Twilight of Delhi

On the anniversary of a landmark city book

- Mayank Austen Soofi

To turn 85 is a privilege. It means you have lived a decade beyond your golden anniversary. This year, two Delhi institutions are reaching this milestone. One is a novel. The other is a… we'll celebrate the other one later in the week!

Published in the autumn of 1940, Ahmed Ali's Twilight in Delhi recreates a world of poets and lovers, begums and havelis, dargahs and tombs—and all of this is arranged around Jama Masjid (see photo). The sandstone mosque is mentioned many times over across the pages. Indeed, every Twilight devotee has her own beloved scene in the novel. A few of us, for instance, might fondly recall "Chaori Bazar" courtesan Mushtari Bai singing "with great feeling" a poem that the last Mughal emperor wrote in "banishment."