I grew up in a family that spoke English first and our mother tongue next — that’s just how life had become. I’m only now realising, with regret, the impact it has had on various aspects of my life.
I remember distinctly the times I was subtly called out, by friends and relatives, for not being proficient in my mother tongue, Telugu. We’d have a comfortable conversation, but at the end of it, they’d sign off with a smirky “You don’t know Telugu *properly*, kada?”, …
- Arrange 174 peanuts in a modular grid on a flat pan, at an angle of 30 degrees each.
- Dry roast peanuts until they become the colour of milk chocolate with a hint of magenta (see Pantone 7593 CP) and release a ‘nutty aroma’, otherwise known as that-just-about-to-burn-smell.
- Keep aside to…
A Descriptive Essay
Read in the voice of David Attenborough for a profound experience.
In the deep, unexplored chambers of the Cerebral Cortex lies the fascinating yet fearsome Forest of Mess. Mess was once-upon-a-time a clean, weedless paradise, young and naïve. …
- Dunk 1 cup of sabudana / sago in water till their hearts burst into fluffy balls of sponginess. Drain.
- Collect:
• 153 cumin seeds
• 11 curry leaves, handpicked with 75% love and 25% perspiration
• 27 roasted peanuts, crushed with a 5 kg dumbbell
• Boiled potatoes, cut into 18 cubes…
Designing an Identity for The Doctor Foundation
The Doctor Foundation is an NGO based out of Pune, India, whose core objective is to bring warmth, cheer and a sense of purpose back into the lives of the elderly in the disadvantaged sections of society.
The Foundation has recently set up a charitable polyclinic and recreational centre in Pune…
You know that often liked-loved-haha-shared phrase about the look on someone’s face when they see their food coming at a restaurant? Their salivary glands churning voluminous amounts of saliva that can’t wait to envelope the contents of the arriving dishes?
When the restaurant is a gym and you are the…
I have 6 half-written (some outdated) drafts and absolutely no willingness to finish and publish any of them. Why? Because there is an ingredient missing and I can’t find it.
Lately, I’ve found a lot of things missing: A comma in a sentence. Some salt in the curry. …
Sometime ago, I fell into a tub of Feelings. It happened quite by accident, but tell me, who falls into things purposely? How stupid.
Feelings come in a range of flavours; sweet, sour, strange, good, bad, right, wrong. Some make you really light headed, others are like a pile of…
Deep in the twisted lanes behind the famed Charminar of Hyderabad, there lives a goat.
A goat with real swag.
The end.
Signs of the times
Saturated colours, crude textures, chipped off paint, ominous symbols, distorted icons, freehand drawings, measured typefaces and confused shutters; what possibly can be better signs of the times?
What can I say of a place that already so much has been said about?
(Except that if you’re a lover of dabeli, and have eaten Kutchi dabeli in Pune, Mumbai, Indore or wherever else, I have five words of advice: eat Kutchi dabeli in Kutch. …
