Tag: Pagesfromydiary

Kolkata – Durga Puja Festival!

Four Years ago… The First time we visited Kolkata for a Bengali wedding….In the heart of kolkata Park Street. We spent two days doing the most obvious kolkata things… Having the Kolkata Paan, Puchka and visiting the tourist attraction like Victoria museum besides attending the Punjabi- Bengali wedding… we visited Flurys one of the oldest Cafes in Kolkata almost 100 years old today.
To visiting a Chinese restaurant and having Indian Chinese since … Hakka Noodles we’re first discovered here in Kolkata. We also had the Rolls from Kusum .. Kolkata is popularly known for their Rolls!
While we had meals! How could we miss out on the desserts… Misthi Doi from Balaram Mullick one of the oldest sweet shop now has multiple outlets across kolkata. To having the Nolen Gur Ice cream & Paan ice cream from Pabrai to enjoying an Bengali-French meal at 6th Ballygunge restaurant.
Four years later…
We tried most of these things again … But visited places that we had missed Peter Cat & Mocambo known for their Chelo Kebab & Crab meat In Mustard Sauce & Pork Nuggets Both of these places are owned by the same owners, have same interiors but both offer a different menu… Besides the regular meal break we took.. we visited the Roastery House Cafe in Hindustan Park… A cafe done in an old bungalow with mustard colour walls and simple interiors.. Any place we visited Kolkata without booking we had a waiting for about forty minutes… but, Wait!
We did not just Eat & Sleep.
We also attended grand Bengali ceremony Durga Puja! One day we toured across the city visiting Durga Puja Pandal, that were beautifully designed keeping a theme & idea behind and with such creativity and deadlines…From Library, to the lockdown life to Football & Bollywood were some of the pandal we visited.
You keep wondering why isn’t Kolkata visited by Tourist or why don’t people from other states come here!! And why don’t travel magazines promote Kolkata as a destination… why just Rajasthan, Goa, Mumbai and Bangalore?
The visit couldn’t be more kolkata, when we met the Superstar of Bengali Cinema Parambrata Chatterjee who is a very popular face in Bengali Cinema and someone who acted in a Bollywood movie Kahaani! The film made me first want to visit Kolkata….

So Yes! I believe I have been lucky to have seen Kolkata like a local both times!!

Durga puja Pandal

Raffles Udaipur :Luxury in its true sense.

As soon as we reached the jetty Shore,

A team warmly received us and made us comfortable with refreshments at the waiting area until the boats were ready.

The 15 minutes journey in the boat was all about giving us a background of the place and of course, Ngambi who ferried us shot photograph videos with the best angles of the property and the landscape. 

The long walk from the bridge to the main entrance of the property ( Wet Towels,& Water bottles were offered) 

Well, This was just a teaser of our stay. The main highlights were the Welcome at the lobby with a refreshing cocktail made by Terai Gin. One of the things that I loved about the hotel was going Vocal for Local.

Bili Hu Coffee, Svami & Sepoy Co tonic water, The Whole Truth Bars and Chocolates like Paul & Mike and dessert made from Mason & Co chocolates. 

The F&B team was so involved with us, there wasn’t a moment when they did not let us go without food.

Shreyas, Max, Sanjeev, Ashwin, Bhavya, Alpa, Rubeg, Daksh were some of the best people who were so warm. Tea, Coffee, Cocktail, Mocktails or any recommendations of food, Dessert you wanted you could just take their word for it. 

Chef Prasad, Chef Ajinkya, Chef Pratik treated us to some memorable meals ( Tangerine Salad, Biryani, Fettuccine Truffle oil, and John Dory were some of the best things that were served) 

Vishrut, Vimi, Divi and the Captain of the team Abhishek Sharma were some of the warmest people we have come across during our stay. 

A special mention for the BirthdaySurprise Dinner by the Team.

Additional Information:

15-20 minutes drive from Airport

A sitting area for guests to wait and fill the health declaration form until the Jetty comes to take you to the main hotel property. Refreshments (Tea, Coffee, Beverages) are served here till we make it to the hotel.

Room:101

Suites : 18

Regular Rooms :83

3 Restaurant & 7 Gardens are part of the hotel.

Some More Of My Writing #5

How I Quit Google to sell Samosa – Book Review

How I Quit Google to Sell Samosa: 

As soon as got a book titled How I Quit Google to Sell Samosa and then read it’s by Munaf Kapadia the man behind TBK or The Bori Kitchen. I was intrigued and fascinated by how would this story be and going by someone quitting google for a Food & Beverage business without any experience, it’s a huge plunge. 

The book is very entertaining, engaging and funny giving you an insight into the F&B and hospitality business and make you feel like you have lived the TBK success journey and you know Munaf Kapadia and his family. 

I haven’t read too many books on Food, but this one did make me feel hungry all the time. 



Range: A Triumph in Generalist- A personal Book Review!

How many Times! Have you heard the phrase Jack of all Trades, Master of None! 
While there might be a few who proudly brag about this, but most of us don’t take this seriously!! 
But! What’s important being a Specialist in one Field or have a range of understanding of different fields, interest. 
Considering 2020 when the world is taken over unexpectedly by a virus that’s invisible and has destroyed lives and livelihood for most of us since we were highly dependent on that one Job,  or on that one skill we thrived on. Would it be better to have a few ranges of skills to survive? Didn’t lockdown force us to sharpen our other skills? 
Isn’t it better to be a Jack of all trades and master of none? 
Would there be so many of these inventions and discoveries if mistakes weren’t done by the inventors? Would Nintendo ever be known as a Gaming company from a flower card selling company if the owner of the company had not noticed its’s employ’s talent and skills? 
Would we still have so many artist and sportsman if they were based on their qualifications and not on their range of skills they had been skilled with? Patience, Focus and timing the ball. 
Aren’t skills equally of value than qualifications? 
Most of the filmmakers did not go to film school. Most of the business Ideas did not come after being qualified. They came about to solve problems by founders who dropped out to fill in the Gaps. Today Online Education is thriving and then there was a time when they said online education is waste of time! These courses online aren’t credible. 
But the next graduates would be the ones who will qualify digitally by studying from home. 
No! You can’t deny that a Specialist isn’t needed. But there are very few fields which require Specialist example being doctors and medical professional. Other industries and business thrive on Evaluation and Analysis. 

You must read the book. It’s will change the way you see things.