The not-so-secret diary

"Pune is a village" "Pune is the Oxford of India" It has often been said of India: Whatever is true, the opposite is also true.  This holds goods for Pune just as well as any other place in the country. Today a seasoned Punekar (resident of Pune) stated that his city is a village, i.e. everyone knows everyone. He was instantly proved right. Ten minutes into my first conversation with him, we worked out that he knew the son of the owner of my serviced apartment block - one of many such buildings in town.  Half an hour later he was waving to someone in the cafe who lives right at the other end of town. Maybe a village in terms of connections but with nearly 6 million residents Pune is almost the same size at London. Pune has a whole host of coveted universities that attract the brightest minds from across India. It also has a booming IT sector, a growing automobile industry and bio-medical science hubs. There should be no dearth of ignited minds. However in th...

It's not the first time I have written about them and it won't be the last. Sigh! Shopping Malls - do I love them, do I detest them, am I just relieved they exist? I don't know. But I'm certainly not indifferent to them. Somewhere between the nostalgia of my childhood street markets in Delhi and the recently discovered awesomeness of an air-conditioned shopping mall in humidity-laden Mumbai lie my true feelings about this commercial edifice. Like all things American the idea of concentrated shopping has been branded, packaged and sold well to the world. India is no exception. It works because, you know what, it's practical. So what has changed since my very first post on this blog. Not much in theory. A new mall opens in an Indian city. Residents are attracted like moths to fire. They burn money and time and everyone goes home happy and content. I'm surprised yoga still exists. Surely nirvana is achieved in a post-mall trip. As half of India continues...

For someone who is not a beer-drinker and unlikely to convert, I have spent an awful lot of time in the last four months posing next to a beer bottle or being in the company of friends who are happily glugging away pitcher after pitcher. This is not, however, just any beer. This is Bira. So what makes it so special, you ask? Persuaded by the raving feedback from friends and colleagues I decided to do some internet digging. Bira is in fact Bira 91, an Indian craft beer launched just over a year ago in March 2015. Fun fact: The 91 is India’s international dial code. The story goes that the founder (and probably his start-up mates) went on a road-trip around Europe. They found the perfect blend in Belgium. I n went a lot of passion, market research, hard-work and the vision for a trendy new beer. Out came Bira   White and Bira Blond with a cheeky monkey logo.   It grew by word of mouth. The latest news shows they can’t keep up...