
About Me
I’m a writer and editor based in New Delhi. Read more about me and my work here.
Delhi Hectic
A new online “Instagram graphic novel” seeks to puncture Delhi’s poseur pride ♦ It might…
Sorry, Not Sorry
A group of restaurants in New York caters to Indian palates ♦ If a visitor…
Mission accomplished
An American architect in Delhi ♦ Some of Delhi’s most beautiful buildings sit on foreign…
The big wheezy
Winter may well be gone, but our ashen city’s pall of pollution lingers on. A…
Eighteen Years of Khabar Lahariya
Originally published as part of Khabar Lahariya’s long-form series “Sound Fury & 4G” ♦ A…
Type Out Delhi
Typographical interventions ♦ A series of “typerventions” spearheaded by Kriti Monga of Turmeric Design and…
One Man, Many Lives: Bhagwan Singh and the Early South Asians in America
Anuradha Kumar’s book about early South Asian immigration to America is as compelling as her…
Where Sinbad Sailed His Dhow
The Arabian peninsula’s maritime history comes alive in Oman. ♦ In 1979, British adventurer and…
Against Extinction
From petting zoos to eco-tours, Victoria, Australia offers many models for wildlife conservation. ♦ As…
From Benaras to Banda, Women Are Working Out
Part of the Khabar Lahariya long-form series “Sound Fury & 4G” ♦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ_9bKX6ABs&feature=emb_logo Kiran Dua…
The collector
Drive-By Hooting: On Board Delhi Tourism’s Party Bus
2010 was a red letter year for Delhi transport. The airport’s T3 was inaugurated in…
Murder most fowl
Tarquin Hall discusses his latest Delhi mystery ♦ For the third of the Vish Puri…
Up In The Air: The CP Rooftop Problem
In-fighting, bureaucracy and what it all means for spring gin-drinking. ♦ It’s that time of…
Amritsari Meatwala
Khau gali ♦ [caption id="attachment_929" align="alignright" width="359"] (Photos: Paroma Mukherjee) The market under the Defence…
Superiority complexes
The silly building name epidemic ♦ A man’s home may be his castle. But is…
Tea and Azadi: What We Learned from the Women-led Citizenship Protests
Part of the Khabar Lahariya long-form series “Sound Fury & 4G” ♦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS8dilu6mos&feature=emb_logo On March…
Stirring the pot
Delhi’s culinary melange ♦ Part of a Time Out Delhi food cover story, this is a short…
Uptown Takedown
Wrestling takes hold in Harlem ♦ Kappa IV students warm up before…
What’s Thalassery Biryani Doing in Lajpat Nagar?
A Malabari mystery at the heart of the world’s soya-chaap capital. ♦ When KC Deepak…
YouTube Journeys: Channel Surf ‘N’ Turfing through Rural India
How pastoral potboilers shot to fame. ♦ YouTube star Masthanamma has garnered fans worldwide on…
A Tale of Two Universities: Student Politics, Caste and Compromises
Part of the Khabar Lahariya long-form series “Sound Fury & 4G” ♦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_TSPuf5epU&feature=youtu.be “This is…
Choose your own Delhi adventure
Time Out Delhi’s 5th anniversary issue ♦ “For over five years, Time Out Delhi has…
A Mask Crusader, a Virus-Killing Bracelet, and a Medical Motorbike
Originally published as part of Khabar Lahariya’s long-form series “Sound Fury & 4G” ♦ June…
Owl is Well, around Greater Kailash – I
A midnight takeaway delivers food that would be ambitious for a sit-down restaurant. ♦ The midnight burger…
Paradise Garden
Secret Delhi: Shalimar Bagh ♦ There is a scuffed-up, chipped and fractured jewel of a…
Night Out: Connaught Place
If you only have one night in Delhi… ♦ Delhi has a surprising amount of…
bpbReview: The Hong Kong Club, Andaz Delhi, Aerocity
Sampan in the way she moves. ♦ This writer is a fan of Andaz hotel’s…
Two to dastango
Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain ♦ Part of a longer cover story on Delhi’s theatre…
Mother of Invention
Perumal Murugan remembers Amma in his latest book. ♦ Originally published in India Today. I’d…
Portrait of a lady
The last century of Mughal rule comes to life in The Mirror of Beauty, Shamsur…
Mathur Nature: A Kayasth Cook’s Family Secrets
Kanak Mathur’s delivery service sends old Delhi cuisine to new Delhi homes. ♦ If anyone can…
Thukral & Tagra
Admen, artists, ambassadors ♦ In the ongoing search to furnish India’s contemporary art scene with…
Saanuk Oriental Bistro & Lounge
Luxe Buddhas and a killer deal ♦ In the early days of Time Out food…
bpb Review: Kampai, Aerocity
Samurai gour-meh. ♦ Leaving aside roadside chow mein, unaffordable five-star hotels, and Delhi’s immortal Aka…
RT Book Reviews
Magazine review ♦ Name: RT Book Reviews Circulation: 70,000 Date of Birth: 1981 Frequency: Monthly…
Force and Composure
Krishen Khanna remembers Satish Gujral, who passed away on March 26, 2020 ♦ Untitled 1953…
Eternal outsider
Abraham Verghese talks about Cutting for Stone and the idea of home ♦ This interview was…
The Butterfly Generation
Palash Krishna Mehrotra on India’s flitty young things ♦ Form shouldn’t always mirror content. Palash…
Breaking Barriers, Challenging Stereotypes
Eight women, eight professions for International Women’s Day ♦ As India’s economy grows, reports have…
Kavia’s Kitchen
A hidden find for adventurous foodies ♦ Sau Foota (100 Foot) Road in Chattarpur has a…
Goya Journal: Eating Out in Delhi
From the Goya Journal’s City Guide series. ♦ [Lucky Peach, our favourite food magazine, is…
The spectacle of books
Notes from the Jaipur Literature Festival ♦ “This is literature as spectacle” — the phrase…
Sakura
Authentic, not atmospheric ♦ It’s been 11 years since Sakura first opened in Delhi. Since…
Objects
Group Show at the Visual Arts Gallery. ♦ This story was originally published in Time…
Ab Dawa Ki Jaroorat Nahin
A doctor uses medical charting software to plot trends in classic Hindi film songs. ♦…
Driving passion
Three transport museums light up the road ahead ♦ This article is part of a longer…
Holy trinity
Manil Suri on writing the third of his mythological novels ♦ Math professor and writer…
Eight Women: Shubhangi Yuvraj Mandare
As an officer in the Mumbai Fire Brigade, when Shubhangi Yuvraj Mandare is on the…
Three Tier
Wonderwall’s first photo show. ♦ This story was originally published in Time Out Delhi.
bpb Review: WD House, Greater Kailash II
A well-known Chandigarh restaurant unsheathes weapons of mass degustation. ♦ Crab cake at WD House….
Smoke House Room
Tripping the bite fantastic ♦ Being high isn’t usually associated with great gastronomic discretion. Smoking…
Time to pretend
There’s a costume for every occasion at Abhiruchi ♦ Read this article as part of…
The Grey Garden
Fabric of our lives ♦ To get to this Hauz Khas Village eatery, you first…
A picture is worth a thousand pixels
The new photojournalism ♦ In 1972, after a run of 36 years and more than 1,800…
Waiting for a Christopher Columbus
Viaduct Valley, Harlem’s “meatpacking district”, is trying hard to survive. ♦ Antonio…
Q&A: Alka Pande
Alka Pande has a finger in many artistic pies. ♦ This story was originally published…
Cracks in the pavement
Setting out to rediscover Calcutta, Amit Chaudhuri rejuvenates the genre of city writing ♦ Cities…
News flashback
Anuja Chauhan’s third romantic comedy is set in Delhi of the 1980s ♦ A tall, dark…
Object lessons
Subodh Gupta greets New Yorkers with A Glass of Water ♦ Subodh Gupta’s stainless steel…
bpb Review: Café Hameen Ast’o, Said-ul-ajaib, Saket
Firdaus lost and found. ♦ In a million tourism brochures and travel articles, both Delhi…
The Saints Come Marching into Her Living Room
Behind the scenes at Marjorie Eliot’s Parlor Entertainment jazz sessions, an uptown institution. ♦ Over the…
Through the Looking Glass
A peek into into artist S Ayesha’s shiny paper and plastic wonderland. ♦ This story…
Anecdote
Mekhala Bahl at Galerie Romain Rolland. ♦ This story was originally published in Time Out…
Eternal returns
William Dalrymple on researching Return of a King, his history of the First Afghan War ♦…
Step Across the Line
The repetitiveness in Jogen Chowdhury’s works is deceptive. ♦ This story was originally published in…
Untitled: Mohan Malviya
At Art Alive gallery. ♦ This story was originally published in Time Out Delhi.
Writing in Past Continuous
An interview with Sunjeev Sahota ♦ A version of this interview was originally published in…
A Lingering Puff of Smoke
With the Hyatt Regency opening a nightspot after a decade, Sonal Shah reflects on Djinns,…
Like a surgeon
In Abraham Verghese’s debut novel, fate is stitched together with sutures ♦ Abraham Verghese is a…
A Ringside View of Women’s Wrestling in U.P.
Part of the Khabar Lahariya long-form series “Sound Fury & 4G” ♦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoMZACrCVls&feature=emb_logo On a…
Walk the chawk with Sam Miller
Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity ♦ Journalist Sam Miller’s new book Delhi: Adventures in a…
Eating Clean
Theatrically sanitised restaurant meals, untouched by human hands and wrapped in meters of plastic are…
A Dream of Flight: Innovators in Rural Aviation
The Hired Man
Aminatta Forna travels to Croatia for her fourth novel ♦ In her fourth book, Aminatta Forna…
Party Workers: Two New Services to Bookmark for Your Next Bash
One Lajpat banker sends you chakhna and cocktail mixes; the other will rent sheesha. Compounding…
Time Out: India Perfect Places
Guidebook ♦ I contributed a chapter on Agra and some writing on Delhi for Time…
To Educate or Operate: The Big Question of Rural Reproductive Rights
Originally published as part of Khabar Lahariya’s long-form series “Sound Fury & 4G” ♦ In…
Dystopic Living
Author Samit Basu lays out Delhi’s best-case scenario in his sci-fi novel, and it is…
bpb Review: Is Instapizza’s New Sandwich & Sons Starting A ‘wich War In Jangpura?
Neighbourhood favourite Hawker’s House gets a hot new competitor. ♦ Among the chock-a-block tikka joints…
Hippies vs hipsters
The case for Paharganj ♦ For years, there’s been no stemming the southbound, outward drift…
Notes Struck by the Stars
Sanjib Singha at Shridharani Gallery. ♦ The previous shows of Sanjib Singha, a Government Art…
bpb Review: Bohca, Asiad Village
Khel Gaon gets a new tapas bar. ♦ Long before “the Village”, there was the…
bpb Review: EVOO – Eatery and Pizzeria, Shivalik
For remembrance of things pasta. ♦ The era of comfort Italian food was ushered in…
Consuming passion
Anjum Anand ♦ Anjum Anand served a station full of beefy British fire-fighters naan and…
The Hunger Pandemic: Ash-filled Stoves and Empty Stomachs in Rural Uttar Pradesh
Originally published as part of Khabar Lahariya’s long-form series “Sound Fury & 4G” ♦ Around…
Graveyard of the Raj
Secret Delhi: Coronation Durbar Park ♦ North of Old Delhi, in a now-desolate field, lies…
Epic tale
Raavan Chhaya is iPad myth lit ♦ A panel from Vishal K…
Embassy Restaurant
Representing Civil Lines. ♦ The Embassy Restaurant in Connaught Place has been around for ages….
The Book of Waswo
The new miniatures from the studio of Waswo X. Waswo are as captivating as his…
Hats and Doctors
Daisy Rockwell’s translation of the late Upendranath Ashk ♦ Daisy Rockwell’s translation of Hindi-Urdu writer Upendranath…
Spiritus mandi
To market, to market ♦ The Defence Colony sabzi and phalwalas are a sonorous lot,…
Burnt offerings
Seasonal rituals ♦ In the narrow confines of Eve’s tailoring shop in Greater Kailash, bunched…
Child Speak/Woman Song
Vasundhara Tewari Broota at Shridharani Gallery ♦ Much like her paintings, the title of Vasundhara Tewari…
Links in the Food Chain
In Indranee Ghosh’s memoir, food becomes a metaphor for inclusion ♦ This story was originally published in…
Fathers, Sons and Motherlands
Book Review: South Haven ♦By Hirsh SawhneyHarperCollins Publishers India, 2016 When the Babri Masjid was…
The Stranger’s Child
Alan Hollinghurst teases out the thoughts behind his character’s smallest actions ♦ The opening image would…
Provisioning During a Pandemic
Gourmet ingredient delivery around India ♦ Originally published in India Today. Burrata from Flanders Dairy,…
Cheese Chaplin
Quick bite ♦ Did someone say cheese? Cheese Chaplin, tucked into the air-conditioned, office-like basement…
Book Review: In the Language of Remembering
Aanchal Malhotra examines how the subcontinent remembers Partition ♦ This story was originally published in…