Onathallu – When we beat them up

First of all a Happy Onam to all the Malayali readers. For those who are not Malayalis, today is the day our old king Mahabali who led Kerala to much prosperity comes back to Kerala from his banishment, if only for a day, to observe the progress of his subjects (at 3AM or so) and so we all deck our…

Irani restaurants and Poppy tea

That beautiful scene from the song ‘Pee Loon’ in OATIM featuring the winsome - Prachi Desai a.k.a Bani (for those out of sync with Bollywood, it is the new movie Once upon a time in Mumbai) reminded me of those lovely Irani tea shops and restaurants in Mumbai. The movie was great, the song by Mohit…

The Chinese Fishing Nets at Kochi

Now and then a question comes up – about the origins of the Cheena Vala or the Chinese fishing net in Cochin. Some opine firmly that they are of ancient Chinese origin, dating to Kublai Khan’s times (mid 13th century); some others say it arrived even before that and others grandly announce they act…

Hacked!! London Scam

It was an extremely nerve racking day for me, and I am sure for many of you, my friends. Some of you I have met, Some I have corresponded with, but I am thankful for the responses and concern from all of you. But let me get to the story, so that others can figure out how this unfolded and hopefully…

Buy one get one free

This is a universal gimmick as we all know. The word ‘free’ is magical to many, including me. Say ‘muft’ and you can get a million in front of you in a jiffy in India. Sometimes I wonder what started it all in apna desh. Was it Guptaji perhaps? And it reminds me of a joke about the man who purchase…

That Man Stuart

Sometimes you wonder, when you see or recall Mandakini under the waterfall in that seductive scene from Ram Teri Ganga Maili or the many other wet sari scenes in Bollywood and other Desi movies - how on earth the very idea came about. The girl in the waterfall or the girl coming out of the pond ha…