Mayank Austen Soofi is a Delhi-based Indian writer, blogger and

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

, who writes popular columns for ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'' and ''

Mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES g ...

'' on culture, food and literary landscapes of Delhi. He is best known for his website and blog, ''Delhiwale'', a multifaceted guide of the city, that has been praised as being "the most compelling guide to India's capital" (The Independent) and "a one-man encyclopedia of the city" (Time Out Delhi).

Biography

Soofi was born in

Nainital Nainital ( Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a city and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the High Court of the state being located there and is the headquarters o ...

in the mountains of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

and moved to Delhi around 2004. He uses 'Austen' as his middle name as a tribute to the author

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

, about whom he often blogs. His writings were featured in Volume 4 of "Penguin Book of New Writing from India" published by

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

. In 2011, he published four alternative guidebooks to the city of Delhi: ''The Delhi Walla - Portraits, Delhi Food, Delhi Hangouts and Delhi Monuments''. His latest book ''Nobody Can Love You More'', published in 2012 by Penguin Books, deals with the life of a 'kotha', Hindi for brothel, in Delhi's largest red-light district, G. B. Road, which is home to 5,000 sex workers. Also well known for his popular columns on Delhi in the city supplement of ''

'' titled "The Delhiwalla", Soofi now writes a column, "Delhi's Belly", for the weekend supplement of the business newspaper

. He has initiated many projects, including Mission Delhi, which aims to profile 1% of Delhi's 14 million people, and a blog dedicated to

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...

's debut novel, ''The God of Small Things'', and to its readers. He recently started a reading club called The Delhi Proustians, which centers around the French novelist

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

and his seven volume novel, ''In Search of Lost Time''.

Works

*''The Delhi Walla: Delhi Monuments'' – HarperCollins, 2011. () *''The Delhi Walla: Delhi Hangouts'' – HarperCollins, 2011. () *''The Delhi Walla: Delhi Food+Drink'' – HarperCollins, 2011. () *''The Delhi Walla: Portraits'' – HarperCollins, 2011. () *''Nobody Can Love You More'' – Penguin Books, 2012. ()

References

External links

The Delhi Walla, website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Austen Soofi, Mayank Living people Indian bloggers Indian male journalists Indian photojournalists People from Nainital Journalists from Delhi Indian columnists Indian food writers Male bloggers Year of birth missing (living people)