Every evening, after the sun sets in the steel city, the sky lights up. The orange glow can be attributed partially to the burning metal at the steel plant, and partially, to the illuminated carts of the food street in the heart of the town. Tatanagar was founded a little over 100 years ago when Jamshedji Tata decided to set up a steel plant here. … Continue reading Food Street of The Steel City
I first spot them quite by chance, on a narrow wall, in the center of the town: Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock rushing down a fire exit, as if in search of another clue. Even though I knew about them being in town, I hadn’t expected to meet them so soon. If it wasn’t for the selfie clicking crowds, I would perhaps not even have … Continue reading At Home With Tintin
A warm, sultry day, two tired people, a parched throat, and a rumbling tummy. No, this is not the title of my next film, but the condition I am in now. In the middle of the Dutch capital, at the peak of the tourist season, on a Friday. While planning my trip to Amsterdam, it had been really hard for me to find a hotel … Continue reading A Warm Summer Day and A Cone of Vanilla Ice Cream
No one knows when it was first made, or how. Some say it was ‘invented’ when the British found it impossible to eat the roti and kebab combination using their fingers, others say it was created when the busy people of Calcutta (now that is an oxymoron), found no time to sit and savour their meal. There is one more school of thought, which does … Continue reading An Ode To The Roll
What do you do when you find yourself stuck at a railway station with a first class ticket but no train? You eat. Well that’s what I did. I am supposed to be on my way to Shantiniketan this morning but my train has been diverted and I have had to get off barely forty minutes after starting from Calcutta. Presently in a tiny station … Continue reading Stranded In A Food Haven
Four tiny vadas, and one sticky, steaming hot idli, eaten at a stall, sitting on a narrow bench that had turned black with dirt and grime, with just a few street kids playing across the road, and the family of three — mother, father, son, — taking turns at the stove, the tap, and the cash box, was the most satisfying meal I had eaten … Continue reading An Incomplete Breakfast By The Sea
While the classic Paris is something we all know — and dream — about, there is another, more fun part of Paris that often gets neglected. This part, a few miles off the main city, is as dreamy, as beautiful, and as classic — in its own way. And it is called Disneyland. A place where all dreams come alive, a land where all wishes … Continue reading Disneyland: A Place Where Dreams Come True
While people from world over go to see Paris, Paris enjoys seeing people. People watching is serious business for Parisians. Whether it is sitting by the Seine watching the boats cruise by — and waving at the tourists occasionally, or sipping espresso from tiny mugs while smoking cigarette after cigarette — and smiling at the passerby, or just lazing in the umpteen parks of … Continue reading Flânerie: The Art of People-Watching in Paris
The home to the Habsburgs and the Opera, the abode of Gothic, Renaissance, Neo-classical and Art-deco style of architecture, the land of tortes and coffee – there is not one but many ways to describe Vienna. Continue reading Vienna: life in slow motion
