Not that diary

Loved and loathed in equal parts, a new breed of Indian soap operas have emerged in the last 15 years. For some folk these are compulsory watching. For others (including me) these are a mindless, pointless sequence of visuals strung together by hordes of characters who utter very little and count on the ever-zooming camera and elaborate make-up to move from one episode to the next. The producers are fixated on propagating a vision of Indian family and culture that is steeped in orthodox beliefs and superstitions. In almost every sense they take us back several decades by displaying the often patronising and clichéd  manner in which society, especially women are represented. I make no secret of my disdain for the Indian television today, compared to the quality programmes when I was growing up. Despite this, I was filled with amazement a few months ago, when I walked into Hotel Kasbah le Touareg in Merzouga at the edge of the Moroccan Sahara. In it's cozy lounge was a TV screen...

I realised a few days ago that I hardly ever post experiences of my favourite city in the world - London.  As autumn slowly unfurls, the sun occasionally peeks through, and the dark winter is still some while away, I can confidently share my affection for my adopted home. At least this month I love it, knowing full well I shall be moaning about the grey skies all too soon! Here is a selection of one-liners spotted across the cityscape as I visited my regular haunts in the last few weeks. The first was at London Waterloo, a station I've seen change over a decade. This was at the Northern Line platform going into Central London. One weekday in early September, I was walking briskly along the South Bank to meet a friend for lunch. My destination was The River Wharf (great food, awfully slow service, also the venue of my first ever  work Xmas lunch yearssss ago). Enroute I saw this at the Wahaca market stall. It made me chuckle. At Clapham Junction (below), I've alw...

"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...

The title of this post says it all. Is it every decade that you end up in a work environment that provides daily moments of utter panic interspersed with colleagues deciding on an impromptu ‘Bollywood singathon’ and serious discussions about the best mango farms in a 100 km radius? I think it’s probably once a lifetime thing. Therefore fortunate are ye all who have experienced the pinnacle of whacky working in this western city of India :D A far cry from the very ‘propah’ British office, each day it is a mystery whether I will be greeted by a new bespoke song, a breakfast order of “omelette pao”, or everyone suddenly clapping as you enter. You guessed it - my local colleagues were winding me up with the clapping. There was raucous laughter as I looked totally confused. I looked over my shoulder to check if someone important had come in. Then rolled my eyes and grinned. I had picked the short straw that day. I have woefully accepted that it can’t be a “jalebi day” every day. I...

A few weeks after rambling around Patagonia and Puerto Natales I found myself more than 10,000 miles away in Pune, a city in western India. With utter self-control I have decided not to write about the traffic and cityscape that characterise a bustling Indian city. Well at least not in this post! I usually start with food but this time it's worth describing the sights. My first ever visit and an extended stay in Pune city, located about 150 km east of Mumbai, has thrown up interesting surprises. There is history aplenty associated with this medium-sized town. As with hundreds of other places in India that are jostling their way up the economic ladder, the past seems largely forgotten. Joined by a couple more intrepid souls from across India and overseas, I have managed to see several landmarks. One of my favourite places in the city is the Aga Khan Palace and grounds. Reminiscent of any old ‘haveli’-style palace, Gandhi was imprisoned here for some time before independen...