There are plenty of options for heritage walk enthusiasts in Delhi that offer new perspectives on old monuments or experiences of a part of the Capital you may not have visited before. A recent walk at the Feroz Shah Kotla fort and Khooni Darwaza—one of the 13 surviving gates in Delhi—organised by Asif Khan Dehlvi of Delhi Karavan did exactly that for me. Dehlvi’s slow and patient approach, coupled with his command of Hindi and Urdu, was refreshing, something I have never witnessed in other walks. We were regaled with new facts about the fort and plenty of interesting anecdotes that Dehlvi has accumulated over time. His storytelling was captivating. Dehlvi organises baithaks (storytelling events), karavans (walks) and daawats (food walks) regularly. I am hoping to go back for more. —Nitin Sreedhar
The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction’s shortlist, announced this week, renewed my hope in the global appeal of witty Indian fiction: Aravind Jayan’s debut novel, Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors, made the cut. In the award’s 22-year-old history, Jayan is only the second Indian after Manu Joseph to make it this far. A win will mean joining the ranks of writers like Terry Pratchett and Alexander McCall Smith. Most important, though, is the official prize: In addition to a bottle of champagne and a set of the Everyman Wodehouse collection, Jayan could also have a pig named after his book! Leave it to literature to have us look at ourselves in new ways. —Vangmayi Parakala
Yes, the Taj Mahal is spectacular, but getting to it has always been a hassle. All my previous visits to this wondrous monument have involved navigating crazy crowds. Which is why when my daughter recently wanted to see the Taj, I made my way to Agra with the utmost reluctance. However, things couldn’t have been more different this time. On a Sunday morning, swathes of tourists made their way to the monument. But the QR codes for tickets placed right in the parking area meant you didn’t have to sweat it out in serpentine queues. Battery-operated cars ply regularly between the parking and the Taj Mahal, with a waiting time of less than a few minutes. Checkpoints ensure everyone enters and exits in proper queues. For a change, I could feel a sense of serenity at the Taj Mahal even while surrounded by a crowd. —Avantika Bhuyan
Robert Galbraith, a.k.a. J.K. Rowling’s, latest novel, The Running Grave, is about a dangerous religious cult that challenges the book’s compelling detective duo of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott in unprecedented ways. Without giving away any spoilers, the cult’s leaders are eerily similar to the many Indian “godmen” who seem to amass followers by the thousands, and the book is a masterful deconstruction of how such personality cults evolve and enlist vulnerable people looking for ways to resolve their grief, anger or a generalised urban ennui —and how they can be taken down. At its heart, though, the book is a murder mystery solving a crime that took place many years in the past, with a surprise ending that you won’t see coming. —Shrabonti Bagchi
