Tag: events

Dhaka 2023!

Dear Bangladesh,

Dhaka! A foreign city that I visited more than any other city in the world!

First time about 5 years ago! It was all about being curious of one of our closest neighbourhood. 

And today after three visits, you realise it’s so much like India and Sri Lanka! People here are Warm, Hospitable, and Kind.

Some of the things Dhaka beats us in is the traffic, it’s faster to walk and travel than to use a public transport or vehicle. 

The Mosquitoes, Gosh! No amount of fumigation, odomos repelient, Odomos scent sticks, Odomos Roll on would stop the mosquitoes from sucking your blood!

And the language barrier- Bengali! If you know the language, you would not be lost in translation!

But, if you don’t know the language. 

You would struggle to get things right! 

The food it’s a non-vegetarians paradise!

And a vegetarian’s walk to hell!

You would need to keep looking until you find options!

Some of the chaat items too have egg in them! 

And an eggless cake is a mystery to them.

The roads are wide, but everyone has taken the sides. You can’t turn, you can’t run you are stuck.

Most of the best designer clothes are manufactured here! But, you won’t find a single store selling them. Rather you would need to just visit one store for all the original’s first copies Astorian!

A lot of African, Australian, Malaysian chains of restaurant are there! 

Surprisingly Coffee is big here too! A lot of small interesting coffee shops there! 

With one or two coffee roasters selling homegrown coffee that’s grown in Bangladesh!

They enjoy a lot of Music and Movies! One of the reasons Bollywood is a big craze here!

Bollywood movies don’t release as often and as much since they believe they loose money from local cultural entertainment. 

And if they are Die-Hard Bollywood fans they travel to Kolkata. a 40 minute journey by Air or about 7 Hrs by road. 

No! Bangladesh isn’t cheap! 

In fact it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world for expats living there! 

Facts about Dhaka:


The world’s least livable city.

Longest female-led government.

There are a lot of Bangladeshis who live out of the country.

Currently only the below flights go to Dhaka directly. 

Mumbai: Indigo – Tue, Thurs, Saturday, Sunday, ( 30 Kg allowance) 

Mumbai: Vistara – Tue, Thurs(30 Kg allowance) 

Delhi : Indigo – Mon- Saturday 

Delhi : Vistara – Daily 

Hotels to stay: 

  • Amari : Is Centrally located 
  • Sheraton : Is also in the heart of the city 
  • Westin : Westin & Amari are very close by. 
  • Intercontinental: The hotel is a little far away from the main city. 

Places to Eat: 

Premium Sweets: Misthi Doi, Chaat and local bengali food. 

Sajna: Indian food restaurant, that’s neatly done with indian food options for all specially vegetrains. 

O’Play: Italian Food Restaurant  

SOI 71 :  Thai Food Restaurant. 

Galitos: For Wraps and Salad 

Cafes: 

North End Roasters: Coffee Roasters which you would find across all over Dhaka City. 

Tabaaq Coffee: A cafe chain again from Bangladesh that you would find in select locations. 

Arabika Coffee: A coffee shop that serves coffee from beans that come from coffee regions. 

Butlers: Irish chocolate brand cafe that serves good milk shakes & Waffles 

Bookstore: 

The Reading Room: Here you will find a range of international books and interesting coffee table books. They also have a small cafe setup inside here. 

Here you will find books that are more in Bengali and a few bestsellers from around the world. 

Currency: 1 Taka = 0.80 INR

Visa: You need to apply for a visa before you visit. It’s not on arrival for indians yet.

Jaisalmer: Rajasthan February 2020!!

After travelling to nearly most of the prominent cities of the state. (Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur ) Jaisalmer was one that I had not visited yet or hadn’t experienced yet.

But, a Weekend Gateway that was planned was the perfect chance to Witness the city in it’s truest sense. Immediately after coming back from Nagpur, The next morning, I had taken the flight for Jaisalmer- There was a huge excitement of going to a new place, and that was from the moment we took off to the moment we were landing, A total Desert area I hadn’t witnessed anything like this since a long time and THE Best place in Jaisalmer SURYAGHAR was my subject and venue for the weekend. And what a property- Sunrise point to a sunset point and the structure like a fort was like the perfect combination of the destination and property. The other most important highlight remains the Dunes journey – Photographing and recording the sunset until we reached the venue, where we going to experience a new “Dawn” We had a lively night with entertainment, Guest dancing to DJ Tunes Until a Guest Deejayed the party until the end. The party went all night and we called it a day at 6:30 am at the dunes, but captured and lived the sunrise on the journey back to our hotel.

Jaisalmer has museums and fort which one must visit on their visit to the city, But should also experience Sand Dunes when they are in the city.

#ARVINDDUBASH50TH

The Royal Experience!!

Wonder! why, Did the site Not be used for Recreational purposes Earlier.

The Very fact of the Opera House being under Restoration for about 8 Years.

Shows,the Royalty with which the Opera House which had the term  Royal prefixed when King George V  inaugurated the building in 1911 while the building was still under construction.

The Opera House Has the Grandeur and a presence of state of the art Architecture and feel to it.

It can be one of the few victories of discovering and successfully restoring a stage for Art & Cultural Purposes .

Having been More than a century Old The Royal Opera doesn’t seemed to have the ageing effect.

It’s Surely very competitive to International standards & International Opera Houses around the World.That The Unesco Community has awarded the Stage with a  Asia- Pacific  Award For cultural Heritage Award Conservation. 

An Important Symbol of Art & Culture would have been lost forever,In 1993 Itself,Hadn’t the restoration plans been implemented  in 2008 and executed  for the exterior and the interior restoration from 2011 and complete restoration done by 2016. We wouldn’t have been able to experience the Royal Highness.

The Experience of The Royal Opera House was further enhanced by the Play we watched there “Siddhus of Upper Juhu” A Light-hearted Comedy play with Character portraying life in a Metro of a Parsi-punjab Couple who have moved to the Juhu Surburb and Life of a working couple.

The Night Ended with, Pizza’s for Dinner at TheQuarter A Dining space in the compound of  Royal Opera House.  Live Music playing in the indoor space and The outdoor open space had a lively feel to it.

,We could only Show our Support by visiting the most beautiful site for the events, It has to offer for all of us who live here in the city and in the country. As it is the only existing Opera House in our country.

Halloween!!

Halloween is marked as the all saint evening.

A day to remember the dead including the saints ( Hallows) and the other reason the day is celebrated is by marking the end of summer.

The reason why Halloween parties are celebrated and why all the drama of the costumes and ghost are hyped.Because of the tradition of “souling” where you either treated or tricked.You exchange wishes and either get rewarded or scared for life !!

Such an event was held in nashik by 104.2FM RJ aadee and RJ Darshana hosting the event at a newly opened hotel Blvd

There were competitions for the best make up and there were some others who came in the mood already ready in coustumes for the party. There were games too to keep us all busy.

This was also part of the monthly celebrations by the Radio team,To make this city a lively one with events happening every month.

The show!!!

So ,I am in my home town today and there is a jewellery show organised to celebrate their first anniversary ,so we leave at 6:30 since the timing were 6-8 mentioned on the invite ,at the venue and just a couple of us ,and the host hasn’t come yet ,we waited ,waited and at 8 pm the show finally started and the anchor was a little off track,the music was managed well and the jewellery couldn’t be seen ,the outfits itself were so heavy ,I guess they got confused between a fashion and jewellery show .also the model were more confident then the host herself .the people in the city really don’t have sense of humour.
A good attempt for the first time