Odisha. Odias on my timeline may not agree. But as a friend just said, odisha is a majoritariant caste Hindu state. I agree. There are not enough Muslims in Odisha, less than 2% last I knew. The state has no culture of promoting intellectualism or liberalism. The Jagannath temple is the most regressive of all temples, the costal folks either don’t know or abhor the tribals and western odias. Odias are regressive and only seemingly mild because the dalits and tribals are in such bad…Continue Reading “Why Odisha will be next to fall for Hindutva”
There is only finite love in one’s life. How do I know? Whatever I hated as a child, I love now. I love banana flowers and stem, I love arbi, parval, radish, neem ka saag. And, I love bel. I used to hate the smell of it, I would go wander around in the village streets if I saw that grandpa is making the kids drink bel. The only time I remember drinking it is when it was mixed with all fruits and bhaang. That…Continue Reading “Bel and finite love”
On top of Nandi Hills, there is this government run restaurant. It has mixed reviews at best. It is really cheap and has brilliant views and most said it’s only the view that is good. But either my taste buds are bad or those guys are snooty. Let’s settle for them being snooty. The place is right at the top of the hill, in front of Nehru Nilaya. The food was cheap. It seems breakfast is served only on weekends and govt holidays, the menu…Continue Reading “Food at Hotel Maurya Pinetop, Nandi Hills”
Dear Sir, After some 17-18 years, I decided to sleep late today. Actually, an old friend made me mix my drinks and I was just pretending to be a felled log today. The bell rings. The maid knocks and says someone is at the door. She looks entertained. There are two girls at the door. Before i could wake up and my lenses could adjust, they told me how great your milk is (no milk is good, no woman would be happy giving milk that…Continue Reading “Open letter to Milkor founders”
There are things we do because we like them, not because we care about the world or are eco warriors or are conservators etc. In one of my earlier posts, i had mentioned how we created a balcony garden, failed, hired a mali, fired a mali and then i started composting kitchen waste and the balconies turned into Amazonian forests. But it seems not all efforts lead to good things. That a tenth floor balcony is not a safe place. That you can’t have your…Continue Reading “The monster in my hibiscus pot and the dangers of organic farming”
For an anti-religious person, Nandi temple was something of a special place. More on that later, but how many have seen this before? Hint: It’s rudra Ganesh, not the usual rupa of Ganesh that you see but very powerful nonetheless. The lovable god that we can cuddle but what a warrior. His first showdown being with the mighty Shiva. This one is a traditional rendition of rudra ganesh. Gods have many rupas and ganesh, despite the calm demeanor and all association with prosperity, he was…Continue Reading “Rudra Ganesh, Nandi Hills”
I had a list of some 15 must eats in Bangalore. A curated list as the cultured would say. A list that I had begged, bullied and whatsapped at odd hours to compile. But then, it was good to wander off the list at times, in fact, we did that a lot. This place, MTR 1924, on St Mark’s Street, had mixed reviews. Not a place to sit and chat. We chatted with a friend for close to three hours. Decent food, not as good…Continue Reading “MTR 1924, St. Marks Road, Bangalore”
V V Puram. Most of the blogs and magazines had this listed as a must visit place. It’s a must visit for sure, not sure if it can be listed as must-eat. Anyway, the locals calls it the Khau Gali, everyone online calls it food street. That makes it quite hard to find. Also autowallahs everywhere are the same, I learnt it the hard way that it’s so much better stick to Ola. And, Ola in Bangalore is awesome, the drivers are super polite, don’t…Continue Reading “VV Puram khau gali, Bangalore”
I said this when I came back from Pondicherry and Chennai. I am saying the same after Bangalore. The Delhi food scene needs to crash and burn before anything comes out it. In Pondicherry, the lanes around promenade have restaurants that are known for something – creole food, French food in an old villa, drinks with a view of the sea etc etc. In Bangalore, I ate 4 meals a day for 4 days in order to just cover as many places as I can….Continue Reading “What’s killing Delhi food scene?”
Moradabadi biryani. As someone on twitter said when I posted one of these photos – there are more people selling moradabadi biryani in Delhi than there are people in Moradabad. Now, that is a little exaggerated, but just a little. Suddenly, there are so many of them in Delhi that it seems less like a trend and more like a conspiracy. Anyway, the distinct markers of a Moradabadi biryani are shah jeera, yellow chilli and lemon. I always had some confusion about saunf but that…Continue Reading “Moradabadi Biryani, Nizamuddin”
When I peel garlic, I wonder what the hell was the plant thinking all through the evolution? That it will fly and build a colony on Jupiter? For god’s sake, the pods are shrink wrapped, tied at both ends and then they hug each other like it’s a tribal dance inside a clean film and then there is extra packaging on top so that they can last ten cataclysmic events. It is the Hilsa of condiments. I can still understand some human misbehaved with a…Continue Reading “Peeling garlic, thinking Hilsa, evolution and tribal dances”
Why should girls have all the fun! I am tired of seeing women tag each other in some saree challenge, some gorgeous pic, some black and white pic and what not. Yaar hadd hai, hum mardon ka koi tag hi nahin hai. So, here are a few ideas, let’s finalise one and start a tag. And, these are very man tags, no woman would ever dare hijack this. So, feel free boys. 1. Post a shaving photo of yours and tag real men who shave….Continue Reading “Facebook tagging campaign ideas for men”
A decade back, while on a bus to Mussorie, I had written how Delhi was a city that acted as a jail. Punishing those within the premises and punishing harder the ones who tried to escape. That was about the roads, now a decade later, same can be said of the airways. During the last few months, I have had numerous instances of flights that refused to either take off or land in time. One of the Air India flights that I took, this one to…Continue Reading “Flights and learnings”
Okay, I have been saying it to everyone I meet. Time to say it to everyone I don’t meet. I really like Rahul Gandhi. I know in today’s politics, there is a special place in hell for all who say that. Even then, I like him. And, then one day, he would be PM. No matter what you feel or do, that is inevitable. In five, ten, fifteen, twenty years, UPA will come to power. If he is around, he has a chance as anyone…Continue Reading “Why I am not giving up on Rahul Gandhi”
There is a term in English – whine. It is a senseless, irrational white noise that grabs your attention and keeps you off more important stuff. Whiners are attention seekers who employ it as a strategy. The upperclass, elite, cool cats – or whatever they call themselves in Delhi – are masters of the art. In a metropolis of nearly ten million, you would hardly hear other voices. Just a few dominate all discussion, all perspectives, all city planning – without any value addition. The…Continue Reading “In support of car free zones and rooftop ban in CP”
I am the wrong person to write about temples. Because, I hate them. Most of them. At least, the ones with deities inside. I am indifferent to mosques and churches. Why? I have never been harassed in a mosque or hounded for money in a church. Actually, no one really cares when you are there in an Indian church. Apart from the peculiar Indian habit of leaving shoes outside, churches here are really nice, calm and friendly places. Mosques have ruled about shoes and head…Continue Reading “About Rajarani temple in odisha and a few others”
Industry experts and watchers wield a massive amount of influence when it comes to determining outsider’s view of the sector. That’s why, while we need those who support and promote nascent sectors, we also need dispassionate journalists who can evaluate facts, write with a global perspective; and state things as they are so everyone is wiser. Against this background, you will notice a massive void in Indian wine writing. Though I have never been much interested reading about wines and must confess that have not…Continue Reading “About wines”
Okay, I think I am getting into the food walk space. Only one walk – Dwarka haat one. Yesterday, I wrote about the cupcakes and then we got these spices. Then, you get everything else from the east and south that you get nowhere else, not even in CR Park. Banana stem, banana blossom, gondhoraj lemon, moringa flowers, some ten types of grasses that I had never seen before (calling them grass, will be saag once we eat them), unknown tubers, pumpkin flowers and leaves,…Continue Reading “Weekly haat in Dwarka Sector 23”
Coconut is called the tree of life because every part of it is used. What should we call Banana tree, whose every part is eaten? Apart from the stem and the flower and fruit, the leaf is used in cooking. A friend from Nagaland once told me that they let the banana trees rot and eat the fatty worms that grow inside. I can’t think of a part that’s my favorite, I love them all, depending on the recipe. One part that i have not…Continue Reading “Eating the banana tree”
People wake up differently. Some struggle to down a toast and tea, some are hungry enough to eat the world. I wanted to eat the universe. Staying in T.Nagar, Chennai, in a small hotel opposite Grand by GRT, there were a lot of options to choose from. So, we got down, chose the green coconut over the yellow one and marched ahead towards Murugan Idli shop that a friend had recommended. I remain puzzled about the yellow one till date, some say it is from…Continue Reading “Murugan Idli Shop, T. Nagar, Chennai”