tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:06:29 +0000learningsmemorieslifedelhieducationfoodHyderabadcitystuffyouthEDCIndian mediaTibetanTibetan cultureaddictioncitieseating outexileold ageAamir KhanBengali booksBlossoms bookDaryaganj bookGrowing up in IndiaIndian televisionKorean restaurantLandourLandour mussoorieLandour weatherMajnu ka TillaNagaNorth EastSatyamev JayateStar PlusTibetTibetan delhiTibetan food in DelhiUttarakhandanxietyartsyattarattar in indiabucket listcaffeinecappuccinochor bazaarcoffeecoffee housecopingcoping with manic depressioncuisinecurrydepressiondignityevery day carryfirehipsterindian attarindian attar newsindian perfumeindieittar in indiakannaujkorean foodla phinglandour bloglaphinglightersmanic depressionmediaoudoud ittaroud perfumeoudhoudh attaroudh perfumephotoporkreadingshoppingsunday book delhisunday book marketsurvival kitsurvival tinthieve's marketthings to dothings to do in landourtraveltravel indiaurban survivaluttarakhand tourismzippohttp://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)Blogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-147557817201610718Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:16:00 +00002017-10-10T14:05:44.715+05:30attarattar in indiaindian attarindian attar newsindian perfumeittar in indiakannaujoudoud ittaroud perfumeoudhoudh attaroudh perfume Fragrances have been a thing of wonder for as long as I can remember. While growing up, perfumes of every sort were called "scent" (pronounced s-a-i-n-t) in colloquial Bengali. This was when sophisticated citybred men would indulge in a splash of Palmolive after their morning shave. Deodorants did not exist, and you only needed a generous dusting of talcum powder after a shower to get http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2014/04/attar-story.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-4566413490789226690Thu, 03 Apr 2014 06:55:00 +00002014-04-03T12:56:57.568+05:30Landourlandour blogLandour mussoorieLandour weatherthings to do in landourTibetanTibetan culturetravel indiaUttarakhanduttarakhand tourism Last summer, we were both petered out with work and from running the house, and decided we needed to go to the hills. Being married to another mountain person means we never agonize over travel decisions. While we have been to a few beaches before, the Himalayas are where we are most at home. Reaching the foothills from Delhi is an overnight affair. So we boarded a bus to Dehradun on a Friday http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-walk-in-woods.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-4867629244693542187Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:23:00 +00002014-03-03T00:57:34.618+05:30Bengali booksBlossoms bookcitiesDaryaganj bookexileGrowing up in IndiaHyderabadlearningsmemoriesreadingsunday book delhisunday book market I Like most middle-class Bengali homes at the latter half of the past century, our house too had a modest bookcase, replete with the obligatory moth-eaten, clothbound AT Deb Dictionary, and a decrepit Geetobitan gathering small cobwebs at a steady rate. There would be volumes of refurbished, dark-green board-backed Bankim Rachanabali with silverfish bore-holes, and a handful of waxy, http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2014/03/smell-of-paper.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-6625155242353293287Wed, 22 Jan 2014 18:52:00 +00002014-01-23T00:26:32.927+05:30 News flash! This little blog has been shortlisted under the personal writings category for the BlogAdda awards this year. If you liked the blog, or even if you are passing through, it would be great if you can spare five seconds, that's right, a literal  f-i-v-e seconds and upvote this blog for the award. So here's how you do it. Vote by clicking "Like" (you'll need a Facbook account to http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2014/01/voting-time.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-4473423187732948735Sat, 18 Jan 2014 18:33:00 +00002014-01-24T19:45:30.324+05:30anxietycopingcoping with manic depressiondepressioneducationlearningslifemanic depression Long ago, a diagnostic report appeared in my name, and it spat out the words moderate intensity manic depression. I was 17, I had just done the unthinkable and flunked a year in school. My parents all but gave up on me. I was supposed to be gearing up for Joint Entrance coaching classes and preparing for a degree in medicine. Most of my family studied science in some form, and I was http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2014/01/bell-curve.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-4106605968894631524Sun, 17 Nov 2013 11:30:00 +00002015-02-16T13:58:40.417+05:30delhieating outexilefoodla phinglaphingMajnu ka TillaTibetTibetanTibetan cultureTibetan delhiTibetan food in Delhi A dense maze of lanes and alleys in the absolute north of Delhi hides away one of the capital's best-kept secrets. Peaceful and secluded, the Tibetan camp at Majnu Ka Tilla is known only to few backpackers and an even lesser number of food enthusiasts. As you walk down the dragon arch at the start of the camp and explore the hidden crevices of the settlement, you'll begin to wonder if you are http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-dense-maze-of-lanes-and-alleys-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-2681499975529546978Fri, 08 Nov 2013 12:40:00 +00002013-11-17T17:04:31.925+05:30chor bazaarcitiesdelhihipsterHyderabadindielearningsmemoriesshoppingthieve's markettravel Remember when Robert de Niro played Travis Bickle? His intensity as a man who is in the process of becoming unhinged is not something people forget in years. In the film, Travis Bickle wore an old-style army jacket that was standard-issue to American soldiers from 1965. And just like Zippo lighters, the M-65 Field Jacket was indestructible, practical, and in time, found itself in the American http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2013/11/every-second-counts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-8948885064704871728Sat, 24 Aug 2013 13:51:00 +00002013-11-08T17:00:34.846+05:30memoriesold ageyouth Some smells stay with you. My grandfather used to shave using a sort of arcane Godrej soap called shaving rounds. It had a lemony disinfectant smell that lingered on him through the day, mixed with the scent of fresh earth. I could smell it in his white cotton vest while going to bed, lulled by stories of ghosts and princesses in faraway lands. My father, a savvy man for his time, used http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2013/08/perfume-and-remembering.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-8179713338506988677Mon, 08 Jul 2013 18:22:00 +00002013-07-09T18:03:02.151+05:30cityfoodlifememories My earliest memory of food is in Cafe di Monico. Nestled in the old corporate switchboard of Calcutta—Chowringhee, it was one of those crumbling dark-wood establishments my father loved from his first years as a budding public servant in the area. I must have been four when I first went there. The tables had wobbly legs supported by cardboard chips torn off from matchboxes, and blue http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-gut-feeling.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-3297541484777727170Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:31:00 +00002013-03-25T12:57:29.945+05:30Indian medialearningslifeyouth A few evenings ago, I saw the admirably slick and feelgood Zindagi Na Mile Dobaara, which translates roughly to "You live only once". As for those of you familiar with the Internet, that's YOLO—seize the moment—Carpe Diem. No surprises that like the bulk of mainstream Indian films, ZNMD is unabashedly larger than life, showing off lead characters with impossibly chiseled bodies who are http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2013/03/feelgood-inc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-2316992553589777728Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:48:00 +00002012-10-28T12:27:24.251+05:30educationlearningslifememories The best thing in life is... Oh heck. I'd probably risk tumbling down in a heap of cliches. How does one pinpoint what the best thing in life is? Very broadly though, among the best things that life yields through your daily comings-and-goings, are quite simply, things you make. This could be a great, glowing memory that you can invoke when nothing else seems worth hanging on to. It could http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-art-of-making.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-4066248010000924542Fri, 11 May 2012 11:39:00 +00002012-05-17T23:12:09.177+05:30Aamir KhanIndian mediaIndian televisionmediaSatyamev JayateStar Plus Full disclosure before I start rambling on with this post – I don't like Aamir Khan, and I don't have a television. Haven't had one in the seven years that I've left home. With the aid of modern conveniences, such as the youtube device, this post is, for all practical purposes, a subjective view on middle-India. The other day the Twitter machine was humming excitedly with news and views on http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2012/05/middle-india-wants-do-gooder.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-2861178307680271698Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:32:00 +00002012-05-17T23:12:49.444+05:30cityeducationlearningslifememories Like most kids born in the fag-end before globalization entered India, I've been lucky to have had a set-and-a-half of grandparents in the wonder years. One of the earliest memories of my grandfather from my father's side (my mother's father passed away in the 1960s – I've grown up remembering him only as a yellowed photograph) was him telling us stories by the light of a kerosine http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2012/02/pictures-of-success.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-2645065265988436777Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:46:00 +00002011-07-29T01:20:09.091+05:30addictionbucket listeducationlearningslifestuffthings to do When I was five, all I wanted to do when I grew up was to earn enough to eat lots of chocolates. Specifically: Cadbury Double Decker chocolates. After the economy opened up in the early 1990s, the Double Decker chocolate did a swift vanishing act. Understandably, I was shattered, and quickly gave up on the idea of growing up. From then on till my twenties, I've managed to flounder through lifehttp://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2011/07/half-bucket-list.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-7837260744203265752Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:19:00 +00002011-07-13T23:53:54.286+05:30 I miss that old table clock. While spending many rainy months with my grandmother, the round steel clock used to be kept near the verandah. It was the first sound I heard in the morning – its harsh, metallic alarm bell. With a big round dial and a hand-wound mechanism, the Favre-Leuba name struck me as funny to my seven-year-old self – mainly because I could not pronounce it. My day started http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2011/07/tick.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-6448913033397295229Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:37:00 +00002011-04-27T21:51:39.217+05:30artsyEDClifephoto [l-r] Parker 51, GF cap, Teal, 1956Sheaffer Nononsense, Black, Mid-90sLamy Safari, Charcoal, Early 2000sParker 21, Black, Undatedhttp://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2011/04/four-pens-in-blue-wrap.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-5201954669358724456Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:47:00 +00002011-03-02T21:59:59.622+05:30Swipe your ticket at Chawri Bazar Metro, and climb the escalator at Hauz Qazi Chowk. By the end of the ten-second ride up to the surface, you're in wonderland, and light-years away from the swanky steel and concrete of New Delhi. This is purani dilli, accent-free, high on cholesterol and as real as it gets, baby. Considered by intrepid gastronomes as the nerve-centre of unpretentious food, the http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2011/03/old-city-love-diary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-410377516822496240Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:07:00 +00002011-01-30T23:49:03.038+05:30addictioncaffeinecappuccinocitycoffeecoffee housedelhiEver had a perfect moment of coffee? No horrendous music blasting from invisible speakers. No sharp boys in their strange pretend-gora-accents. While the stuff at pretty much any run of the mill coffee place (except Coffee Day - they're evil), is decent; the pretend-cool of commercial coffee has always put the poor Hipposaur off. And in fact, we're talking about simpler things here, actually. http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2011/01/caffeine.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-6561180729745593380Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:38:00 +00002010-11-23T23:37:24.671+05:30You could have called it a stroke of very good luck, or the result of manic hunger pangs. Either way, there were six hungry souls, and there was Paharganj. At a time when the winter chill is about to blanket Delhi (NCR included, you're welcome), the Hipposaur, and a bunch of merry pranksters (apologies, Mr Kesey) that included old timer Jabbasaur, Bellasaur, who discovered her superpowers (she http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2010/11/paharganj-ii-epic-edition.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-2288574189978414681Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:25:00 +00002012-11-05T16:25:14.427+05:30cuisinedelhieating outfoodkorean foodKorean restaurant Enter the dimmed confines of Dokebi Nara and it will take you places. You could be anywhere in the world once you are seated next to the dense-graffiti-laden walls. Hell, bring along a felt-pen and make your mark, as Korean Pop blasts through the speakers. You would be most welcome. In it's own inimitable style, Delhi manages to throw up culinary surprises, every weekend. So it was last week http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2010/11/paharganj-i-korea-on-cheap.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-980402498862960519Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:24:00 +00002011-03-02T23:15:26.765+05:30With the first winter chills slowly setting in Dilli, the Hipposaur has been craving steaming hot soup for a while. A lunch date with a merry bunch of cohorts turned out the perfect chance to explore some more North Eastern delights in the city. Going beyond the Dilli Haat uppishness, the motley bunch decided to eat out at Safdarjung in South Dilli.A wonderful student colony in Delhi, Safdarjung http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2010/11/everything-soup.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-9045429903810434239Sun, 24 Oct 2010 06:36:00 +00002010-11-05T11:54:36.368+05:30currydelhifoodNagaNorth EastporkAh, pork - where does one begin? It is now common knowledge that the Hipposaur has always leaned in favour of the revered pig, when it comes to matters of gustatory significance. After all, the plebeian broiler chicken is a bit of a compromise; while mutton and beef is generic red meat. No surprise then, that pork has always topped the list of the Hipposaur's favourite things to put in his http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2010/10/ode-to-oink.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-7074980109809126129Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:18:00 +00002010-10-13T21:51:36.733+05:30Pick up a Parker 51, and the first thing you'll probably remember is your school days. Especially folks born before the '90s. You'll remember them. After Parker came out with the 51 in 1940s, it gained popularity in the Asian markets in the 60s. Soon, copies were being made in China and South East Asian markets. One such brand was the Sanghai Hero Pen Company, which still makes Hero and Wing http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2010/10/pen-posse.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-896642070534228974Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:18:00 +00002010-08-29T00:51:45.915+05:30http://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2010/08/time-machine.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9075895422626537593.post-3035423174386510108Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:59:00 +00002010-08-27T12:27:07.402+05:30dignityHyderabadmemoriesold ageRight across the street from the glass lined luxury hotel, you'll see the old man selling towels. You’ll find his frail, yet taut form sitting on the Bata showroom steps, near the Deccan Chronicle office in Secunderabad. On days under the May sunlight, he’ll sit with a handkerchief tied to his balding, withered pate. During the rains, you’ll probably see him receding to the higher steps, guardinghttp://bluecabbage.blogspot.com/2010/08/over-cup-of-tea.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Fully grown fuzzy Hipposaur)6