Latest Articles
Hindustan Times: Isn’t food enough for restaurants?
When you go to a restaurant, what do you go for? If it is just food, I would argue that you can get better food at your home or a relative’s home. Most of us go for the experience, the theatre, the presentation, the service, the feeling of being cosseted. This is what we pay for. The question is how much premium are you willing to pay for this?
For WisdomCircle: on connection
Connection is what defines us as humans and it is one thing that exponentially increases our happiness. This isn’t some deep profound confide-all-secrets type of connection that I am talking about, although that too is good. These are micro-connections that take seconds and minutes to create and foster. The great part about living in India is that we all do this anyway—or used to.
Hindustan Times Edit Page: Sex scandal in Hassan
In incidents of sexual assault and rape, India and indeed the world, has a tendency to blame the woman—the victim. “She must have been wearing something provocative to instigate him into rape,” is a common one.
India Today Travel Plus: Restaurant review
How does a fine-dining Indian restaurant differentiate itself? A review of Zarf at The Sheraton Grand Whitefield.
Can—and should– spas go beyond ayurveda in Bangalore?
Ultimately, it comes down to the smell of the towels, I said when a Bengaluru visitor asked why I had not given a spa guide to the city in this column. After all, I had written about everything else. This is odd because you see, I am that cliché. I am a spa junkie.
For SF Gate: temple food
This is my first piece for SF Gate which has some 136 million page views and some 30 million unique visitors each month. It is about the Livermore temple and its food.
Hindustan Times: On ageing
There is no single blueprint for ageing well. There are whacko schemes like tech entrepreneur Brian Johnson touting his “longevity mix” (also called Blueprint) as being second only to mother’s milk.
Is kaali-dal the McDonalds of North Indian food?
To me, the next bastion of North Indian food is to look to the light flavours of U.P vegetarian food
For India Currents: on dance
About a dance theater production based on my book, Food & Faith
For Smithsonian Journeys magazine on Jaipur
This is an old story. But for some reason, it wasn't uploaded here. So here it is. This post is about the art of applying henna and how I learned how to do it in Jaipur.
Career Transitions and How to Cope
Career transitions happen by choice or compulsion: some that we seek and some that are forced upon us. The trick when you find yourself stumbling is to be prepared to pivot, to change. Most people know how to change in theory. But doing it is terrifyingly difficult.