aka Om Routray
This is where another place I loved used to be – Schengen. This is built on the grave of a lover and that antagonised me. But you enter and realise they have not done too badly. The lights have been turned on, the interior are a little bolder, the gravel from the open air seating is gone but the lanterns make up for it. And, they have an amazing menu. The mandatory north Indian section is there for those with a conservative palate but the…Continue Reading “Sanadige, Chanakyapuri”
Lynching is not just murder. Mobs are not always an unruly, group of people with criminal intent. This is how we have come to roughly understand the terms and but they are not completely accurate. Our govt, courts and the whole legal system has a massive loophole when it comes to the biggest crimes. Once the number of killers is exceeds 4-5, the point till which they are called a gang, the law suddenly faints, falls down on the ground and starts frothing at the…Continue Reading “Why Gullberg Society verdict is a joke”
We have a separate glass at home for service staff. All our gods are white; all our villains are dark. One god who is not white is so sexy that he beds 16000 virgins. We call our non-fair friends and siblings kaalu. That’s affection. We prepare for more dowry if the girl is not white or yellow. We keep 25% of our population in what the world now calls slavery. A fair and handsome army rapes and destroys. They get reservations. The tanned skinned ones…Continue Reading “The Indian Racism – An Overview”
As the weather turns, our heads and thoughts turn to parts of the city that remain unthinkable as destiantions for a good part of the year. So, let’s look at a few places to eat and monuments that you check out while the good weather lasts and I would get to finish a few pending posts thereby too. First of all, the Old and Famous Jalebi wala in Chandni Chowk. That’s the name of the shop, not what a blogger described them as. I instinctively…Continue Reading “Old Famous Jalebi Wala, Chandni Chowk”
I have a confession to make. I am biased in favour of small places. I love big restaurants and hotels etc too but it’s the small ones that genuinely surprise and stump me. I guess most of is cheer for underdogs anyway, so I am the only one here. Anyway, couple of days back I was looking for sushis in Dwarka. Could not find them. Supposedly, there is this famous momo uncle in sector 10, could not find him. So, I looked for dumplings and…Continue Reading “Crazy Forks, Dwarka”
We were on the topic of Nehru a few days back. How he is blamed for every wrong that the nation faces today. But his biggest failure goes unnoticed till date. His passing the reins to his daughter. It was one act that turned a massive people’s movement into a family property. It gave India its worst prime minister. That may change three years down the line, but till now she ranks way above others. It also brings his own lineage into question – for…Continue Reading “Nehru’s Biggest Mistake”
Convenience. We should avoid that evil as much as we can. So, here I am, giving it up. Those who follow the blog would know that I have said not very flattering things about food from the state of Bihar. So, if one fine evening, I just say good things about the food, you may dig up an old post or tweet and see this guy has no consistency in opinion, he is just like the other sellouts. Anyway, a Bihari food specialty opened in…Continue Reading “Bhoj Puria, Dwarka Sector 22”
During last general elections, I had a lost hope. I wondered if we had become a nation of mostly evil people – violent in speech, thought and intent. However, it seems that more than evil, we are people that’s increasingly hopeless. A new govt held the promise of change,we went with it. Then we cheered judiciary as it passed a few good judgments. We hailed Indian judiciary, a new saviour was on the block. Then the dudes in black suits passed a few callous ones…Continue Reading “Are we heading to a judiciocracy?”
History would have been only a hobby for few if it were not used as a signal for the future. If it were not a powerful tool, no one would have tampered with it, it would have remained factual, probably boring, and would have read like a calendar. It is none of those. How would Kamal Rashid Khan and Rakhi Sawant would be remembered hundred years later? May be, they won’t. May be, with the same mocking indifference that we have toward them today. Why?…Continue Reading “Why we tamper with history?”
Recommendations are like any other currency. You send far too many out and they will be davlued. So, I am a little miserly when it comes to putting myself in the line of fire. But this one kind of dragged me out of the house. And, it is not a restaurant. I had written undiluted good things about Hachiba sometime back. The team has moved on and now does something that I know no one else does in the capital – community table on the…Continue Reading “Tasallibaqsh, Gurgaon”
Karma is a female canine and all that but passion and resolve to be happy can go a long way in messing up karma’s plans. Other than the ones who are predisposed to unhappiness, I can write a book on that, most other have a little wiggle room if they really want. Like this gardener from Bihar in a Lajpat Nagar colony garden. The guy has grown grapes and jackfruits in the small garden. There are sunflowers and massive tree sized jasmine flower plants and…Continue Reading “Growing grapes in Delhi”
I was in Lucknow once, to meet the queen. Actually, the CM. Yup, if you thought I was some nonsense blogger, get that image corrected and slap yourself twice so the lesson is learnt well. Anyway, there was a cricket match in Kanpur and the meeting was postponed for a day. So, I had a day in Lucknow and I didn’t know a soul, just the way I love new places. I have written about a few sights and places before. I have not written…Continue Reading “New Shukla Tea Store, Hazratganj, Lucknow”
This is called pakhala. There are other strange folk who call it by many other names, but those are all translations. This, though a fancier version of the original, is the real deal. The odia pakhala. This summer delight is the the perfect stick to beat the heat with. And, what a beating it is. This boy is the coolest star in tinsel town, everyone wants to be in the frame. The accompaniments can be mashed potatoes, crushed badis, laal saag, namkeen and cucumbers, deep…Continue Reading “Odia Pakhala”
Monday mornings are as they are. Talking about awesome food helps. If the food comes at a bargain, it works wonders. Most of you believe that Guppy by Ai and deal can’t be said togerther. But, surprisingly, a place where a meal for two costs four thousand, has a lunch set menu for around 1000 bucks and it is the awesomest thing in town. The best part of the sit down menu is that it is not a buffet, which would have been a disaster…Continue Reading “Set lunch menu, Guppy by Ai”
We live in an increasingly outsourced world. There was a time when the pain of feeding guests was the best part of it. I guess, in smaller cities it still is. The ‘nana’ as we called the chef used to come with his assistants and take over a portion of the yard. The young ones were the helpers or errand boys, the older ones became assistants and the family became the enterprise. Given that I have never attended a feast after growing up, I have…Continue Reading “The feasts”
Fruit cream. I am not sure how that is different from ice creams. There is that topping of fruits and sometimes fruit chunks can be found in the servings. But still, I am not conclusively sure how they are different. In Amritsar, there is a locality called Lohgarh. There are a few small shops that sell fruit cream, which may not be too distinctive but are delicious. There is a similar one in Daryaganj – Giani’s. It’s a small little shop that as far as…Continue Reading “Fruit cream, Rane di Hatti, Lohgarh, Amritsar”
This is not a bad photo. This is the best spring roll in the world seen from my heart’s eye. If I were the last man on earth, stranded on a beach and the only hope for mankind, I will rather choke myself with sand than eat a spring roll. It is a lazy, disgusting, mindless recipe that has evaded evolutionary obliteration like the appendicitis. It is a wastage of cabbage, chicken, flour and the only purpose these all ingredients come together is to serve…Continue Reading “Spring rolls and appendicitis”
Sentiment. We are the only nation that counts that element as a basic need. We are underfed, undernourished, underhoused, undereducated, underemployed and massively underestimated throughout our lives. But it’s the sentiments that matter. From our underperforming minds housed in underfed bodies housed nowhere but in slums that go up in fire in summers, we protest against screening of movies, comments of superstars, publication of books and women entering temples and Dalits getting a few reserved seats and students being righteous, chinkis raiding our cities, Kashmiris…Continue Reading “The solution to our nation’s ills – SEX”
