aka Om Routray
The only Evergreen I knew was in GK. And, I had been there once in half a lifetime. Parking was always an issue and I avoided the place. My only recurring brush with the outlet were the sweets that someone or the other brought over. The kaju katlis were supposedly too good. I didn’t find them extraordinary. Anyway, they have a bigger outlet in Dwarka which has ample parking, during the mornings or when it is too sunny for people to come out. So, I…Continue Reading “Evergreen, Dwarka”
A girl looks on as a pickle vendor sells his ware at a weekly market in Dwarka. The nature of weekly markets change so much from one area to another. The market surrounded by highrises will have completely different stuff from this one which was closer to a local village. These pickle vendors belong to that narrow category who can traverse both. There are many more that can’t – the cloth sellers, the five rupee cup and glass sellers, 3 for 20 chole bhature walas…Continue Reading “Weekly Market, Dwarka”
I went there when the Dine Fest was on. Always seemed too expensive to me otherwise. During the Dine Fest, they had a fantastic menu for just Rs600 plus taxes per head. You could order 4 items, the portion sizes were smaller than regular, but more than enough for an average person and a steal for the price. The Dine Fest is over. So, why am I writing about it now? First, you can be alert when then next one comes. Second, the restaurant is…Continue Reading “Kylin Premier, Ambience Mall”
For the last few days, Kanhaiya and a fellow students photo has been doing the rounds. She is not a professor, but a fellow student. But why should one need to clarify? They are sitting close to each other. Almost touching. A man a woman, touching. Any scene that depicts a woman as a woman riles something up in a rightwinger. Something about those half pants that traps them in eternal boyhood, contorts their view to see a woman only as a mother or a…Continue Reading “Blame the half pants”
All of us have different views about the tibetan colony. Some have been to the other one near Bus adda and think this is something similar and have never been here. Some go there for the beef, some will never go there because of the beef. I was there in 2001 for the first time as a student of the Delhi University. I was there recently after years. And, the place has changed. The restaurants are fancy, the streets are cleaner, there are cafes now…Continue Reading “Lama Shop, Majnu Ka Tila”
The corner tea shop. It is like a barometer of snacking habits. In odisha, every tea shop will have twenty glass bottles, each filed with a different kinds of local biscuits and cakes and rusks. I have never seen such well stocked tea shops anywhere else. In delhi, most such stalls are for cigarettes and chips. They dont even have tea. The tea shops have only samosa and bread pakoda. What do tea shops in your area sell?
Okay, somehow, it has come to occur that I have not written much about fast food places. I love fast food, I can’t have enough of them, I would love to eat burgers and fries all day long and die early. But, somehow, none of this has shown on the page. So, I am correcting that. I am confessing that I love Taco Bell. The place does not look like a fast food place, is never too crowded, is not bright but standard looking and…Continue Reading “Taco Bell, Vasant Kunj”
Pushpesh Pant – many on my friend list would already know how many times he has gone back and forth on origin of cheese debate in India. I don’t know his stand yet. Only a couple of months back, he spoke at a food and governance session – rabidly attacking the government and showing off his leftist badges. Then he got an award which at best was given to the oldest guy in the business. What most of us know and never say is his…Continue Reading “The slow cooked rightism of Pushpesh Pant”
I am glad about the number of vada pav outlets that have opened in Delhi. And, they are good too. I wrote about the WoW vada pav recently. Then came across this small place in katwaria sarai. It’s on the main road, near the bus stop. The vada pavs are cheap, priced around 30 bucks, the two I tasted were very good and they have a dabeli on the menu too. The dabeli was not the kickass version that I had in Nagpur, it was…Continue Reading “Just Vada Pav, Katwaria Sarai”
Every campus has a few iconic places. Places that work as landmarks. The bhelpuri guy in front of Hindu College, now more towards DSE, is one such guy in North Campus of Delhi University. During my student years, there used to be another old man in front of Arts Faculty, dressed in spotless white kurta and pajama, he was favorite of the two bhelpuri guys in the campus. Now, there is only this one. The bhelpuri does not have the kick that I love in…Continue Reading “Bhelpuri vendor, North Campus, Delhi University”
Honestly speaking, I hate the idea of massive flags at universities. First, it sounds like measures of a desperate republic in identity crisis which we are not. Second, it will always be a reminder of the way it came to being enforced – through oppression, violence and as a measure of shaming students who have an opinion. Third, only the netas cars, houses and shirts and underwear are stamped with flags. We all know how well that has worked. The ones who are in doubt…Continue Reading “Why the idea of flags at universities is all wrong”
Sometimes, you just don’t want to plan to go out. Sometimes, you don’t want to go to a new place. Sometimes, an old place would just do. Or, just the place that’s two steps away from where you are standing. And, we were standing in South Extension. The place has seen better days. No one goes there to eat anymore. So, it will unfair to ask you to. But if you are around, don’t open Zomato or drive anywhere else. There is this really old…Continue Reading “Daitchi, South Ex”
Don’t judge a book by its cover is a misguided statement. You see, a book cover is designed by professionals after intensive consultations with the publishers, writers and some close circle review. Not to judge a book by its cover is to discount all such efforts, to undermine such great effort. The same applies when it comes to people. Most of us judge people by their appearances and there is nothing wrong in that. Moreover, so many of us want to be identified by our looks. The…Continue Reading “A fervent, frothing at the mouth argument against selfies”
What are you doing on a Sunday evening? Surely, something infinitely more interesting. I am writing about a razor. But wait till I finish before you declare me vain. By the way, this post is strictly for men. By now, it must be evident that I like cheap things. I am absolutely delighted when the cheap thing is good too. So, when I saw this certain firang razor spend the amount of money they did on digital ads, claiming the stars and the moon, I…Continue Reading “My experience with online shopping: Letsshave.com”
1. There was one passenger from Bla Bla car, one from Ridr app and me from Orahi 2. The passenger from Bla Bla car was a grey old uncle who was a branch head with a prominent private bank in Nehru place. The passenger from Ridr app was a leather jacket dude (henceforth referred to as The Yo )who worked with Yamaha in Sector 62, Noida 3. The passenger from Bla Bla car (henceforth referred to as Uncle)felt responsible, gave up in driving his chauffeured…Continue Reading “10 interesting things about today’s carpool”
Came face to face with this sweet little thing in office today. A new joinee from Pratapgarh shared these sweet, gooey, sticky, soft but non stretchy amla barfis. A very mild taste of amla, though. I didn’t even know where Pratapgarh was till five minutes ago. As a friend informed, the barfi is a byproduct of amla processing. Pratapgarh has extensive amla plantations and amla processing units. When they make amla candy or other amla products, a lot of amla flavoured sugar syrup is produced and…Continue Reading “Amla Barfi from Pratapgarh”
Kolkata has a biryani that it is really proud of. I have never been to the city, so can’t say how good the dish is within the city boundaries. So, I have to go by the second best option – go to CR Park and pretend I am transported to the bong land like most bongs do. And, that’s how we landed at this small outlet in CR Park market number 1. It is more of a take away kind of place with few plastic…Continue Reading “Kolkata Biryani House, CR Park”