Not that diary

It is fascinating how the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is questionable change over time and across societies. In this basket of 'slightly tacky- politically incorrect-a bit too sweet-but a great laugh down memory lane', I would place Phantom sweet cigarettes. I haven't seen a packet for at least 20 years (or possibly since I was in primary school in India). And as my knowledgeable younger sibling tells me, they are no longer sold in Delhi and neighbouring towns. On special request from her a friend got about four packets down from Ludhiana (of all the places!). For those of you wondering what the hell these are, this is what the packet looks like from outside. And inside this are a set of ten 'cigarettes' made out of a white candy which actually tastes like sugary chalk and has red-coloured candy tip to indicate a flame. My first thought on seeing the pack was, funnily enough, nostalgia. It brought to mind summer holidays at school, hanging...

A belated post on Oki, the new Korean restaurant in London which continues to delight us locals in SW19.  A few weeks ago, my   friends and I   decided to both test and taste the menu by working down our way through it slowly. After the slurp-yummy Dolsot Bibimbap,  our latest discoveries include the big bowls of soupy-noodles (with veggies, tofu or seafood) and semi-spicy stir fries with rice on the side. One Friday going by the sated look on my companion’s face it was obvious that the bento box was apt for meeting strong hunger pangs. Especially for someone who has just finished a swimming session and feels ‘ready to eat a horse’! Another recent memorable evening was one where a couple of us decided to go for carrot and orange juice to accompany our main meals. We started with one glass per person which soon became several glasses through the evening. Well, some of us were more thirsty than others :D As a friend mentioned, i t’s a mercy they didn’t ru...

Feel massively proud that India has launched a successful Mars mission on its first try. Some cool statistics show that : a)The ISRO scientists took just three years from inception to successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission (aka MOM). b) It cost India just $74 million to launch the Mangalyaan (literally Mars Craft). This is a fraction of the cost that it has taken three others (Russia, USA and Europe) to do the same. c) India is also the first country to have launched it successfully on its first attempt. Yippee! d) There has been a fun twitter chat between the US Mars Rover Curiosity and the Indian Mars Orbiter as they acknowledged each other. e) Last interesting anecdote: It cost $100 million to make the Hollywood space movie 'Gravity'.    Jai Ho!

I may have come five years later than everyone else but I like to think that, like seasoned wine, Dishoom's food is tastier now than it was at the start. I heard about yet another new Indian restaurant in town a few years ago. It was fashioned like an old Bombay cafe. Funnily enough I was about to re-locate to Mumbai just around that time (which is also the time I started this blog). Needless to say, visiting a Mumbai-style restaurant in London was not high priority at that point. I eventually flew back to London after a short stint in India. Once back, I felt sated enough for about a year to keep away from all  desi food hang-outs. But last year was a turning point in more ways than one. I found myself making more rotis/ paranthas in a month than I'd done in a decade.  In my quest to avoid this weekly grind, scouting for good Indian restaurants became a temporary past-time. It was finally a cousin and a friend who dragged me to Dishoom for afternoon tea, leaving me hoo...

In fact they are better than the best. Walking along one of my most favourite parts of town, the South Bank in London, I saw the little van parked just past Riverside Wharf (west of Blackfriars). I know it's been there for some time (a few months? a whole year?) and I've always managed to walk past it without slowing my stride. On this day, the sky was slightly overcast, there was a post-rain chilliness in the air and a light wind was blowing. Aided by the wind, the fragrance of freshly baked donuts wafted across the pathway, bumping lightly on the tall heads of passing tourists and heading right into my tiny nostrils. My feet carried me, in a zombie-like state, to the little van where a nice lady was scooping a fresh lot of mini-doughnuts out of her large pan. I asked for £2 worth. She smiled and put some in a bag. Now I must state that I'm not a crazy doughnut fan. I usually find them too sweet and give up after having a quarter. But these mini donuts were bite-siz...

Not that my blog was ever in danger of becoming extinct, but it did require some virtual affection. So I'm back with some gupshup. Before I moan about August, the summer month that is increasingly turning non-summer, I must mention the surprise that June had in store for me. While wading through knee high grass in a certain district of SW20 in London I chanced upon clumps of shiny red fruit peeking out from wide green leaves. Closer investigation led me to squeal in delight. Rows of juicy-looking strawberries stared at me,  just in time to welcome the start of the tennis season. I instantly went strawberry picking till both hands were full. Dusk was falling so I stopped. The following day I went out better-prepared and filled a small tupperware box. Soon two friends joined me in picking the latest 'crop' of strawberries. The unanimous verdict was something like 'yummm'. It wasn't long before Friday came and I found myself heading for the tennis courts a...

For better or worse, the Tescofication of India is still some years away but I have no doubt it will occur. In the meanwhile several domestic supermarket chains (Big Bazaar, Reliance Fresh, D-Mart and Spencers) have sprung up all across urban India. Often quirky, these superstores have loud announcements, piles of goods and BOGOs (Buy One Get One offers) at every aisle-end. A friend tells me they did extensive market research and found that the ' middle' middle class which they want to capture feels more at-home in this bazaar-type atmosphere albeit in an air-conditioned, enclosed setting. These superstores are mushrooming around towns as city-dwellers get used to sashaying down the aisles with their trolleys. Alas, the fruit and vegetable markets such as the Monday Bazaar in Mayur Vihar Phase1 (a part of east Delhi  I have grudgingly come to accept as the 'new family home') may soon become a thing of the past. Is it just me who thinks that cities across India wil...