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

'' 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, XaA ...

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