aka Om Routray
The bus stand in Cuttack has a trademark soundtrack. A nasal voice on a loudspeaker warns you about jadu, kachu, kundia and advises you to use Tarun Ayurvedic’s Scabidol. This morning while we drove past, we heard the same advertisement. The billboards have changed – now there is a Scabidol, Scabigun and etc etc, all of them warning you of copycats. While the world does not need BTex lotion anymore, Cuttack still needs Scabidol on their inner thighs.
“When Allah created the world, he created mountains to weigh the world down so that it wouldn’t fly away. Just like one puts down heavy pegs at the corners of tents to prevent them from flying away”, this was the last story that Rahmatullah Sahab told us before we left the Paigah Tombs. A story he recounted from the holy Quran to explain to us the beauty of the Deccans. The moment we walked into the Paigah Tomb complex, we were greeted with the sight…Continue Reading “Siwara – A mortar that bonds at Paigah Tomb Complex”
Close to the Apsara theater in Guwahati was this guy who came around seven and was gone before twelve in the noon. Luchi ( lusee ) bhaji seemed like the national breakfast dish of Assam. So, every cart and dhaba had their own version. Even the hospital that my mom in law was admitted in did horrible parody of this beautiful dish. Anyway, this here was the best of the lot. The luchis were spotless, the curry was chana dal and alu. Many make this…Continue Reading “Luchi bhaji in Guwahati”
First at the homestay in Coorg. I ask for hot water as a perfect city bred asshole and also because the temperate was really low. Half an hour later Mr. Fixit shows up. He works in the fields, there is a cook and there is a caretaker. All three are from Bengal. Like Indian and Pakistanis in England, we became friends. He shows me how to heat water. Next day morning, we had to drive to Bangalore and to catch the flight back. So, I…Continue Reading “Of hot water and burnt hair”
Some days before my food writing rant yesterday, something went wrong in the kitchen, a short crust fell apart. I was telling Tanu how she needs to share these stories of failure, of things going wrong, how eventually we picked up the crumbs and it still tasted good. The suggestion seemed original at the time, it seems it has been said and written a gazillion times. Just that social media has made us too embarrassed about sharing our failures. I followed a few food photography…Continue Reading “You are a human, not a toothpaste”
This is a really small place in the small town of Madikeri. It is run by a couple, we never saw the wife who cooks. Food for two including chicken, mutton, pork and a veg thali that had sambhar and rasam and a bean coconut fry was 360 rupees. The rice portions were massive, we returned a bowl and got a discount too. Now, all the three curries tasted different. The gravies had nothing similar. The pork was the most alien flavour – it was…Continue Reading “Hotel Folksy Food, Madikeri”
I am an anti-believer. I don’t just not believe, I make fun of the ones who do. But then, a few times in a lifetime, there are occurrences, places, people who take you beyond the immediate. I believe in energy zones, though. Some places have very palpable influences, they would soothe you in an unnatural way, make your hair stand, give you a sense of deja vu or agitate you. This spot in Mahabalipuram, near the butter ball, is one of the most powerful ones…Continue Reading “Do some places have unusual energy?”
Let’s start with a confession. This was some sort of a tourist hotspot. The approach by road is bad. You have to go by a boat that is specially run by Asiatique. Everything about it sounded like a tourist trap. And, to add to add to stigma, friends who went there had loved it. So, the challenge of discovering something that very few knew or liked was also gone. I was not at all kicked about going to Asiatique. But, eventually, we did. Right after…Continue Reading “Asiatique the riverfront, Bangkok”
The shahi samosa is not a snack, it is a meal. It was the size of my palm and my palms are like any other ape’s. And, it was spicy and awesome. But what was remarkable was the alu bonda. The moment you bite into it, the universe smells of hing. It is massively spicy, has onions and garlic etc too. In my estimation, the bonda was way more potent than the samosa. In contrast, the mirchi bhaji was nice and the green chili sort…Continue Reading “Shahi Samosa, Jodhpur”
Bangkok is spotlessly clean but it’s hard to find a public toilet within the city streets. Tourist places have plenty. So, as a last resort, I walked into a Japanese restaurant near Sala Daeng station for a beer and a pee. Sadly, they could not serve beer till 5 in the evening. Some rule that bars restaurants from serving alcohol before 5 pm. Even Seven Elevens that sell alcohol have these time rules. Anyway, in the absence of beer, I ordered a chicken thigh and…Continue Reading “Peeing in Japanese”
Every time, we go out of Delhi, I feel rich. Other Indian cities don’t compare. Bombay, Bangalore, Chennai, Pondicherry etc are way cheaper. No expensive restaurant there would shock you. In Bangkok, Vertigo, which is on 62nd floor and is ranked one of the best bars in the world had dishes and drinks priced around 900 rupees (450 baht). The drinks came with 2 chips and wasabi peanuts. Then with food, we got a bag of chips and prawn and mayo complimentary. We ate at…Continue Reading “Something shady about Delhi restaurant prices”
How do you eat in an unknown place? You pore over tripadvisor, ask friends and bloggers and spend days on internet planning. I did pore over the internet. But eventually, the places we ate at were places we found through just walking around. If you can feel vibes and trust your instinct, you will end up eating well or you will have an experience anyway. To think that there is only one best way to navigate a city is stupid and you should be open…Continue Reading “Naga Cafe, Sathorn, Bangkok”
My first Punjabi lassi was in Delhi in 2001. It was that shop under the tree in Ber Sarai. We had just landed in Delhi a couple of days before, I was to join Dschool and a friend had to join IIMC. We were looking for a place for him. Anyway, the lassi. It came for 15 bucks, a tall steel glass, all white with froth at top. He kept it on the counter. I waited. I had paid 15 in advance, he was not…Continue Reading “Lingaraj Lassi, Bhubaneswar”
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”
The place is supposed to be haunted, I have no idea. Went there in mid day and the sum total of all the horror movies I have seen tell me that ghosts come out only at night. So, if you are looking for an account of it as a haunted place, please carry on. Or you can head to the Rajon ki Baoli or Adham Khan tomb and Gandhak Baoli nearby. My experience of Jamali Kamali was one of intrigue and beauty. There are two structures…Continue Reading “Jamali kamali mosque and tomb, Mehrauli”
On recent trip to Alwar, we spotted this incomplete looking shack by the roadside. There was a charpai, a cooking station with a stove and a tarpaulin roof. It looked like a food place but given that no one stopped by we were not too sure. We decided to stop on the way back. It was a dhaba. The guy had nothing ready. He explained all that he could cook and how much time it would take. We decided on the dal baati in twenty…Continue Reading “Impromptu dal baati, Alwar”
Northern ridge If you have good company and pleasant weather, a day just swooshes you by here. Apart from the greenery and paths inside, there is the infamous khooni jheel to find, a few ruins to spot and photograph, fallen tree trunks to walk on and much more. Never take the same route back and see how hours pass by while you try to find a way out. There are loads of monkeys but they keep to themselves. If you can just tell yourself that…Continue Reading “3 places in Delhi for day tripping during monsoons”
Chandigarh is a good place to be in when the weather is good. If you are travelling from Delhi, Chandigarh is good for a weekend stay. Hotels usually offer good deals, there are good old and new hip places to eat at and then you can always spend the afternoons in the rock garden and spend the evenings at the Sukhna Lake. The rock garden, by the way, is not what it used to be. They are expanding the garden and now there is a…Continue Reading “Rock garden, Chandigarh”
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 one is a real cow, not the steel one I wrote about earlier. This cow, may be, lost a twin. But a woman earned her living for a lifetime. As I took the photo, a woman walked towards me, asking for money. She had put the calf on a goods carrier, did enough to deify the animal with a statue and a poster etc. The carriage stopped in front of every alternate shop and did the passive religious bullying. I didn’t see anyone paying,…Continue Reading “Holy Cow, Paharganj”