Category: Books

How to choose Watches!

How do you choose a Watch? 

Firstly, think about why are you looking to buy a watch? Is it a milestone you are celebrating? 

Or you have liked it, because it looks cool, and you spotted your role Model/ Favourite celebrity wearing it and would like to own that watch. 

These are some of the reasons. 

But, you could also like the Watch, Because You simply like it for its design, And it’s distinctive from anything you have seen before! 

Or You have aspired to own a particular make or brand  since your childhood.  

But, at the same time, You might have liked the simplicity of the complications it has to offer, The perpetual calendar, The Moon phase, The GMT dial or a simple analog watch whose needles fascinate you. 

Or it would be the Mechanism movement you have also been in awe of a Automatic, Mechancial winding. 

The Size of the Watch,  Small, Medium size or Large sizes. 

Watches have an history and often an association that we look into when owning that timepiece. 

Oh! It could also be a limited edition timepiece or an investment you would like to make. 

But, it’s the only Jewellery piece that a Man has on his wrist always. It’s not something you buy to keep a watch on the time. 

But, something that you would like to keep for the rest of your life. 

Something we don’t often think about is the Age at which we own the watch, sometime we might be too young to own that or too old to have it. 

Some of the most prominent watch makers to consider. 

Swatch, Tissot, Timex, Casio, G-Shock, Seiko in the entry level segment

For premium level you could look into : 

Oris, Beaume & Mercier, Breitling

Luxury would be: Omega, Panerai, Cartier, Tag Heuer, Tudor 

Ultra Luxury: Audermars, Rolex, Patekh Philips 

Some Indian watchmakers you might like to look into are Jaipur Watch Company and Horpa. 

Jaipur Watch company has some interesting designs of watches like the Stamp watch. 

Horpa a fairly new brand has the look of Blancpain and Swatch watches. 

But, watches are always a personal choice. 

Design, Make and functions are always something you must consider personally. 

Some Of The Must Visit Cafes In India!


When you have lived In a city like Mumbai for a long time and have had the opportunity to enjoy some of the best Yum food in the city and also get equally good food at home, It
becomes difficult to find food that tastes just as good in the city or town you travel for vacation or Work.
While travelling around the country, there have been some amazing cafes for Food, Coffee or The View and occasionally all three elements.
Here are some of them I have visited and recommend

Goa: The La Plage Cafe in Goa.
The beach view is amazing, The Coffee is good too and the seafood options are Yum.
Babka in Anjuna has the best Eclairs, Coffee and Pasta.

Kolkata: The Roastery House location, The White & Yellow colours on the walls Definitely make you feel you are in Kolkata the cold brew options In coffee and the Baked fish in mustard is amazing!

Bengaluru: Araku’s Orange Cold Brew and the savoury Waffles have been two of the best things from the cafe. The Roastery within the cafe, The Mod Bar Espresso machines, and the Coffee table Books at the cafe does not make you get enough of the cafe.

Lavonee Cafe’sAcademy has been the Foundation for many patisseries and Pastry chefs in the city and in India and no wonder the Cafe Gets the Bake and the coffee right! The breakfast menu has been one of the most beautifully presented and filled with Taste and texture in the Bengaluru city.

Conoor: The Culinarium cafe en route to Ooty has one of the most breathtaking views. The coffee option, The Bakes( Lemon Cake) was one of the perfect ones I have had not too sweet or not too sour.
The pizzas were amazing too!

Dharamshala:
Moonspeak Deli Cafe – A tiny cafe near the main market is a hidden gem!
The coffee Ricotta Cake has been one of the most delicious Tea-cakes I have ever had!
The coffee was also well-balanced and the Ham and Bacon sandwich was very good too!
The Cliffs In Palampur is a cute little cafe that’s like a cottage in the woods, with a small corner filled with books.
The Marble Cake, Filter Coffee, and Mutton Kheema Dosa were the highlight of our meal

The Other Space: There wasn’t any other space like this one in Dharamshala!
The day we visited this space, we witnessed Hail and Rain from the balcony of the cafe while sipping our Coffee and enjoying Spaghetti at this cafe.
You just can’t miss this for the view!

Varanasi:
Vatika – A cafe Overlooking the Ghats of Varanasi and you are enjoying the most delicious pizza, you could not imagine you could get here! For desserts, you must have Apple Pie with Ice Cream and try their Saffron Milk and Paan Stuffed With Rose Petal Milk.

Himachal, State of a Mind!

It’s a state where, I have had quite a few childhood memories.
Starting From Solan, there have been Memories of Playing cricket with a bunch of my cousin friends for days, whenever we visited, plucking of Apples & Peaches from the Trees, Watching Films at Laxmi theatre a family owned Cinema theatre the first & only one in the town.
To enjoying fresh fruit Jams from now popular Bhuria Jams ( Gauva, Apple, Orange and many more flavours) and then having the HPMC fresh Squashes.
While this would be Solan!
Shimla not being far away and the cousins studying there, we would frequently visit the Hill Station’s too!


A lot of times the spiral roads from Chandigarh to Solan to Shimla would make me feel dizzy’s and a lot of mints and breaks later, We would reach our destination. In Shimla The Toy Trains would be our favourite spot, on many visits would we only like to go there.
The Combermere Pizza’s would be a treat for us, since they would be the most cheezy and the only hot food, we enjoyed in the winters at the Hill station.


We would also like trying out the Bakes from Trishool, the Cream Roll would be the Favourite.


A tiny little Restuarant style place in the lanes of Shimla also served the Best Momo’s and Soups that we couldn’t get enough of!
The Maggi noodles from the Highway near the Waterfalls, where we would Enjoy the shower and witness the sight of Monkey’s jumping and Hopping from the trees.


One time, When we visited Wildflower the Oberoi hotel, one of the most beautiful hotels with a view. There were snow leopards spotted just a couple of days earlier than we had visited.
Wildflower is also the same hotel, where The movie Black was shot starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji


When we would visit Himachal in snowy winters we would slide down the hills and throw snow balls on each other.
The memories with Himachal, Solan, Shimla are so fresh that all these Himanchal memories seem like yesterday, but indeed it has been over 3 Decades and Multiple visits of memories.
Now too, though it’s been about six Years. Since the last visit, Shimla hasn’t changed a bit.
The CeCecil Oberoi: Has its own old-world charm that brings you back to the hotel again.


We also went a little further ahead to Theog and experienced the Hills from the Top overlooking all the Pine Trees, or snow trees from the Taj Theog.

Information:

Travel to Shimla from Chandigarh.

3-hour drive from Chandigarh.

Stay:

Chillaru

Taj Theog

The Wildflower by Oberoi

The Cecil by Oberoi

Cafes:

Cafe Sol

Shimla Times for Pizza and Sunset View.

Combermere for Italian Food.

Trishool Bakery For Cream Rolls & Eclairs

Best Books on Food!

Taste by @stanleytucci.
A book, that you would enjoy reading not just if you like eating, but if you like cooking too! The tone used in the book, the way it has been written, takes us back to his childhood days and memories! This book has Taste on every page, while some pages are sweet, some are Bitter. The whole read is a meal! You wouldn’t like to miss it!

The Food Mood Connection by @drumanaidoo
Haven’t you always said or heard? I am in the mood to eat this meal today for lunch, Breakfast or Dinner.
Well! Food and Mood does have a connection and this book highlights how it affects us. An interesting book on focusing correlation between Mental Health, Food and Diet.
Research and written by Uma Naidoo who has studied nutritional & lifestyle psychiatry at Harvard.

Pancake in Paris by @craigcarlsonauthor
A story of an American who lived his American dream in Paris!
By starting a cafe – Pancake in Paris!
This story is about how he succeeded in living his dream and the challenges he faced in getting the right ingredients and introducing a Breakfast meal that wasn’t part of the French culture.
A good American breakfast.

How I Quit Google to Sell Samosas @munafkapadia
The Story about Borhi Kitchen – A home experience of cultural cuisine, that started a decade ago and gained popularity for the food and the experience it, it later also grew with food experience as a delivery service and for Catering at events! With a simple idea of bringing in local cultural food. This is an inspirational story set in India, Mumbai since it’s also a challenge to diversify from well-paid jobs to starting something of your own. This book also highlights the challenges one faces in the Food & Beverages and Hospitality business.

Forgotten Foods @taranahusainkhan
A book on looking back at some of the food specialities that aren’t very popular these days and are well known only in certain parts of the country.