Street foods from Kolkata to Mumbai, Delhi and beyond

The social media loves to showcase street foods from all corners of India and also from abroad. There are prestigious hotels and restaurants that cater to one section of society. However, those who operate outlets of street foods are in a class of their own. They love to experiment with food and offer unique dishes that mesmerize their customers who keep coming back for more. The word spreads and people throng to the counters – sometimes they come as individuals, or with their near and dear ones to share a few moments of tasting the preparations.

Mumbai is famous for its bhel puri. This is similar to the jhal muri of Kolkata. Both are dry mixtures of a whole lot of ingredients. The bhel puri is usually served on paper plates while the jhal muri is served in open-mouthed paper packets known as thongas. Then there is the fuchkas of Kolkata aka gol guppa in Delhi and pani puri in Mumbai. The product is the same. Crisp balls made of flour and stuffed with a mixture of mashed potatoes and other ingredients. The combination is dipped in a liquid before being served to the customer. And – there is always a queue of them around the person who keeps count of the items sold.


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Tidbits of the 15th edition of TATA IPL 2022

Today is the 19th March and on 26th March, the Indian Premier League IPL will enter the 15th year. There will be two new teams to make up the total of 10 teams. They will compete in the Indian Premier League. This is a professional Twenty20 cricket league established in 2007 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI. TATA will be the main sponsor and the venue of the opening match will be the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The date will be 26th March 2022. Mumbai Indians have won the title five times in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Chennai Super Kings have taken the trophy four times in 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021. Obviously, there is a tough competition between these two teams. This time all eyes will be on the two newcomers Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans. Their captains are KL Rahul (c/wk) and Hardik Pandya. Both have played in IPL earlier and their fans would love to see them do something outstanding for their teams.

Over the years, the format of IPL has remained the same with teams having their share of foreign players. They are well versed in the art of T20 cricket and many of them have become indispensable to their teams. The conceit of cheerleaders had brought an additional attraction to the game in the initial stages but at present, there are no cheerleaders.... KEEP READING FOR MORE ON IPL2022


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This happened in 1979. It was Mahalaya – a day when people pay respect to their parents who are no longer with them. It would be a first time for me because I had lost my father the previous year. Therefore, I decided to drive on my scooter to Ram Kund in Nashik. This place is on the River Godavari and considered a holy place. On days like this, there are innumerable priests available to perform the rituals. One of my friends wanted to accompany me. He, like me, had also lost his father the previous year. We decided to leave our township by 6am, drive down to Ram Kund, carry out the tarpan and be back by 6.45 am. That way we could return in time to attend our duties at 7am.

At such an early hour of the day, the traffic on the highway was less. It was the Mumbai-Delhi National Highway No 3 – and it had only two lanes. Today, it is an 8-lane highway. Anyway, we reached the holy spot, did the tarpan and began our journey back. It was the start of another day and traffic had increased on the road. I was driving the scooter and as I approached our township, I saw a truck ahead of me. It was moving at a slow speed and I wanted to overtake it. As I edged out towards the right, I saw another truck coming from the opposite direction. Instinctively, I tried to squeeze into the space between the two trucks – and succeeded. Of course, the drivers let out expletives and I did not wait to hear them out. I had to hurry because the time was nearly 7am! I added this incident into the category of other similar near-death incidents in my life.


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The Ayurveda way to neutralize heart problems

On returning from Mumbai with the reports (on CDs) of my angiography, I had a frank meeting with my doctor and the cardiology consultant. I asked them a simple question – my age was 59-years and at that age, what sort of blockage in the heart was normal. They hemmed and hawed and none of them had any reply that satisfied me.
Moreover, I had in front of me a friend of mine who had undergone bypass surgery and, while most of such surgeries are successful, his case was one that I would never like to face. He became a sort of a vegetable. He was unable to form words, he was unable to hold a pencil in his hand and watching him struggle to speak or to write, I felt sorry for him. I therefore told my doctor that I would take a call on bypass surgery at a later date.
And, when one is in a dilemma, God shows him the way as he did for me.
There was a woman in my department – she was a dispatch clerk and one day she brought me a copy of a Marathi magazine. In that magazine there was an article on an Ayurveda based potion that could give relief from heart ailments.

The ingredients were leaves of tulsi plant, michhri (kadi shakkhar) and fresh lime juice. Ten to twelve tender leaves of the tulsi plant were to be mixed with the michhri in a mortar and pestle and the mixture, with a tablespoon of lime juice, was to be taken on an empty stomach early in the morning.
Well – the medication could not remove the blockage in the main arteries but it did open up other arteries in the heart to carry the blood. I started with this indigenous medication and began to feel relief. At the end of six months, I requested the doctor to carry out another 2D-Echo test but he went one step further. He advised me to undergo a Thallium Test in the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. It was a non-invasive test carried out with nuclear materials.
And, believe it or not, there was an improvement in the LVEF and I did not go in for bypass surgery. (to be continued …)

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The search spreads out from Nashik to other cities

When Bengalis reside in West Bengal, it is convenient for them to pursue alliances that would finally get two pair of hands joined together in a holy and everlasting alliance called matrimony. This is probably because distance is not a deterrent.
Weather permitting, the interactions between the two parties can be arranged conveniently on weekends. Relatives and friends can and usually do accompany. In fact they readily agree because of the possibility of being a part of the decision making process. An added attraction is of getting to taste some varieties of sweets – that is a must for all Bengali functions. A variety of sweets arranged on a plate is a must. It is immaterial whether an alliance gets finalized or not, but a plate of delicious sweets is a must.

Anyway, we resided in Nashik and, in order to move to Mumbai or Bangalore or Kolkata in order to check out a prospective bride meant a lot of advance planning, especially for railway reservations and leave.
Therefore, based on responses that we received, my wife and I had to go around the country to try and create an opportunity to meet the families and get to know them better. This is a major problem of today. Most of the families are nuclear families and live far away from close relatives – therefore on occasions like marriage, one has to move on one’s own steam rather than depend on the propulsion of others.
And, that is what we did.
The process was, naturally, a time consuming affair and, believe it or not, it added up to nearly 5-years from the day we had begun our hunt till we managed to capture the treasure. And, the best part of it was that the treasure had been unearthed by my son himself - thanks to a matrimonial website. (to be continued …)
Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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The matrimonial ad was the first step of a 5-year-plan

Since I stayed in Nasik and since there was no provision to insert any ad in the Times of India in Nashik, I had to make a trip to Mumbai. It was a one-day affair. I went by the Panchavati Express. It left Nashik Road station at 7.30am and reached Mumbai at 11.30am. My work was only at the office of the newspaper and, once I completed the formalities, I came out and went to the Mumbai Central bus stop. There I had a light lunch and took a bus back home.

The first batch of responses arrived within the fortnight. The ad was under a Box Number to maintain confidentiality and the address I had given was that of my office. The replies had been dispatched from Mumbai through courier.
Then came the weeding out process. It was a time consuming matter and the final decision needed to be one that had the approval of all three of us – my wife, my son and myself. First I wrote down my preferences on a sheet of paper and then asked my wife to note down hers. Then we gave the bunch to my junior for indicating his.
Well - there was hardly any common factor in our thoughts.
By the time we finished with the first batch of responses, there arrived the next batch. And, there followed a similar exercise. Still no consensus.
The third batch came but, only a few.
We sat down once again, took stock of the situation and decided to send out a few replies and that is how our 5-year plan took off – it was: operation ‘bride hunting’. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Printing Bengali magazine and books from Nashik

The procurement of the four-language DTP software by the ad agency took a few months and, we had already decided to go ahead with the printing of Bengali magazines and books from Nashik. We wanted the magazine to be registered with the Registrar of Newspapers so we could collect ads for the same.
Since one of our friends was into the printing business, he gave us estimates of the amount of funds we would require to print the magazines. We wanted to print four issues every year to start with and the print order would be a few hundreds. We also had to have a base of subscribers and, hence, we drew a list of Bengalis from all over India. Our sources were the matrimonial ads that appeared on Sundays in Bengali newspapers. Other source were telephone directories of Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune from where we selected Bengali names.

We knew that we would have to invest to get the first couple of issues printed and circulate them. In order to build our subscriber base, we decided to dispatch complimentary copies by Book Post and hoped that the recipients would reciprocate our gesture by becoming members.
Therefore, with all our activities set in motion, we had to go around to collect ads.
The printing of Bengali magazine from Nashik was a totally new and revolutionary concept and, we decided to approach Bengali industrialists. They encouraged us and, through them, we got introductions to some non-Bengali well-wishers who were owners of hotels.
And, this exercise was time consuming.
We would program it for Sundays. My friend and I stayed in township and we would go by scooter to the industrial area in Nashik which was nearly 25-Km away from township to collect the ads and the cheques. We would leave in the morning after breakfast, have lunch in some wayside hotel and return home by evening. (to be continued …)

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Playing duplicate bridge in Nashik at the state level

Obtaining sponsorship of HAL meant we got two days off to participate and free transport to and from the venue which was in Nashik City.
Once we arrived and got our names registered, we met the players who had come from different corners of Maharashtra. They played bridge regularly and belonged to various clubs. Some of them had played in international tournaments while others played for national teams and were champions within the country.

There were men and women in their 70s and 80s alongside young men and women who were the junior levels of renowned teams of Mumbai and Pune. A couple of the old-timers had remarkable memory and, that was important for bridge players – they had to remember the bids, and proceed with the game based on what they had learned from the bidding.
They had to, also, keep count of how many cards of each suit had been played and which cards still remained. In short, contract bridge was in their blood and they did a lot of study and research on the subject.
The event was an annual one in order to select the best from the state who would represent at the national level and, from there, go to the international level. It was just like any other game and, in the open room, there would be fans hovering around them. Since many of them attended the event every year, they were acquainted with the local authorities as well as the local press.
Our team of HAL appeared to be in an unknown territory – and, in the initial stages of the games, we had the opportunity to sit at the same table and play with well-known names of the Indian bridge world.
However, as the games progressed, there was an automatic filtration because, the teams with high IMPs moved towards the elite end of the open room while the teams with low IMPs remained at the other extreme. (to be continued …)

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From Hindon, the venue shifted to Chandigarh

After completing a study of the aircraft held at the base at Hindon, it was decided that we shift our area of operation to Air Force Station Chandigarh where some more aircraft were available. Accordingly, I decided to travel by bus from New Delhi to Chandigarh while my Russian specialist chose to fly down with his friend from HAL Koraput.
I still had one set of change of clothes and, I knew that I would have to manage with those in Chandigarh because I would have to put up in the Air Force mess where I would not have the luxury of a room boy to keep my clothes cleaned and ironed very day.

The journey was a pleasant one because the bus was air-conditioned and it halted at a wonderful eating joint where the food was delicious. There was a small body of water in the garden and it added to the atmosphere.
From the Chandigarh bus stand I took a cycle rickshaw to go to the Air Force station and on the way I passed the ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) headquarters – it was scorching hot and there was a guard standing at attention just below the national flag. He stood like a statue with nit a muscle twitching on his face in spite of the heat all around him.
Anyway, I arrived at the mess, and next morning met the officers, explained the purpose of my visit and started the work. They had already got necessary briefing from Air Head Quarters and as the day progressed we were joined by our Russian experts.
The number of aircraft here was less and, hence, we were able to complete the assessment within a couple of days. And, then, it was back to Delhi, debriefing and flying back to Mumbai. Since there was no connecting flight to Nashik I hired a prepaid cab from Mumbai airport and landed up at Nashik. (to be continued …)

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