We need space for our library

Hazrat Shah Waliullah Library was started on March 21, 1994 by our NGO Delhi Youth Welfare Association, of which I am the president. Our library has around 25,000 books. It boasts a collection of some of the rarest books, some of which are even 600 or more years old, written in Urdu, Persian and Arabic. […]

Life lessons from a pumpkin

Swati Mohan’s dance theatre festival in Gurgaon talks about being ourselves instead of constantly worrying about being someone else A pumpkin is a pumpkin. It doesn’t worry about being anyone else. This is the premise behind Danza Performing Arts’ ninth annual summer dance theatre festival this weekend titled ‘Be a pumpkin. It’s great’. “It’s all […]

Metro must prevent harassment

It was around 9 pm. I was travelling from Rajiv Chowk to Kirti Nagar Metro station. In my coach, I witnessed a disturbing incident: Two boys were constantly teasing a girl. The girl tried to protest, but the boys kept on harassing her. They were even touching her hair. The girl warned them, sternly saying, […]

Autonomy angst

With professors continuing their anti-autonomy protest, the evaluation process has been stalled and is affecting final year students What is the link between the latest Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) protests and exam paper evaluation? In their latest attempt to draw the attention of the university administration and the University Grants Commission, the teachers have […]

Gori Bahu

An English girl adopted a lower middle class family residing in Delhi as her own – and lived happily for a year before things went awry A 23-year-old girl who grew up in London came to Delhi in the early summers of 2015. Mary (name changed on request) was fresh out of college and sought […]

Monster city

ALMOST ONE CRORE PEOPLE WILL BE ADDED TO THE BURGEONING POPULATION OF THE CAPITAL CITY. WE ARE LOOKING AT CRIPPLING TRAFFIC, OVERFLOWING SLUMS, WADING THROUGH GARBAGE, AND SEWAGE ENTERING OUR FOOD “There once was a fair city, among cities of the world, the first in fame, it hath been ruined and laid desolate, to that […]

The chroniclers

This is the story of freelance foreign journalists who adopt India as their home and grow rich in experience Delhi is one of the most difficult cities to live, perhaps, that’s what make it intense — and in some measure, engaging — to some free souls drifting across the globe. Like some of the freelance […]

No water in our taps

I have recently moved into a rented accommodation in Sant Nagar, East of Kailash because of its proximity to my office in Greater Kailash. I was told that water supply in the area would be erratic but there are motors and automated systems in place to ensure every house gets water. While the first month […]