Dear Mai Baap, Let me begin by telling you that I consider it my good fortune to be born here, a great civilization that dates back thousands of years. I congratulate you on preserving so many things from those times – our society, its mindset, our attitude toward women, our infrastructure and the relation between the ruler and the ruled. I am sure we can teach the Egyptians a few things about preservation. No matter what others say, we must take pride in our heritage….Continue Reading “Thanks for Aadhar Card Circus, Mai Baap!”
I am close to a hundred posts on my blog. By now, I have made it pretty evident that when it comes to photography, I have hands of steel. So, rather than torturing you with my lens work, I bring to you my friend Siddhartha Kumar. A pilot by profession (and a Captain at that!) and photographer by obsession, Sid has won many national contests and we have been lunching on his prize moneys since we were in college. Now that the sweet part is…Continue Reading “Kabootarbazi In Purani Dilli & Launching Captain’s Clicks”
Before taking up the marketing responsibilities for a dot com company, I used to be a professional writer. Writing corporate film scripts, radio spots, jingles, print ads, brochures and whatever else that an ad agency can be hired to do. Even before that I worked as an editor with a publishing company. So, I have been holding a pen in my hand for a long time, for one reason or another. I used to tell all new recruits that becoming a professional writer should never…Continue Reading “Great shoot, no one hurt”
Don’t get me wrong. I am all for women empowerment. If I had my way, I will make every woman a gender-altered avatar of Hanuman. But given the context in which the above statement is being made in Delhi during last few weeks, I can’t but oppose the idea in all its forms. I would rather my wife join me for morning tea in this lovely winter than run off to some neighbourhood training camp and perfect her karate chops. I don’t want my wife…Continue Reading “Should every woman be able to defend herself? Heck, no!”
I don’t remember how I stumbled on this one early year, but have been ordering from this store quite consistently. They have not given me a chance to complain, yet. Started in 2010, Zovi has been one of the silent runners among all the brand names. They launched a TVC campaign recently but I will say they have been doing quite well without burning too much of that fund money on marketing. Started in 2010 by Satish Mani, formerly senior vice-president at Cleartrip, Kavindra Mishra…Continue Reading “My experience with online shopping: Zovi”
All you can eat buffets are the holy cows in restaurant marketing. But what does it mean? All you can eat actually, emotionally and appealingly means all you want to eat. No one will stop you, no one will bill you extra for anything – you eat whatever and as much as you want to eat. But practically, you can’t eat as much as you want. You can only eat a little more than you generally do eat. So, you get the point. But we…Continue Reading “All you can eat buffet”
For the first time, I will repeat title in the first line of the blog post – did you know there is a CNG crematorium in Delhi? First of all, who needs a compressed natural gas oven? We already have wood fired and electric ones! Secondly, I drive a compressed natural gas fueled car, many of which have burst and burnt on Delhi roads. So, I am not smiling! Thirdly, where is it? It’s at Nigambodh Ghat, they have all the three options there. It’s…Continue Reading “A CNG crematorium in Delhi”
God created summer, man created the air conditioner God created winter, man created the heater God created mountains, man created dynamite Go created thorns, man created shoes God created flowers that perish, man created perfume God created the universe, man built the temples So, who is doing the proposing and who is doing the disposing, eh?
Six months back, I was a happy man as men with a clear purpose in their lives are. I had thought of doing a series on Indian e-commerce sites and had ordered from eight sites. Back then, it seemed like a good number and covered all major sites. Now, so many new and impressive portals have been launched that my sample looks miserable unrepresentative. However, I must finish what I started. Here is my next installment with reviews of Myntra and Zovi. First up, Myntra….Continue Reading “My experience with online shopping: Myntra Review”
Blaming others for what you have become is a sign of a much deeper malaise. Cribbers and whiners have never done anyone any good, so why read about another one? You won’t have any sympathy for a serial killer who blames his father for keeping him tied to a bed post when he was young. Why listen to the mad ramblings of a guy who claims the very air of Delhi makes him sick then? I had a brilliant sociology professor in college who would…Continue Reading “All Delhi Men Are Rapists. It’s Not Their Fault.”
The last few months of my life have been very exciting. I suddenly have a very happening nightlife. Every night, me and my wife finish up our chores, surround ourselves with bowls of snacks, connect the laptop with the TV and go shopping. Online shopping is not a new idea in India. Times Shopping and Rediff Shopping have been offering this for a few years now. But it has become a practical idea now. Most of the shopping sites are funded today. They have the…Continue Reading “My experience with online shopping: Snapdeal & Flipkart”
Don’t get me wrong, I am sucker for fusion. Be it music, food, clothing or whatever comes out from the marriage of a Nigerian and a Chinese. But on my recent visit to the DLF Place Mall, Saket, I saw something that made my skin crawl. We had gone to watch Skyfall and came across the new Dunkin Donuts outlet which is in the same mall. Though I am not much of a Donut lover, my wife is and will miss no chance of gorging…Continue Reading “Dunkin Donuts and fusion food!”
I had read that McDonald’s is opening their first all-vegetarian restaurant in India, at Amritsar (en route to Golden Temple) and Katra (tea break spot for Vaishno Devi pilgrims). I thought of it as another example of local adaptation by a global brand. Clearly, I was missing the bigger picture. India always had a remarkable number of vegetarians. There are the permanent vegetarians – Buddhists, Jains, fastidious Brahmins and then there are the occasional ones – non-vegetarians who give up meat on specific days of religious…Continue Reading “Mughlai Paratha & Soya Chap, CR Park”
As it happens, every most travelers crib endlessly about food at airports and on airplanes. There is an unsaid agreement among food bloggers and travelers to show put all this flying food back in its place. But I have found it very hard to say bad things about food, any food. My taste buds have no self-respect and my mouth has always been a one way street. I am a foodie, the kind who are great consumers of food, not great connoisseurs. That’s why, I…Continue Reading “Do I have to trash Delhi airport food?”
If you are not the needlessly litigating types, you will agree that Mirza Ghalib is the most popular Urdu poet of this and the last century. I don’t wish to be irreverent to other esteemed poets or create a popularity chart, but Ghalib inspires poetry in the sub-continent like no other. He has been quoted in Bollywood movies, song by all classical and Ghazal singers of any reputation in both India and Pakistan, and is heavily quoted by every budding lover. Given that his popularity…Continue Reading “Mirza Ghalib Memorial in Old Delhi”
On a recent trip to the mall, I came across this Real Fruit Juice carton with two heads. What’s the big deal, you will think, but I have seen enough manufacturing process videos to know that this was no less than a miracle. All the cartons are vertically stacked on a conveyor belt, so there is no chance that one of the boxes can be horizontal. And they are all laser cut, so still less chances of error. Here are a couple of helpful videos….Continue Reading “The miracle of two headed Real Fruit Juice carton”
Last weekend, I had the good, and completely undeserved fortune, of being invited to a dinner with dignitaries from the art world. At the table were professors from German universities and directors of museums from many different countries. The dinner was hosted at the Lodhi Garden Restaurant, which though set in a beautiful setting, was not half as remarkable in terms of food. Now, that I have started talking about the restaurant, I will get this matter of least consequence out of the way first….Continue Reading “Blogging as artwork and other debates at the Lodhi Garden Restaurant”