Ever wondered how some street foods are pan-Indian, you can find them in almost any part of India? They may taste a bit different in their different avatars, but the essence remains the same. Anuradha Rajan does a roundup of ten such popular Indian street dishes and tells us why we seek them wherever we go! The streets of India are incomplete without their street food. A hawker or vendor with a portable stall sells food or drink in public areas like a market, a fair, and at stations. India is famous for its cheap and tasty street food, and…
Author: oiop
Organic foods are considered by many as a fad. But it’s an absolute necessity if we want to preserve our soil and encourage the next generation of farmers, says Kavita Mukhi, who is behind The Farmers’ Market initiative in Mumbai. She also debunks some myths about organic food. Ss a teenager I would never have imagined that I would be involved with organic…I was happy-go-lucky, eating whatever was served up, and busy with life. But then a child was born to me that made me want to get involved with food. As a parent and as a tired mother, the…
Despite her best intentions, Nivedita Louis is unable to break her running affair with good food. Could you, if faced with the delectable kaju katli, the resplendent gulab jamun or the elegant bar of Lindt? Food for thought indeed! Do you know what is the next best thing that can happen to you after Ramu Kaka’s yummy yummy jalebis? The next plate of jalebis waiting on the table. My weighing scale creaks and cries every time I try to measure the ‘few’ extra pounds I’ve gained. Big is nice, that is my mantra. I never knew I was a foodie…
He made calendar paintings an art form and was as well-known for his abstracts as for the publicity designs he created for films. J.P. Singhal was an artist with a difference. Pradeep Chandra profiles this prolific artist. Hailed as the Raja Ravi Varma of the century, Jayanti Prasad Singhal (1934-2014) popularly known as J.P. Singhal was the highest paid artist of his time, and when he was painting for calendars, the waiting period for his work was a minimum of two years. Since the time he landed in Mumbai till 2002, his paintings were in homes, shops, hospitals, offices and…
Pioneering chronicler and photographer (1913-2012) It was common for the Films Division Newsreel to screen the arrival of Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru from his travels. As he was shown disembarking from the plane, a battery of photographers waited on the tarmac to receive him; amongst them a solitary female figure stood out – sari clad or some times in a dress – camera cocked to grab that one signature shot of her favourite subject – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. India’s first woman press photographer Homai Vyarawalla, captured the last days of the British Empire in India right down to the…
The 21st Kolkota International Film Festival had an interesting mix of films even though the jury had to face certain constraints, says Shoma A. Chatterji. She runs through the films which impressed, and those which didn’t. Amixed medley of films in the Indian Select formed one of the three segments which featured at the Kolkota International Film Festival (KIFF). One of these was the section on International Cinema. The second was the NETPAC section which featured South Asian films and the third was the Indian Select with 12 regional language films including Hindi, and three Bengali feature films. The average…
The Chennai floods wreaked devastation at many levels, from the properties and belongings that people lost, to the traumatic loss of lives. Amidst this was a bunch of volunteers who worked the social media, coordinated relief efforts, spent hours touring the affected areas and reached relief to the needy. One such volunteer was Liz Thottan, who recounts those terrifying days when a city collapsed, but a city also found its soul. The tourist season was just about to commence in Mahabalipuram, a fishing village and a UNESCO heritage site, 60 km off Chennai. In preparation for this I decided to…
What is GST? What are its pros and cons? A succinct primer. The nation is waiting for another parliamentary discussion on the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The last one was in December 2014 when the Constitutional Amendment Bill to make it possible was introduced. This is perhaps the most important fiscal legislation since the value added tax (VAT) introduced in 2005. This proposed tax will replace all indirect taxes including VAT. Indirect taxes are the main source of tax revenue for the government. When we purchase commodities and services as final consumers or as producers, included in the bills…
The state of Pondicherrry is a delicious mix of French and Tamil cultures. One doesn’t triumph over the other; rather, there is a lovely co-existence where even as you sip on filter coffee at a shack, you can peep into the French cafe next door! As you walk down the lanes of the quaint French quarters, with its well-kept roads and high-ceilinged villas, it’s easy to imagine that one has been transported to France. Yet, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the ancient temples, churches with stained glass paintings, the echoing sounds of the temple and church bells, and pristine beaches remind…
In Mumbai’s central suburb of Matunga there is a small, and very busy restaurant called Café Madras that has been run by three generations of the close-knit Kamath family. For 75 years, the 60-seater quaint restaurant that serves authentic South Indian food has seen serpentine queues, with families patiently waiting for their turn. This no-frills place focuses on quality food and customers happily share tables with complete strangers, focusing on their dosa and upma, washing it down with the strongly brewed filter coffee. The restaurant is as much a part of the Matunga folklore as the temples, silk shops and…