‘Reading List’ Update

August 19, 2021 / Srishty / 4 Comments

Couple of days back, I started creating a ‘reading list’ for myself. Now reading list can literally mean anything for anyone, but I’ll just explain what I mean here, in this context. I have a very short attention span these days when it comes to work and, honestly, I know I am not putting in enough effort to concentrate harder. I also know how we get lured into obsessively check our phones by the algorithms, but I can try harder to not do that for sure. For example, I can easily leave my phone in the other room so that I don’t open Instagram for the next couple of hours, right? Anyway, so I come across a lot of notifications during the day & there are very tempting articles (?) that I feel like going through in entirety. What I am trying to do when this happens – just make a note of the said article which I’ll go back to in my ‘free time’. So, this is sort of a daily reading list.

I am loving making this daily reading list to the core & there are more than one reasons for that –

I love making lists on notebooks but don’t get enough chances to that, as I prefer having my work related to-do on my laptop only. This is giving me a great opportunity to write down something that’s important to me daily.
I hate the fact that I don’t consume any news actively or any of the adult stuff, you know. This activity is prompting me to read more so-called informative stuff as well. Since I am not reading stuff on a whim now, I end up incorporating more informative reads because then I don’t feel pressured to immediately consume that info.
Its a mindful activity – something that slows me down on an otherwise busy day. I come across something I want to savor, and note it down to be savored in a few hours. This 2-minute thing is a joy!

What I am not liking is that I almost never end up completing my daily reading list, but I am sure that you would have guessed already. 😀

This also reminds me how much I love reading posts with back links to other blogs, where people are suggesting what they loved reading on other blogs. I need to do one of those, for random articles as well as my own old blog posts.

Would you like to share anything that I can include in my reading list for today? 😀 Do leave them in the comments!

East of Love, West of Desire by Dinesh Prasad

January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 / Srishty / 9 Comments

Can we all stop for a moment here and call it the moment of the century/millennium?

I am sorry for the exaggeration but I can’t even begin to describe how long have I taken to write about this book. I am ashamed. I am going to give you the reasons for doing so in detail (just because I want to, you can skip that & move to how I feel about the book):

After I started reading it, I got admission in the B-School I was aspiring for, I left my job for that and trust me when I say this, B-Schools leave you with no time for anything other than work (till a point, eventually you learn how to chill, well, sometimes). Hence, I never got around to finish the book till November.
This book was sent to me for review purposes by one of the publishers I admire the most – Tara India Research Press who are also the proud owners of one of the oldest & most famous bookshops in Delhi – Bahrisons (it has been there since 1953). I am a huge admirer of their passionate love with books, writing, Delhi & India. It meant a great deal to me that they sent the book over, I wanted to make sure that I am fully satisfied with what I write whenever I do so. Now, I have come to realize that I would probably never be fully satisfied with how this post turns up. So, let’s just move.

Why I am saying they are one of my most admired publishers is because they put a lot of emphasis on contemporary Indian writing. Most of my readers are fully aware how much I like reading that. My favourite kind of books always end up being the ones related to stories of India-Pakistan partition. I was already head over heels in love with their publications when they posted about this book on their Instagram – ‘East of Love, West of Desire’ and how it is a collection of short stories related to partition. Anybody who is close to me or even anybody who reads this blog can make out that they can gift this book to me and I would love the fact that they understand my likes so well. So, I simply took the plunge and asked them if they would like to send over the book for me to ~~review~~ share about it on the blog. They very sweetly sent it. I am not exaggerating when I say that it is one of my favourite things to have received over courier so far.

The book is a gem, its a collection of heart-wrenching tales of partition by débutante author Dinesh Prasad. The stories are about how circumstances and chain of events brought changes in the lives of people. Despite being fiction and few of the stories towards the end being wee bit film-y, the book has stories that warm the heart and bring a flood of emotions, one feels so absorbed by the story that it is difficult to describe in one word how one felt when the story ends.

What I especially liked about the book was that it has all sorts of stories. The book was fabulous in telling stories on all kinds of love – parent & child relationship, forbidden relationships, unexpected encounter with love, grandparent & child relationship and what not! The thing that I loved the most was how each story had a different setting. I hate giving spoilers so I’ll only tell you that there are stories set in Calcutta, Pakistan, Varanasi, England, Shimla, hospitals and, well, the list is endless.

Coming to my most loved part of this post, as I love asking, telling & knowing favourites from a group of things, I am going to tell you my favourite story from the collection. It was, without a doubt, the very first story – ‘Batti Sardar’. I don’t want to say even a word regarding what it is about, because I want to read it yourselves.

If you are anything like me or if you would want to read tales of partition that well up your heart with emotion, then I recommend this book to you, wholeheartedly. But please do one thing for sure, whenever you happen to read it, please leave a comment about which story you liked the most. 😀 I always, always love knowing favorites! 🙂

A stroll through Delhi

December 7, 2015 / Srishty / 15 Comments

Hello there! 🙂

Long time, no see. Well, yes, I do take the responsibility of not being around but I would rather make good use of whatever time I got here today. 🙂 Before I begin, I just wanted to say that I have made some really good bonds over the internet through this blog and I never ever expected that! Now this has become something I look forward to as part of writing here. So, if you missed reading the posts or just wish to say hi or anything else really, please do drop a comment. It will certainly make my day!

About this post, I know a few readers here who love my Delhi posts more than anything else. Probably, they turn out the best too because I love them a lot myself. As some of you have heard a million times already, I LOVE exploring places and cultures and, of course, writing about them and shooting them.

This reminds me that I finally got a DSLR. 😀 I know many people here were tired of hearing me crib about not having one. Let’s see how that goes. I really had no time to learn its workings so far and I think it has already been 2 months!

Cutting the blabber right here, this is what I did on a warm autumn afternoon in Delhi when I had to meet a very good friend of mine.

I think you will like this little photo walk. (Yes, the pictures are taken with the new camera).

We first went to the Shri Bangla Sahib Gurudwara in the heart of Delhi, Connaught Place. For those of you who don’t know, Gurudwaras are praying shrines for primarily the Sikh community. But some of us who have been brought up in a Punjabi culture do visit them too.

As far as Delhi is concerned, it is so cosmopolitan that you will see people of all sorts visiting all sorts of shrines, irrespective of their faith (or lack thereof).

Look at the beautiful lake inside the Gurudwara.

After this, we moved towards one of my favorite places in Delhi. Guess, guess. I can’t wait anyway. The Oxford Bookstore or ‘Cha Bar’, the very famous bookstore cum cafe famous for the n types of teas or ‘chai’ it stocks up on.

This blue part of the bookstore is super enticing. Look at how beautiful and colorful it is with all the kids’ books. *Sigh*

What is only barely visible in the picture is that baby blue colored pool-like sitting arrangement. It’s one of the coolest ways to sit around in a bookstore (but I am not too sure if people sit inside that cavity as I never saw anyone doing that).

The lighting arrangement at the cafe was on point, what with the Diwali theme going on. That girl with a cap is one of the servers.

That’s just me trying different lighting.

I am sorry for not having any food photos. We were too hungry to click when the food came in.

Oh, by the way, this piece of art right at the entrance was a little scary. Does she not look like a real human being? Oh, well.

That’s pretty much it. I hope you enjoyed this, really. 🙂

4 fabulous white sauce pasta places in Delhi

May 16, 2015May 16, 2015 / Srishty / 8 Comments

I cannot say whether I am a pasta lover, because it’s definitely not one of my favorite things to eat. However, I like it quite a lot and most times when I am eating out, I can be found gorging on white sauce pasta. I love white sauce over red. I think that’s the case with most people? If you too are one of them, you need to check out these 4 places in Delhi. Hey, pasta lover or not, a blog post about food never hurt anyone. 🙂

Let’s begin, shall we?

1. Rodeo, Connaught Place

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Who orders a white sauce pasta in a Mexican restaurant? We do and we are glad we did. This is one of the best pastas I have ever tried. So, so yummy. I generally think that the Italian fair we all eat (pastas, pizzas, ravioli etc) is less salty for my tastes but this one was perfection. Not completely Indian-ized but not bland either. This is a must try. A word of caution: don’t try if you can’t handle overload of cheese. (I know you want to ;)).

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2. Uber Cafe, GK 2

I have forgotten the pasta’s taste now since I tried it a long time ago 😀 but I clearly remember going crazy. It was very creamy, that’s what I remember. This place has great food otherwise too, I mean apart from the pasta. I am definitely going here again soon!

3. Pizza Hut

Yes, I said it. I know you are thinking that I probably haven’t tried enough places. Well, I haven’t because there’s really a lot to try in Delhi and I don’t go out all that much. Still, I have tried my fair share of things and let me just say that I love Pizza Hut’s creamy mushroom pasta more than a lot of cults. Yes, I do.

4. Cha Bar, Oxford Bookstore, Connaught Place

Okay, I am cheating a bit. I have heard good things about their white sauce pasta but it is never available whenever I am there. Hmph. I specially went one day so that I can eat it and complete this post afterwards (look at the dedication, you guys! ) but no, it wasn’t available. I ate the red sauce pasta instead which I did not like. Why is this place in the post then? 3 reasons: 1) The title ‘4 fabulous’ sounds better than ‘3 fabulous’, 2) I have a picture of the red sauce pasta that I ate, so I can use it in this post, 3) I am hopeful that the white sauce pasta will be good.

Lastly, I want to mention that if it crossed your mind why I haven’t mentioned Big Chill in this post, then that’s because I love Big Chill but their pastas are not salty enough for my taste, so its pasta comes after these 4 in my list. 🙂

Happy eating!

More importantly, happy exploring! 🙂

Those chaotic places |Monday Mumbles 13

May 12, 2015May 12, 2015 / Srishty / 12 Comments

India is a place of mesmerizing chaos. Sounds clichéd but it is that. India is so full of places, vintage and modern, urban and rural, that can send your senses on a journey unexpected. Even those who have lived here their entire lives. No matter where you live, you will know few places that are chaotic but still enticing and even though they are difficult to roam around in, you like the charm of these places. Share those places in the comments section. 🙂

I had India in my mind when I wrote this but I am sure these places are there in other parts of the world too, even though most parts are less culturally diverse and less populated. So, if you are reading this but you are from somewhere outside India, consider answering this. 🙂

My answer:

Well, Delhi has endless places like these. There are numerous places where modern meets Mughal Delhi and it is captivating as hell. One such place I can think right now is Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi. I think this was built as part of Shahjahan’s Delhi when every architecture was all prim & proper and beautiful. This place is in a very poor state today as far as infrastructure is concerned, but it houses a huge, huge market of bridal wear & other wedding shopping. A market that garners unexpectedly high turnovers every year, or rather, every minute with the shops in the dark alleys of Chandni Chowk doing huge business. The place also is famous for its cult favorite food joints which have been here since forever and are still loved like nobody’s business! The place gets its touch of modern by the Delhi metro and the McDonald’s outlets open here but how much we would wish that nothing new is introduced here but whatever is already there gets back its glory!

QD’s, North Campus, Delhi University | Tandoori Momos & all that jazz

April 23, 2015April 23, 2015 / Srishty / 8 Comments

You know those places in a city which are known for a special something? If you live in Delhi, you know about QD’s, thanks to the frenzy around ‘Tandoori Momos’ since the past few years.

I am a complete momos person (I need to mend my unhealthy ways but that story is for another day). Momos roasted in a tandoor? Let the fun begin!

I had visited this place around 4 years back and fallen head over heels in love with the tandoori momos. This place is very far from where I live, work or have studied. So, I went there again today after 4 years but did not enjoy the momos as much. I am not sure what has changed (apart from the stark increase in food coloring). Or maybe something has changed about my taste only. 😛 They are definitely worth a try anyway.

I love the fact that this place has a hell lot of things on the menu and a separate menu for desserts & innovative drinks. The peanut butter and nutella shake is calling out to me for the next visit! ❤ The food is mostly Indo-Chinese which is, frankly, available on every nook and corner of India now (not counting the hygiene factor because I usually eat irrespective of that concern :P, talk about unhealthy ways! ) but the fact that there is so much variety under one single roof is an important one. Their Zomato menu shows North Indian food as well but I am not sure if Zomato’s menu is an old one or I missed it.

We tried the mixed veg in Schezwan sauce with noodles and I liked it a lot. Note that I am not even a big fan of chowmein but I liked these ones quite a lot. They were kind of crunchy, like pan-fried ones and not super soft like most noodles are. The mixed veg in Schezwan sauce was beyond lovely. I mean, it isn’t like you are missing out on anything if you don’t try it, but the experience of having it was really good. It was mild, comforting but spicy, all at the same time. I should also mention here that the helping of veggies in the sauce was really good for the price, I have tried this dish at few fine dining restaurants and the helping was comparable, if not more. Lots of mushrooms, broccoli (for those who like it) and the usual gang.

We also tried their fruit beer and this innovative drink called ‘Black Manga’. Fruit beer was sweeter than other places and I liked it. My best friend liked the other drink, it’s fun to try their various experimental drinks!

We ended it with this huge, huge glass of ice-cream, it doesn’t look huge enough in the picture. It was an assortment of vanilla, strawberry, jelly and fruits. It was a regular ice-cream, if you have tasted Giani’s fruit salad(or Sundae?) one, this is the same. I am not a big dessert person, so I don’t have much to say anyway.

In my opinion, this place should definitely feature on your must visit list, even if you can get similar food elsewhere and here’s why:

What I liked:

It is very affordable! Considering how Delhi’s food scene is getting exorbitantly expensive, this would fall on the cheaper side although they have almost doubled the prices since my last visit 4 years ago.
They have a huge variety of Indo-Chinese food and innovative smoothies and drinks.
The service is super fast.

What I didn’t like:

Tandoori Momos, their claim to name and fame, did not feel just as good as they were 4 years ago, not sure if it has got something to do with me or them!

We visited this place because my best friend is trying to stay away from ‘outside’ food since past two weeks, so he thought he deserved this. 😛 He was extremely satisfied and happy with the visit. 🙂

So, when are you going?

Life of Srish

Because every tiny thing is worth a snapshot

Delhi