aka Om Routray
The problem with delhi streetfood is that we have too much of alu chaats and too less of vada pavs and pohas and dabelis etc. We can all add items from our home states that we don’t find here. If you are in Malviya Nagar, there is this vada pav vendor, across the road from Moti Sweets. The classic vada pav in the photo came for just 35 bucks and the pav bhaji for 65. They also have a dabeli on the menu. The vada pav…Continue Reading “Vada Pav Junction, Malviya Nagar”
We are in a democracy. The parliament is called the temple of democracy. We can talk day and night about farmers and soldiers and common man and bharat mata etc. But once the parliament falls, there is no country, no nation, no Hinduism. All that would be left is a wasteland. Whether you are a right winger, left winger, centrist wingless or just scum, this is one line that you must never cross. It’s like the dining table of a family, marital bed of a…Continue Reading “Why the PM must not avoid the parliament”
I don’t remember if I heard it from a friend or read it in a study. Memory being inversely proportional to age. Anyway, the point being how so many children in the west thought milk came from cartons. No concept of a cow. Similarly, if you ask these days, most will say that black money comes from swiss accounts or mattresses or benami properties. The same confusion, you see. Where it is is not where it came from. Black money is generated relentlessly by a…Continue Reading “Why demonetization won’t hurt black money generation”
In all these years, I had never been to Social, until this weekend. The place has always been the cards but seemed too cafe-ish for a full meal. Good thing is it is not. There are items on the menu that will do well even in a proper restaurant. Though there was loads to order from, I went for the laska curry. The curry was too mild for a laska, was more like a Thai green curry with noodles. But I did not mind because…Continue Reading “Social, Defence Colony”
We, the privileged assholes should stop cribbing. Many have said that. We should only talk about bad service at five stars, no? By that logic, many should stop talking about soldiers, unless they are a soldier or a father, son or husband is a soldier. Crib only about what you have experienced, no ? But today, we should focus on the other soldier. Jai jawan, jai kisan, remember ?? These days, it is all jawan, no kisan. While I agreed to the demonetization in the…Continue Reading “Demonetization: Jai jawan, jai kisan, remember ?”
The place is supposed to be haunted, I have no idea. Went there in mid day and the sum total of all the horror movies I have seen tell me that ghosts come out only at night. So, if you are looking for an account of it as a haunted place, please carry on. Or you can head to the Rajon ki Baoli or Adham Khan tomb and Gandhak Baoli nearby. My experience of Jamali Kamali was one of intrigue and beauty. There are two structures…Continue Reading “Jamali kamali mosque and tomb, Mehrauli”
Writing stories is all about control. About letting go, but also about control. About subjecting yourself to unknown forces, but also about control. In our lives we downplay real threats as imaginary and perceived just to stay alive. On the contrary, in the fictional world of our creation, it would be hard to write if the stresses and didn’t seem real, so a writer has to exaggerate or has to heighten one’s sense of empathy, not shield it. The sense of warm, comforting control comes…Continue Reading “Story writing as a means of control”
The thing about magic, it is not a process, it is not gradual.It is instantaneous.There is no then it was all magical. It was magical or not. You don’t climb a hill and then it slowly becomes magical. It is all beautiful until you reach the peak and then look around. That’s magic. It’s quite heretical to generalise magic or to misunderstand it. If you don’t remember a singular moment when it happened, it is not magic.
Trivialization. We used to use that in school debates when all was lost. The strategy was effective as slapping one’s way out of a fistfight. But face was saved, it gave the semblance of not giving in. We have all seen posts about queues during last few hours, suddenly they are everywhere. Started with the jio sim one, now it’s movie queues, ration and what not. Indians stand in queues. What’s the big deal? 16 dead. Standing in queues and other directly relatable causes. How…Continue Reading “Why Demonetization & Trivialization are bedfellows”
I am going to write something surprising today, especially given the current calamity. A positive post. A positive post is an act of daring, it takes the writer away from the dark brooding image that is so sexy. Who wants to be seen as a garden bunny and not the dark knight! I am told women love the dark brooding types. Anyway, let me put it out. We are all used to abusing our nationality and fellow citizens. Right from the morning when we pull…Continue Reading “Demonetization: The only good thing about it”
In legal system, there is a theory that not one innocent should be punished even if ten guilty get away. In economics, there is a cost benefit analysis. In politics, there is something called gullibility. All fancy folks in office talked about their uber drivers and maids having bank accounts and digital payments. I wonder how in a country like ours there are people who are so detached from reality – it’s the poor people’s fault they are so backward na, ab kuch bada karoge…Continue Reading “The merit of currency ban”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIOC8bKT4m8 Indian Express got a lot of flak for inviting head of a government that does not speak to media, stifles it and, for the first time in history of the world, permits policemen to burn effigies of journalists. Policemen, who have the gun and the FIR book and the power to harass, can now openly protest against citizens. Whatever the reasons Indian Express got the PM over, I wish the editor, Rajkamal Jha’s speech was not the intent. That would be wicked! After Ravish…Continue Reading “About journalism and thinking men”
We have all had different kinds of teas, haven’t we? However, this one threw me off the chair. I spent two decades in this city and had never tasted this one. This time, luckily I did. This tea costs five bucks. Has lemon, honey and a spice powder that makes it almost taste like Hajmola. It is very addictive and I used to have two at a go. It is a version of what the Bengalis call laal chai and what the Odias call naali…Continue Reading “Tea Shop, Unit 4, Bhubaneswar”
A dirty war is going to happen on the issue of kalakand in Alwar. Apparently, it all started with one guy after partition – Baba Thakurdas. He used to sell it on a cart and then a small shop. It was so good that it caught on and now there is a whole market in Alwar known as the Kalakand Market. But there are violent debates about whether it is a kalakand or a milkcake. Every sweetshop in the city has milkcake on the counter….Continue Reading “Kalakand, No, Milk Cake, No, Kalakand in Alwar”
This has been one of my most favorite sweets since childhood. But I knew nothing about it, until I put the question on a food group. Seems, as I suspected, it is related to Mysore Pak. Mahisur being a local pronunciation of Mysore. The version in the picture is called honeycombed mysore pak, I am sure that is not the local term. Anyone know the local names, please let me know in the comments. It is made of besan (gram flour), same as Mysore Pak….Continue Reading “The mystery of Mahisur, Odisha”
Bangkok 1. There is a brand owner and an investor and all that. But leaving all the boring details apart, this one is owned in part by an ex industry guy and a Thai team in the kitchen, both confess to being horrible at social media and communication. The facebook page sucks, there are no fancy photos, no blogger reviews and no close ups of hip customers. But, that is how restaurants run these days. But, they have worked on the areas that any sincere…Continue Reading “Bangkok 1, Sector 53, Gurgaon”
I have not been to many food events so can’t say much as an authority. But I remember writing about the street food festival which was a disaster and a few others which were restaurant driven and a little too templatized. Against that background, the food fest Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav looks like seriously good work. There is food from many states, many of which were never seen before. Who knows of a Mising cuisine that has dishes like porog adin, purang apin and also rice…Continue Reading “Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav, IGNCA”