It’s a story from the times before long long ago, from a place that is farther than far far away. There were no men then, not even animals. Trees ruled the earth, protected the rivers and the mountains, cleansed the air and became the guardians of the planet. Idyllic as it may sound, it was a never ending war. There were destructive forces, such as fire, frost, asteroids and volcanoes, each more dangerous than the other. However, the worst enemy of the planet was a…Continue Reading “The Incredible Story of Cotton King, Dirt Lord & The White Light”
I am talking to you Delhi, the glorious capital city of India. You are also a State and take no less pride in that. You are center of power and the seat of the whole apparatus of two governments. Your rightful arrogance comes from the richness of heritage and architecture that you are endowed with: numerous historic forts, the Parliament building, India Gate, Old Delhi, the posh Panchsheel, Diplomatic Enclave, Lodhi Garden, the Red Fort and the Connaught Place. I can go on and on…Continue Reading “Commonwealth Games were not Delhi’s shame. This surely is.”
In one of my last posts, I mentioned that I am not the adventurous types. I know that new things are fraught with risks and take care to stay away. Don’t judge me, I am a nice guy otherwise. For last two months, I have been researching to write on the Indian e-commerce scene. I ordered from almost all major e-commerce sites – Myntra, Infibeam, Zovi, Yebhi, Homeshop 18, Snapdeal. I took photos of their packaging, tracked delivery time, had to return a few and…Continue Reading “Pepperfry won’t deliver, won’t refund, won’t listen. Help me interneters!”
Love marriage or arranged marriage? It is as much about individual choice as societal setting. Some societies consider the right to choose as obvious while others see it as a punishable offence. In fact, in quite a few parts of India, it is not a romantic question at all, it is a matter of life and death. Mostly, death. But there is a large role played by families. Families shape an individual’s outlook and have to live with the repercussions of the individual’s decision. So,…Continue Reading “Marriage – It runs in the family”
I am not the adventurous types. When something new happens, I let others take the plunge, see how it goes, then I deliberate a lot and sometimes, try gingerly. But at times, the slowest animals find themselves ahead of the herd. And in those mysterious ways, we found ourselves on the newly opened Yamuna Expressway, also known as the Taj Expressway. We had heard that it was 165 kms long with just three entry ways and toll booths, rest is just a long six lane…Continue Reading “Yamuna Expressway – Tale of fast cars and invisible animals”
When in Rome, if everyone behaved like the Romans, Rome will end up being a pretty boring place. Same with Lajpat Nagar in Delhi. We all love Punjabi food (don’t we?) and can’t thank God enough for the fact that every block in Lajpat Nagar has a restaurant that serves exactly the same food at slightly different prices. But even my adorable neighbours can’t deny that a little change in palate is not such a bad thing. In fact, if it is the Colony Bistro,…Continue Reading “The Colony Bistro – How social media is changing the dining scene in Delhi”
The title doesn’t make any sense at all, you will say. So what? So many things don’t, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting. Let’s get down to the serious stuff. I have been thinking about the curse of humanity – the need to make sense of everything, the pursuit of true substance, the pressing need to create value. We may crib all we want about the rise of consumerism and the senselessness of the new generation, but honestly, there is nothing to worry…Continue Reading “Why we hate the Kardashians and what brand managers can learn from it!”
Visitors? Of course. Comments? Too obvious. Fame? When you get it, yes. Appreciation? This is the currency that works in the blogging world. Give some, get some. It makes bloggers happy, but that’s not the answer. Money? Even in movies, where all improbable things happen, I have never seen a rich blogger. I have been writing about what makes us blog and how we blog for sometime now. Mostly about the Focused Vs. Freestyle blogging. There are no definite answers, so I can never be…Continue Reading “What makes a blogger happy”
You can say it is entirely my fault, I can agree and that will be the end of that. But it is not in my nature to agree with others. Heck, I have a hard time agreeing with myself without a tough fight. So, my defense is that it’s not my fault but the way we think about travel should be blamed. When we think of travelling, we think of it in terms of miles, we ponder how we will reach there and how many…Continue Reading “Qutub Minar – why I took 12 years to visit a must-see place in Delhi”
I am an art idiot and I have never been ashamed of it. I always thought of art as a blank cheque that God gave only to a few. I was angry that I have been slighted and continued to boycott it. I could never see anything in paintings that went for unbelievable amounts of money, Oil, acrylic, pastel or modernist, abstract and naturalistic – they were just one guy’s work. How much worth can there be? To be honest, my resentment is unfounded. Quite…Continue Reading “Kiran Nadar Museum of Art – Please go there, you are not that busy!”
Can you imagine a trip to Corbett without the jungle safari, stories about spotting/narrowly missing a tiger and elephant rides etc? If I tell you that’s exactly what my trip was all about, you will collectively tch tch with all the heartfelt sympathy and wish me luck for the next time. Thank you for your concern but I had a great time during the 51 hours I spent there. We walked inside the paths inside the resort, we tried to scale the walls (it was prohibited),…Continue Reading “Photographic tour of Corbett. All nature, no tiger.”
This is a sure shot way of getting some cake on my face. People in Delhi are passionate about their cakes and bakes and I don’t want to get on their wrong side. But I know I am rooting for a winner here. Wenger’s is one of the first bakeries in town, founded in 1926 as it was. Even if you have no respect for age, walk into their only store in Connaught Place and see the love for yourself. You will spend a long…Continue Reading “Wenger’s – The best bakery in Delhi?”
Come to think of it, we have never thought straight about the Chinese. They are like an army of ants who gather together to construct the world’s largest dam, moving on to building the world’s highest railway, world’s largest oil company, world’s largest shopping mall. If all this was not grand enough, they are also having the world’s biggest Apple store. While they were busy doing this, God knows how they found the time to build the world’s largest population too. Howsoever, the point of…Continue Reading “And you thought Chinese are headless robots!”
I am I, I can’t be any other, My parent’s son, God’s creature. And yet, I am myself And not myself. I am my own, And something other. I have a sex, It points to another, I have a hand, It holds an other. I have a mouth, It eats another, I am a body, And it’s me, And something other. My mind is me, And yet not my own, My life is me, Though beyond my control, My soul is I, It’s inveterate other….Continue Reading “I am I & My other”