This post is dedicated to my favourite pub in the whole world – Totos Garage Pub aka Totlani Investment Pvt. Ltd and every friend of mine who has had a beer with me at Totos. All of you are going to be so disappointed with me. I’ve never been a fan of New Year resolutions. [...]
They say that the next best thing to traveling is to have travelers visit you. Away from India now for almost 2 years, people ask us how we battle home sickness. Well, in London, a place where finding coconut chutney and Parle G biscuits is not impossible, we could hardly complain about missing India. Having [...]
It has been a really long time since I had a few minutes to update the blog… Guess this means I’m truly on vacation now. Left London on Friday night to make a fleeting visit to Mumbai for the weekend, before heading to Thailand with the family. Even a 2 day visit to Mumbai can [...]
You know you need a break from work, when the visa you apply to comes back with a very strong rule ‘Employment prohibited’. Certified by the Kingdom of Thailand that ‘Ninja will not work in December’. Go ahead and share 
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Two things I remember vividly from Mumbai, and it feels like a combination of both happening in London today. Firstly, Baba (Capoeira India Instructor) used to always say ‘Win a free ticket to Brazil’, everytime we went to class. Attending Capoeira class was like a mini trip to Brazil indeed. The second thing I remember [...]
If you’ve been walking around London and randomly staring at houses, walls and doors, you can’t help but notice the Blue Plaques. Not interesting to any average Londonder. You need to have the tourist eye. When you move to a city, it is amazing what things you end up noticing, as compared to a local. [...]
I was chatting with this Londoner a while ago and asked her, ‘if there was one thing you could change about London, what would it be?’. She said she would like to make the City sightseeing bus tours disappear. I don’t know where that came from. But, it does make sense. Coming from Mumbai, a [...]
Having grown up in big cities, I can’t help but find small towns (or villages) amusing. We were recently traveling through Scotland and spent a couple of nights at Portree, the biggest town in Isle of Skye. Check out this advertising sign for the barber. There couldn’t be a better way to say ‘welcome to [...]
If I had to start writing about the Olympic fever, it would be never ending. So, I decided I’ll focus on some of the quirks or random things I notice as I wander around the city during London 2012. Here is one for starters….. We were at ExCel, one of the Olympic venues to catch [...]
This post is dedicated to my favourite pub in the whole world – Totos Garage Pub aka Totlani Investment Pvt. Ltd and every friend of mine who has had a beer with me at Totos. All of you are going to be so disappointed with me.
I’ve never been a fan of New Year resolutions. In general, I don’t make them and that really is the reason I don’t break them. I don’t know whether it was the excess drinking in December in India or the brain damage from regular visits to Austria, I decided to quit drinking in Jan. Of course, the real reason was to keep my mother happy.
Quotes from good friends and family on hearing this resolution of mine -
Monika – ‘There is too much good wine out there to be drunk. Lets see how long this lasts.’
Arjun – ‘Everything in moderation. Why are you so stupid?’
John -’Bars in London may become Unesco World Heritage sites. Are you sure you want to give up?’
Many others – ‘Are you pregnant?’
There have been friends who have been giving me alternate forms of resolutions -
Anna – Drink once a week. That’s good enough.
Aarti – Drink on special occasions.
Tom – Wine and Beer are not alcohol. You can drink that.
But, I’ve really held on to my resolution and started experimenting with mocktails. So far, the only thing that potentially tastes like a drink and doesn’t contain alcohol is a concoction of Bitter lemon and Tonic water. Ginger beer is just weird. And Virgin Mary should have never been invented.
Yesterday, I was stuck in Salzburg airport for 7 hours, waiting for my flight back to London and we heard that Gatwick had some snow that obviously created a total mess. While looking through presentations and working all day in an airport, the one thing that could have added an element of sanity to my Friday is a glass of wine. But, I still ordered the tonic water concoction instead. My friend Folu who kept me company came up with the best alternate resolution – ‘Drink under bad weather conditions only’. I just loved the ring of it. I almost ordered a glass of wine.
The reality of where I live jolted me. London. Blessed with bad weather everyday, that is likely to turn me into an alcoholic.
Hmmm…… back to keeping the resolution.
They say that the next best thing to traveling is to have travelers visit you. Away from India now for almost 2 years, people ask us how we battle home sickness. Well, in London, a place where finding coconut chutney and Parle G biscuits is not impossible, we could hardly complain about missing India. Having said that, the one thing that helped us survive was having friends and family from India visit us every other month.
The idea of hospitality in Europe is a bit weird. When I mentioned to someone at work that I have friends staying over, they look puzzled and throw the why can’t they stay in a hotel look?It is rather difficult to explain Indian hospitality and how it extends to family, friends, friends of friends and friends of family. I’m reminded of the Bengali film ‘Agantuk’ (stranger) about a distant unknown uncle who comes to stay. I’m also reminded of Santosh Desai’s book Mother Pious Lady where he beautifully captures the phenomenon of never ending guests. Mi casa Tu casa of the world very much applies around where we live in London. Anyway, apart from one instance where I actually had to tell a girlfriend of a friend of a friend to find out what cheap hotels are available in London, Caledonian Road B&B has been running full in 2011 and 2012. Thanks to all the friends who came to visit, I’ve become an unofficial tour guide and gotten to know the city better. So, here is a tour of London with all those madcaps who came to visit…
Tower Palace with Aarti
Travel Bookshop from Notting Hill with Dhruva
RA with Pooja
East London Street art with Shal
Tate with Piklu & Shocky
Phone booth tripping with Shampa
Pub lunch with Brian
Piccadilly with PD
Fireworks and madness with the AA brothers
Our folks at Hyde Park during the Olympics
…… 2013 bookings open now!
It has been a really long time since I had a few minutes to update the blog… Guess this means I’m truly on vacation now. Left London on Friday night to make a fleeting visit to Mumbai for the weekend, before heading to Thailand with the family.
Even a 2 day visit to Mumbai can be eventful…..
Aunties in nighties and PCO booths
Denitsts who call themselves Happy Tooth
Pav Bhaji loaded with 500 ml Amul Butter
Those corner tea stalls too close to the gutter
One bedroom flats, you’d think storage is a worry
Fits all the friends, the beer we missed and unlimited curry
Waxing at 555 in 20 minutes flat
Movie night that followed by a 4 am chat
The screams and hugs from the Capoeira family
Food you order comes automatically with green chill
A weekend well spent and you’d think we are done
This was just the starter. Main course yet to come..
We can’t wait to get back to Mumbai and live it up.
You know you need a break from work, when the visa you apply to comes back with a very strong rule ‘Employment prohibited’. Certified by the Kingdom of Thailand that ‘Ninja will not work in December’.
Two things I remember vividly from Mumbai, and it feels like a combination of both happening in London today. Firstly, Baba (Capoeira India Instructor) used to always say ‘Win a free ticket to Brazil’, everytime we went to class. Attending Capoeira class was like a mini trip to Brazil indeed. The second thing I remember is that my craziest colleague from work Akshai and his dream to take over an Indian train, pack it up with artists and musicians and go from Delhi to Goa – creating music, graffiti and what not.
So, last week, the Africa Express started its tour around Great Britian. Africa Express, the collective of African and Western musicians filled a train with dozens of guest artists and embarked on this amazing musical adventure. Given my dream to travel to Africa, memories of wanting to hijack an Indian train with Akshai Sarin and Baba’s advice to travel without really traveling, I booked tickets to the finale show of Africa Express. Eagerly waiting….
Picture Credit: Guardian UK
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