Goodbye Desi food
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
Gunpowdery
There will certainly be more important things to miss from India, but I know I’ll jones for the food, too. Here, we have an appam — a fermented rice batter pancake bowl — with a fried egg on top.
This was part of my last meal at my favorite restaurant in Delhi, a hidden place called Gunpowder in Hauz Khas village.
A note to Satish, the man in charge: Please, stay open. Pay whatever bribes you have to. I have strong emotional attachments to Malabar parathas, mushroom curry and a two-seat table on the balcony. I promise to come back.
Tags: delhi, egg appam, food, gunpowder, india, malabar paratha
Delhi’s late blooms
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
Amaltas
Though the summer heat is in full melt in Delhi — and the monsoons are fast approaching — there are still beautiful blooms to be found if you know where to look. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: delhi, flora, flowers, india, jnu, photography
Rising above modernity
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
Old
You have to look pretty high in Delhi to find a view that showcases India’s illustrious past while also obscuring her modern rise.
But Qutub Minar is tall enough. When jumbo jets aren’t cruising in and out of the nearby international airport.
Not that I’m a primitivist or a return-to-times-gone-by wallah, but it certainly is pleasant to see visions of history: an ancient tower and a blue summer sky.
Tags: architecture, blue sky, delhi, history, india, photography, qutub minar
A uniquely Indian phenomenon: Jugaad
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
Makeshift
This is a classic example of an oddly Indian creative force: Jugaad. There’s not a good English translation of this, but it some kind of a blend of makeshift, ad hoc, innovative, unconventional and jury-rigged. Often with a negative connotation, if that can be imagined.
In some parts of the country, it manifests itself in a category of vehicle: the jugaad, a frankenstein of parts and pieces that function as something less than a proper vehicle.
More broadly, the term is an adjective for any solution or device that is made on the fly, that makes do, a MacGyver-esque fix.
Here, we see a two-wheeled cart, attached to a bicycle frame with a scooter handle-bars, front wheel and motor. And it’s hauling what I believe to be trash across central Delhi.
Two men and a, umm... thing
Tags: delhi, design, engineering, india, innovation, jugaad, photography, transport
I will miss thee, chaat-wallah
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
Snack wallah
Granted, I rarely partake of streetside chaat (snacks), but when I leave India I will miss the ubiquitous chaat vendor nonetheless. He’s always ready to offer me peanuts, chips, chickpeas and other roasted or fried bits of unhealthy tastiness.
Tags: chaat, delhi, food, india, peanut, photography, snack
It’s a bull market
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
Kamal Cinema cattle
My local market — Kamal Cinema (where there’s no cinema) — is home mostly to liquor stores, dhabas, a few businesses, carousing men and the occasional bull.
Like this guy, a behemoth that wanders Safdarjung Enclave.
Most of the shops pay him no mind and occasionally throw him scraps of food. Or shoo him from their counters before he can dribble snot everywhere.
Tags: cattle, cow, delhi, gaiwallah, india, kamal cinema, photography, safdarjung enclave
A spire of history
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
History
It is truly wonderful to be able to visit a World Heritage Site for just 10 rupees. I don’t visit often enough.
Tags: architecture, delhi, history, india, photography, qutub minar, tourism
