal Wali

Another room serves as a makeshift living space for the warehouse’s workers.

Updated on Apr 17, 2026 23:48 IST

Delhiwale: The gram before the Insta

The name originates from former US President Jimmy Carter. (HT Photo)

Updated on Apr 14, 2026 23:10 IST

Delhiwale: 30 years of ‘Jai Kishan’

The book shop holds the capital’s richest collection of used books—in English and Hindi, as well as French, German, Japanese, Hebrew, Italian, and Spanish. (Mayank Austen Soofi)

Updated on Apr 13, 2026 23:46 IST

Delhiwale: Lodhi’s nine lives

Lodhi Garden is made of monuments, trees, grass, flowers, and birds. (Mayank Austen Soofi)

Updated on Apr 12, 2026 22:16 IST

Delhiwale: This way to Katra Nizam ul Mulk

Katra Nizam ul Mulk sits in the heart of Old Delhi, yet feels spiritually removed from it. (HT Photo)

Updated on Apr 10, 2026 22:00 IST

Delhiwale: Double milestones

At first glance, the terrace appears simple: an open-air expanse with a roof supported by two slender pillars. Yet this roof, composed of narrow slabs, allows the daylight to enter through its wide gaps. As the sun moves, a jugalbandi of light and shadow unfolds, which expands, contracts over the course of the day. (HT Photo)

Updated on Apr 9, 2026 22:26 IST

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