Adhi Potoba

Mutton Rassa (Maharashtrian lamb curry) was probably the first food I knew I couldn't live without. Especially the way my mother makes it. My grandmother, my mother and all my aunts would make their own garam masala. Although my grandma has passed away, her memory still lives on every time I cook something as my garam masala still comes from home. I have had Mutton Rassa all over Pune, but only the Parsi restaurants do real justice to the Rassa part of it. Although it has been 10 long years since I've been to Cafe Good Luck on Fergusson College Rd, I still remember the L shaped restaurant where time seems to have stood still. It has withstood many a communal riot that required reconstruction for other Parsi establishments. The entrance of Good Luck, the apex of the L, is at the corner of Bhandarkar Rd and Fergusson College Rd. One wing of the L extends into the dining area, the other is only for tea & pastry consumption. I remember the slightly bent old man who used to si...

If you grew up in Pune you’d remember of a mildly annoying siren that would go off at 10:00 a.m. every day and last for a good 10 minutes. I never figured out what it was for, where it came from or if anyone was supposed to do anything about it. We just knew that it was there and we ignored it, much like the coloured ‘Terror Alert System" compliments of the Department of Homeland Security. The one thing I can always remember about it though was that when the ‘bhonga’ (as it was called) would go off aayi would be making her dabba of chapatis for the day. And during the holidays my brother and I would sit cross-legged on the cold floor of our humble dining-table-less kitchen and wait for aayi to give us a hot chapati slathered with some ghee and sugar and rolled up on dented steel plates. After a generous helping of chapati rolls, all young members of the galli would then emerge from their respective homes. for a good day of galli cricket. I have tried recreate that taste at home ma...

Like any big art school my alma mater gave India many successful artists, sculptors, architects and creative directors. Of course, it wasn’t enough to be at par with everyone else, so Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya gave us something no other art school has produced—the deadliest gang of serial killers in the history of Pune city. Jakkal, Sutar, Shah and Jagtap were students of the commercial arts stream, the same major that produced the lack luster career of yours truly. The four went on a killing spree for 14 months between Jan 1976 and March 1977. Being evil is one this, but being stupid and evil just isn’t a good trait to have. The four were finally apprehended as suspicions arose when the foursome went and inquired about the progress of the investigation at police stations one time too many. The first victim of the infamous foursome was Prakash Hegde, the son of the owner of a small hotel, Vishwa. Situated behind the college. Prakash’s murder was the only claim to fame for this otherwi...

Hostelites, especially males, living in the Deccan area were really lucky to have the Lucky restaurant. Situated in the prime location of Deccan Gymnkhana, between Hong Kong lane and the Champion sports shop, it proudly served most of the Fergusson, B.M.C.C and M.E.S Garware college students. Of course, it was a popular dining spot for families, too. The structure of the restaurant was very similar to Café Good Luck, the other Irani restaurant on the block. It was divided into two sections. One served tea and snacks. And the other was for dining and families. Dining at Lucky (or Good Luck for that matter) took you back into the sixties. Mostly because it hadn’t been redecorated since the sixties. The design of the Formica on the tables was a mere suggestion of what it may have looked like 3 decades ago. The surface of most tables was so worn out that there were huge black spots caused by wear and tear. There were areas of the walls with extensive water damage and the ones that didn’t w...

In spite of being situated in Satara district, Puneites claim the hill stations of Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani as if it were their own back yard. My first trip to Mahabaleshwar (or Mabby as the wannabe cool kids called it) was in 1980 at a ripe old age of 10. It was fascinating to see streets full of pretty much every kind of berry , honey and jam stores , swarms of monkeys , and vagabonds from Bombay and Pune trying to act extra cool. Equally fascinating were guys pretending to be expert horseback riders in the area around Venna lake , trying to impress women that were more interested in gnawing at their ‘ bhutta ’ (roasted corn on the cob) than any dude on a horse that can drop at any minute. Note to the ladies: Bhutta teeth is not a great look. There are a couple of cool places in Mahabaleshwar though. The shopping street, the horse rides everywhere. And what is the deal with those burnt Mahabaleshwar walking sticks? We were living at a Parsi hotel called Race View. (I have been t...

It’s President’s day today here in the U.S. and I am among the very few losers who has to work on this day. Nothing is more depressing than being the only one going to work while your significant other gives you the “sucks to be you” look while cozily snuggled up in a blanket. It reminds me of my school days when only some of the kids would have the day off on 'Rang Panchami' (A Maharashtrian version of Holi, 2nd day). It was pure torture to hear the kids in the school neighbourhood playing with their colours, splashing each other with coloured water on each other and throwing water balloons, while you sat in the 1:40 p.m. history class pretending to be interested in the renaissance in Europe. Today is a lot like that except that it is 25 years later and the urge to not be here is just as strong. Instead, I’d much rather be at home with Scanlynn and my cats enjoying some simple comfort food like Matki Usal and Chapati instead of what passes for lunch time fare here in midtow...

Tilak Tank is known to most Puneites as the largest ‘natural’ swimming pool in Asia. What it really means is that this is the largest natural body of water where some dude had the brilliant idea of putting pavement around it and a few changing rooms. “Voila, now we can charge people money for this” he said. “Let’s put a statue of Lokmanya Tilak in the front call it Tilak tank.” It is true that Tilak Tank is large by any standards. And for the most part, pretty scary. It sits right off Prabhat Road boasting beautiful moss green water. Mostly on account of the abundant moss, algae and random freshwater flora. It is dotted by large schools of guppies that live in perfect harmony with bullfrogs, freshwater snakes, eels and some uncomfortably giant crabs. To emerge out of this cesspool disease free after a summer is a testament to one’s immune system. (Yours truly spent six summers in Tilak Tank, almost 5-6 hours a day). The tank is divided into different zones by depth. 3ft and 4ft are mea...