Exiting the City of Joy

 Much depends on how you view your stay in a place. Every place can provide you with joy (or sorrow) depending on what you do to get along with that place, and the people in that place.

Though I was a visitor to Kolkata regularly for admissions since around 1996 (I was with Kirloskar Institute then), I had not lived here. A friend, Ajanta Sircar, worked here (she's a prof. at VIT Vellore now), and during one of our visits, she took me around to visit places here, including Olypub. Oxford Bookstore too. I have visited both since I started working here last year, and a couple of other places like Tollygunge Club, thanks to Dash, who is a member. 

I did not manage to play Golf so far, but might do so before I move out. Did go to a restaurant at the Ecopark Golf Course called Club de Golf though, to meet a visiting alum, Navneeta. Also met Amit Gope, a student from XIMB long ago, who is a Golfer himself. 

And re-met Ananya Ghosh and Sayantani Saha. Ananya I had met at XLRI once before, and I helped her a bit with her Ph.D. analysis here. Sayantani is an IMT Nagpur alumna, and works with ICICI Lombard ever since she graduated in 2012. 

Made a few  friends in the JIS University too, among colleagues at both campuses - New Town and Agarpara. Tried some food specialities from here. and liked most. A couple of old friends also visited, one a prof. from my XIMB days- Banikanta Mishra, and another, a Ph.D. student from Indore-turned prof. at OP Jindal, Akansh Khandelwal.

Also met Suhasini Barman, my third favourite after SD and RD Burman. This one runs a marketing and communications firm named after her, located in the Park Street area. Also guest lectures in B schools. We met on Linkedin, I think, and met a few times after that.

I also represented JIS University at a few events in Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata over the last few months.

As I said, it depends on you too, whether you take the joy or the sorrow from a place..

Favourite Foods From Around India

 I am not a food blogger, but have noticed that my Facebook posts related to food produce interesting reactions. Therefore, I am making one more attempt to list a few of my favourite foods from around the country.

Amritsar- I had Makke di roti with sarson da saag once at an authentic place there. It was yummy!

Indore- street food, including corn shavings (bhutte ka kees) and dahiwada, and of course, poha.

Tamilnadu- what I like best is the vegetarian thali, served on a banana leaf. Of late, Chettinad chicken too.

Kerala - Fish Moily used to be my favourite while in Calicut. Seafood in general, appams and stew too.

Lucknow- the kababs, especially Tunde kababs, biryani, and chats

Delhi- Chhole bhature, and Mutton curry at Nizam's in C.P.

Nagpur- Savji food was a favourite- makes you perspire.

Andhra- Mirchi bajji is a favourite.

Rajasthan- Laal maas.

Orissa- Dahi maachh.

Kolkata- the rolls are very good, unlike any others.

Hyderabad- Irani chai and biryani, any day.

Bangalore- Simple dosa, rava dosa, idli or Bisibele bath, filter kaapi

Mumbai- depends on the company. :) Maybe pav bhaji.

Pune- Sabudana wada, Bhave supari (made in Satara)- a mouth freshener, Bakarwadi

Famous Nomenclatures and Caricatures

 Mylapore Mamis

They are residents of Mylapore in Chennai, with some typical characteristics. Not sure of all the distinguishing characteristics, but they could also be found elsewhere- Malleswaram in Bangalore is a likely place.

Dilliwalas

They are generally not so bad, but have a reputation for being over-the-top, aggressive and users of the phrase "Don't you know who I am?" (Tu jaanta nahi main kaun hoon?) when faced with a cop or other undesirable objects.

Hyderabadis

They are drowning in Irani chais and biryanis, without a care in the world. Could be true, particularly for male Hyderabadis. Kaiku, nahi ho sakte kya?

Puneri

For them, it's Bakarwadi and maybe a Misal. And an afternoon siesta, even if they have a business to run. That can wait. 

Mumbaikars

Running all the time, sometimes like headless chicken. Now that local trains have been shut, not sure how they manage to micromanage their arrivals and departures.

South Dilliwalis

They are sophisticated, and speak Hindi with an English accent, and English with a South Delhi accent. Reminds me, we had a gentleman from Buffalo, NY, who taught us at IIMB, who used to start a sentence in a Yankee accent and end it in a Punjabi accent! Not sure what Kamala Harris does!

Twinning Programs

There was some talk about turning Varanasi into Kyoto. Before that, a few years ago, there had been some talk about turning Mumbai into Shanghai. So I propose that there be a twinning program just as we have in education. Twin cities need not be just Secunderabad and Hyderabad. They can span the globe, based on the number of twins- sorry, the similarities between them-according to the beholder.

Here's my list of twins-almost identical-

Nashik and Burgundy. Both produce wine.

Detroit and Chennai. Car producing towns with water bodies nearby. One of them is bankrupt.

Tokyo and Gurgaon. Both produce Japanese cars.

Nagpur and Miami. Orange country.

Mumbai and New York. Both produce enough garbage to light up the city if recycled.

Omaha and Rajnandgaon. Both in the middle of nowhere. The latter is famous on Vividh Bharati for song requests.

Hyderabad and New Jersey- approx. the same number of software engineers, from Andhra.

London and Delhi. Both have a defunct Queen.

Oxford, which will soon vie for the tag of Pune of the East, and Pune.

Edinburgh and Hubli, known for no.1 Scotch and no.2 IMFL, respectively.

General Knowledge Quiz on Cities

This is an original quiz to test your GK about cities. You have to differentiate between the named locations (describe them) and name the cities too. Prizes will run into millions of derivative-linked bonds (if there is such a thing).

1. Tarbund and Tank bund

2. Shaniwarwada and Tulsibaug

3. Sector 1 and Sector 2

4. Tollygunge and Ballygunge

5. Kilpauk and Chepauk

6. Hinjewadi and Balewadi

7. Crawford Market and Opera House

8. Fashion Street and Fergusson College Road (hint: not in the same city)

9. Malaparamba and Kunnamangalam (hint: very Zimble)

10. Itwari and Bardi (also spelt Buldi, don't know why)

Keep the coming!