crown

Subscribe Now

FOLLOW US

Sign in

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: We’re eating a 400-year-old city

Across Delhi, Ghaziabad and Gurugram, small eateries and roadside shacks serve this rice dish from morning till night. It is biryani, but not Delhi-style biryani, Lucknow-style biryani or Hyderabad-style biryani. It is Moradabadi biryani. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 17, 2026 22:18 IST

Delhiwale: Ana, the poet

Poet Ana Dehlavi is a familiar face in the world of Delhi’s poetry meets. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 16, 2026 22:06 IST

Delhiwale: City of literature

Delhiwale: City of literature

Updated on Jun 15, 2026 22:18 IST

Delhiwale: Mummy

In the darkened hall, a solo pool of light gathered upon the Madonna and Child, isolating the frame in a halo of radiance.

Updated on Jun 14, 2026 21:46 IST

Delhiwale: This way to two Jama Masjid Gate No.1s

Gate No. 1 of Jama Masjid Metro Station forms one of the entry and exit points of the underground metro station. This gate faces Kasturba Hospital. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 12, 2026 22:24 IST

Delhiwale: Delhi in the year of American independence

An auto-rickshaw is parked on a Delhi roadside bearing a “Happy Birthday America!” placard announcing the forthcoming 250th anniversary of American independence. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 11, 2026 22:36 IST

Delhiwale: In healer we trust

Smaller shrines dedicated to Sheetla Mata have sprung up in many other places. One stands in Delhi’s historic Chirag Dilli village, beside a government dispensary. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 10, 2026 21:40 IST

Delhiwale: An ode to Hero Hiralal

Rajesh Sinha, aka Raj Bhai (that’s the name grandly displayed on the auto), has been driving on Delhi roads for more than a decade. The vehicle is a 2015 model, but Raj Bhai calls it “tiptop”. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 9, 2026 21:56 IST

Delhiwale: This way to Gali Batashan 2

A hand-drawn map of Gali Batashan. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 5, 2026 21:42 IST

Delhiwale: The Mehrauli langar

The kitchen is huge and airy, and is part of a sprawling Sufi shrine in South Delhi’s Mehrauli. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 3, 2026 22:52 IST

Delhiwale: Table for many

Lakshmi Dhaba, on Central Delhi’s Humayun Road, beside a cab stand, has all the basic features of a roadside eatery. Yet it feels unusually welcoming. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 3, 2026 02:03 IST

Delhiwale: America is closer to Delhi than you think

Auto rickshaw driver Muhammedeen.

Updated on Jun 1, 2026 22:22 IST

Delhiwale: On the Chatta’s chhat

From a chatta rooftop, the historic quarter lay in darkness, except for the illumined Jama Masjid. (Mayank Austen Soofi)

Updated on Jun 1, 2026 01:44 IST

Delhiwale: Rock star qawwal’s new innings

Late this sweltering summer night, Chand Qawwal is sitting with his harmonium in the courtyard of his home, the Dargah’s marble dome looming behind him. (HT Photo)

Updated on May 27, 2026 22:48 IST

Delhiwale: City in heatwave, citizen outdoors

Delhiwale: City in heatwave, citizen outdoors

Updated on May 26, 2026 22:10 IST

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

1
2
3
...

© 2026 HindustanTimes