Inundated with new cuisines, new restaurants and new foods? Then you need an antidote to the craziness of the Delhi food scene where new eateries crop up all the time. You need to take a walk back into time. You need to visit Embassy, around since 1948.

Haven’t heard of it? Well, if you are a Delhite, you surely know it. It’s the ancient gastronomic heaven where you go to binge on food that is delicious, is reasonably priced – and also invokes memories with each spoonful. After all, the restaurant has been around for six decades with its curious blend of dishes. Where else would you get Bomb de Moscova, Amritsari Macchi, Chicken Strognoff and unmatchable chole bhature and chicken chaat – all on the same table?

In India you can see man and monkeys living together in an uneasy truce. A photograph that got away was of at least 20 monkeys all dangling from a traffic light pole in Agra! Before I got my camera out, the bus had moved on and the clambering monkeys remain a delightful snapshot in my memory. I’m sure the monkeys run rampant in places like Benares, Mathura and Haridwar.

In fact, I distinctly remember having my toast snatched from my hand by a greedy monkey at the Haridwar Railway Station many years ago. Now I caught glimpses of monkeys – and humans, outside a small wayside temple near the Ranthambhore National Park. Seen as a form of Hanuman, the venerated Monkey God, these monkeys are indulged and even fed by passers-by.

“‘What do you do?’ This question has always elicited varying responses from me at different stages of my adult life. There is a misconception that women who don’t work outside of their homes, in actual offices, don’t do anything in society’s eyes.” Guest Blog

Ever had the experience of dressing up and rushing out – into a downpour? Or freezing in a slinky outfit when the weather suddenly turns abrasive? Looking out of the window to judge the weather is just not good enough – a more practical weather forecaster might be Daily Dress Me!

I was in the fabulous Udaivilas in Udaipur, enjoying the morning breakfast feast, when my eyes lit up. No, it wasn’t some grand Rajput jewels which had so excited me, though these gems I speak of were a rich golden orange and came wrapped in a delicate outer covering of gossamer beige.

“Tis the Season to Be Fabulous fa la la la la…I love the holiday season. The shopping; the sales; the extravagant get-togethers; the holiday parties; the cookies; the gifts; the Secret Santas; the holiday cards; the holiday movies; the New Year’s eve parties and the chocolate. What a great way to say goodbye to a year and ring in the New Year with some great spirit and some awesome love.”

On the Delhi-Matura road heading out to Agra, as our pristine luxury bus merges into the sea of dusty, meandering trucks, lorries, buses, cars, scooters, cycles and the occasional camel, it is possible to see life being lived in the open.

From the window of this secluded and privileged world, I can see India whizzing by: ramshackle paan bidi shops; one man – one table entrepreneurships selling chole matter for Rs.15; dingy snack shacks bursting with bottled water, chips, and of course Pepsi and Coke.
There are helmet stands with colorful helmets positioned on the sidewalk; a sign ‘Hell or helmet’ which tells of people’s growing awareness of road safety; a mini roadside temple to the God Hanuman festooned with marigold garlands; and of course, people, people and more people everywhere.

At Hanukkah, Indian-Jews remember the homeland which nurtured their faith. “India has been the only country in the world where Jews have never been oppressed or suppressed or discriminated against,” says Romiel Daniel, who is Jewish-Indian-American. Indeed, India has been nurturing home and haven for generations of Jews whose ancestors fled from persecution centuries ago. At its peak there were about 37,000 Jews living in India. “Discrimination is something that has never happened in India for 2000 years and that is something we are very proud of, and that is why we go back to India so often,” he says.

“There are no shortcuts. If we have a goal we must work at it and earn it with integrity and hard work. No matter who you are, in order to complete a mala you have to tie the 108 knots. It might require patience or present challenges but don’t be so hard on yourself, the joy is often in the journey and most of the times nothing really worthwhile and rewarding comes easy.”
Guest Blog – My New York

In fashion-mad New York, it’s not just the people who get decked out in designer fashion – their bicycles do too! The recent Tour de Fashion may not have been exactly the Tour de France, but bikes certainly received a lot of love from some of New York’s top designers including Diane Von Furstenberg, Isaac Mizrahi, Betsey Johnson, Elie Tahari, Yeohlee, Nanette Lepore, Nicole Miller and many more.
Noted jewelry designer Amrita Singh and happening fashion designers Prabal Gurung and Bibhu Mohapatra were the South Asian presence at this buzz-y fest with designers, fashionistas and hordes of fashionholics.