Posted by Kanika

You know those random things you always think about: I Hate Summer. Those silly things you always do: Confusing Bravery with Stupidity or Why We Karaoke. Those things you really want to do: A List of Lists I Want to Make. Those things you wish you never did: On Blowing a Zucchini. Those things you worry about: What To Do At a Reception When You Don’t Know Anyone. Those things you really worry about: Why We’re All a Bunch of Commitmentphobes. Those questions you’re too scared to ask: Why Would Anyone Want to Have Sex With Me?

Any thought you’ve had, are having or will have is probably catalogued on Thought Catalog, a site for “relevant and relatable non-fiction” by contributors who’ve been published everywhere from The Paris Review to Maxim. It's really just a fun site to browse posts on love & sex, pop culture, the digital age, entertainment and more.

They call themselves avant-now, but their mission is also archival. “We plan on sticking around for a longtime,” the website says. I see it as a giant brain for browsing other people's thoughts, some that might have been scooped out of my own brain while I was dreaming or working or Growing Up and Getting Deleted from Facebook.

I suggest you get into Thought Catalog's head. They're already in yours.

Posted by Mansi

Since I've just returned from New York, I was entrusted with the task of writing a post about the five places I think you should stop by if you're visiting the city. I accepted the assignment with naivete and nonchalance, and only after spending an anxious, jet-lagged night poring over the 200 word story have I realised how hard it would be for me to whittle down the vast and astonishingly crazy landscape of all that I love in New York to a handful of recommendations.

So I've decided to write about the places that come to mind first, with the disclaimer that the list is much, much longer than this and I may add to it at any time. Also, if you're looking for a specific type of place, feel free to leave a question in the comments section and I'll be happy to suggest options. Warning: this list is heavy on drinking.

The Back Room/ Nurse Bettie: The Lower East Side is my most favorite and least gentrified part of the city, dotted with dozens of dive bars. I really love The Back Room, a boardless speakeasy that you have to cross three basements to find, and which looks like the inside of a decaying victorian manor. Here, you'll see oils of Rubenesque nudes, dusty chandeliers, moth eaten velvet couches and the most amazing cocktails (try a honey-and-whisky concoction), inexplicably served in tea cups. Also check out the very very cool Nurse Bettie next door. The Back Room, 102 Norfolk Street, Lower East Side, call 212-228-5098.

Fuerzabruta: This Latin American show has been running in New York for over three years now, and none of my friends knew about it. I was invited to it (very sweetly) by the founder of Eatizens.com, who strictly instructed me "not to Google it and just show up". I would recommend the same to you. Read as little about it as you can, wear comfy clothes you don't mind getting a little grimy, and above all, GO. Located at a theatre right off Union Square, this one hour production is mad and crazy and will absolutely blow your mind. Book tickets here.

Good Enough To Eat: The best brunch place in New York, and right off the west side of Central Park. Be prepared to wait up to 30 minutes, but trust me, the Migas (eggs with tortilla chips), biscuits with strawberry butter, French toast and cow art is totally, totally worth it. If you get lucky, specials that day will include the orgasmic quesadilla. Eggs have never been this sexy. 483 Amsterdam Avenue, call 212-496-0163.

Inoteca (Gramercy): I built my favorite friendship in the whole wide world over the cocktails here so I might be biased, but still, this bar and restaurant is worth a visit. Get Corpse Revivers and Pisco Sours, both super delish and off the menu. They're much, much more potent than they seem though, so tread lightly and order some yum bruschetta to soak it all up. 323 Third Avenue, call 212-683-3035.

Tsampa: I ate at this awesome Tibetan restaurant first when I was sixteen, and stumbled into it by accident six years later. Since then, it has become our go-to dinner spot, warm and dimly lit, with pretty chandeliers and a huge clock in the back. Get the fried assorted momos, lots of noodles, and a bottle of Chivas (they have a great deal on these). Plenty of vegetarian options, and most importantly, spare chargers for every possible type of cell phone on the planet. Not open for lunch. 212 East Ninth Street, call 212-614-3226.

Posted by Kanika

“In less than no time, night and the rain cover the whole world. I am alone, writing poems in my math notebook.” I read this in Neruda’s Memoirs as rain scribbles all over the city, at first with light strokes across buildings and trees and then dark smudges that threaten to blot out even the moon. In Mumbai, windows shine in spite of the liquid soot, like electric squares that frame red flowers and white wine, sweet faces and wireless smiles.

Inside the squares, their stems and bodies are kept dry from the rain, but there are still storms gathering everywhere, on tablemats and on the radio, in soup bowls and in cyan coloured gin bottles.

The first cluster of raindrops you’ll find glistening on www.bombayproduction.com, bpb’s favourite online streaming radio which has launched a new ‘Barsat’ station. One listen to Rimjhim Gire Sawan in Kishore Kumar's caramel voice and you’ll want to write the name of the song on Salt Water Cafe’s table mat. Why? Because the Bandra restaurant asks you to put down your favourite rain song on their paper menus. Random, but fun! From there, swim out to the sea – the gift that keeps giving. First, there was Wisdom, now there’s MT Pavit, a boat from Oman that’s grounded on the beach. Then there’s also that other gift from the sea we told you about– Samudra Bhet. Meanwhile, raindrops gather on the pretty terrace at lifestyle store Dhoop (Khar), falling into this and that, 90% of which is on monsoon sale with discounts that go up to 50%.

But it rains the hardest in my book – where the “Earth shook and trembled. At other times, a crest of terrifying light appeared on the sierras: Mt Llaima, the volcano, was stirring.”

Right now I’m just glad to be a face in a square of electric light – bight and dry.

Posted by Kanika

Like a big, drooling happy dog with its head out the window. That’s how my friend describes me during a drive around the city. I sit there in the front seat, craning my neck out to look for new stores, interesting posters and signboards I haven’t seen before. Force of habit. Here are some of the interesting signs I spotted in the last week. Go fetch!

The Bite that was Better Than the Bark: A purple sign on a tree outside Lemon Grass in Bandra that says ‘Fete’ (see online version here). Turns out, the hospitality group that owns Lemon Grass and Pot Pourri started a catering service called Fete five months ago, which sends a band of cooks to prepare their trademark Tom Yum soup, chocolate mousse and even Indian dishes at your home. Call Stalin David on 9833595998 for more details.

The Sign I Growled At: It’s the best kind of sign to see on a rainy day: '75% off on books'. Okay, it was 'upto 75% off on books'. Still. This mammoth board I spotted on the window of Granth bookstore while on my way to review Juhu’s new RG’s cafe. I went in to find that the sale was over the previous day, but the sign was still up. Grrr. While I was there, I found Couch Notes (see image on our slide show), a therapy journal that I bought myself as a joke. It could be argued by some quite seriously, that I do in fact need it. I wonder what it means when you dream about killing your critics? 

The Newest Board Member: A ‘Forever New’ board has gone up next to the GAS store at Linking Road, Santacruz, along with an ‘Opening Soon’ pasted on the glass door. We called the Phoenix Mills apparel store to find that this new outpost is slated to open next week.

The Old, Shiny Poster: This peeling poster (see image above) for Grime Riot Disco, Mumbai’s underground party has clearly been around for a long time. But I see it often while waiting for the valet to bring my car outside Bandra’s Yellow Tree Cafe, so I had to mention it. Judging from its Facebook group, Grime Riot Disco 5 is coming up soon.

Seen any interesting signboards around Mumbai? Leave a comment and we'll update this post with your suggestions.

Posted by Kanika

The Curious Case of Benjamin in Bandra

A parking lot, stairs and a short skirt to tease,
Entry to a crowded room for 150 rupees.
Bands played and people swayed,
Some of whom would not get laid.
But they didn’t mind.
Because there were rolls and cheap Vat69,
served in plastic glasses.
Outside the rain ensured that there was music for the masses
As well.

On Saturday night we aged backwards, and stopped at 16. At least it felt that way. There were rubber stamps on our wrists (see picture), plastic glasses (with cheap booze) in our hands and knowledge that the band wouldn’t be awesome but we’ll clap anyway, in our heads. We – and half of Bandra – were there to support Live from the Console’s first music gig at Mehboob Studio where they aired a Foo Fighters docu and featured live music by Alex Rintu, The Mavyns and The Colour Compound in a closed room with soaring ceilings.

Now anyone who was there will tell the event wasn’t spectacular. What was spectacular however (besides the time machine bit), was the prospect of a new Saturday night plan, one that skips the usual city bars, comes with an unusual venue and even more unusual price tag - a cheap one. And it was for this reason that a friend, who in  spite of being forced to drive us there and therefore abstain from drinking, said he’d definitely attend the next one. While we only caught the last two acts, we caught up with a bunch of fun people and even sang along to The Colour Compound’s covers (we preferred their Carter Road amphitheatre performance, though). And in case you missed this one, the next Live from the Console event's coming up in August. 

Call it sweet-sixteen-induced enthusiasm but somehow our night ended at Trilogy (sheesh!). Yes, there was a walk of shame the morning after.

bpb and Sancho's burrito class last night was a lot of fun with margaritas being blended and burritos being built. Stay tuned for recipes from the event!

Posted by Mansi

A month before my biannual trips to New York (July 22, baby!) a light bulb goes on inside me. Even the most mundane actions – paying the phone bill, parking the car, cleaning out my desktop – take on the incandescence usually reserved for Saturday night plans.

Recently though, I’ve begun to feel a sense of anxiety along with the anticipation, and I’ve been thinking about its source. I suspect that the feeling is born from the realisation that the longer I stay away from New York, the looser my grip on the city gets. Every time I return, my roster of friends gets a little smaller, my knowledge of the best 4 am diners more outdated, my memory of the streets dimmer.

A former New Yorker who moved to India about four years ago articulated my fears perfectly while describing a trip back; he said that he was walking down Madison and 50th and had the sudden realisation that if he was in car accident at that very moment, none of his acquaintances would notice that he was gone. That’s when his love affair with the city ended.

For how long will I be able to continue my long distance relationship, built on ten day visits and dispatches from a shrinking group of friends, Facebook updates and New York Times reports? How long before I realise that I could drop dead on the street and it would be days before someone would miss me?

It’s a scary thought. But even as I write this post, my roommate from college is making space for me at her UES apartment, and a cousin from Queens is bitching about picking me up from the airport at 7:30 am.

So I’m not at the die-without-a-trace stage. Yet. And like Suketu Mehta writes in Maximum City, you can always rekindle a relationship with an old flame.

Amen to that.

PS: If you’re one of the four Mumbaikars who hasn’t read the abovementioned book, put it on your list now. For those whose have read and enjoyed it, here are some more place-specific titles I love:

Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk
From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet by Vikram Seth
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart (about Afghanistan)
Here is New York by E.B. White

Posted by Kanika

It will be the shortest you’ve seen, she swore, ironing her red micro mini. He smiled, thinking of the 140 character story he’d just read.

This weekend I started a Twitter account so my short shorts would finally have a place to live. Here I write short stories, petite poems and 140-character tales around anything that catches my attention. Follow me @kahanibythekilo - everything from getshorty to micromini were taken. Here's what I have so far. Critics, be kind :)

Until my next short in the dark~

Hello Bombay!

I’m the newest addition to the bpb office, that boasts fake birds, a hanging swing, freshmen 15 weight addition for anyone who dare stay and a dreamy peon, alongside two grammar Nazis, who will do their very best to not drive you away. 

Having lived in Delhi and presently attending college in California, I’m scouting places here that remind me of home(s). Here’s a list of food places you should hit in Delhi (and California), and quintessential dishes I miss while in Bombay.

Delhi: 

Chur Chur Naan: A typical North Indian dhaba that serves Amritsari kulcha and chola, this is my favorite place for Dilli ki sardi. Statutory warning: the obscene amounts of butter will cause drowsiness. Kashmiri Gate

Ego Café: Consistently good, this Italian restaurant is my all time favorite in Delhi, with unmatched rosti and risotto! 4, Community Center, New Friends Colony, 26319107 

Bukhara: Everyone who’s anyone in Delhi likes to be seen dining at the legendary Indian restaurant, Bukhara. Only the daal can make the 1 hour + wait bearable! ITC Maurya, Chanakya Puri, 26112233

Momos: This Tibetan delicacy is a street side favorite of all Delhi-ites. Stuffed with sautéed veggies or chicken, momos are best eaten with the (extra) spicy tomato chutney. Personal Favorite is the stall outside Prince Paan in GK M block Market

Matra-kulcha: Another street-side delight, matra kulcha is white channa served with a soft fluffy bread, often confused as pizza base. Purani Dilli

California:

In n Out: All burger fans know that California’s In n Out, is the home of the good burger! They have a secret menu on the side, so be sure to order something Out of the ordinary! 7009 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, 18007861000 

Burritos: No one makes burritos as well as Californians, especially breakfast ones. Get your fill of these at local street vendors or stand alone Mexican restaurants. Lucky Boy Drive-In, 640 S Arroyo Pkwy, Pasadena, 626 793-0120

Thai food: Stir fry and pad Thai are dietary essentials for all college students there. As is the very popular Thai iced tea! Personal favorite is Mixed Bowl, 1520, Indian Hill Boulevard, Pomona, 909 447 4401

Indian food: Although this doesn’t hold up a candle to real Indian food, Californian cuisine is incomplete without a mention of the quintessential (?) Indian meal of samosas, chicken tikka masala, garlic naan and I-bet-you’ve-never-had-it-in-India mango lassi! Indian student’s dietary staple! Agra, 4325 West Sunset Boulevard, 323 665-7818

Posted by Mansi

It was the super reasonable airfare - Rs 5,000 round trip - that prompted our last minute weekend plan to Goa, but what we didn't anticipate was that getting a place to stay would be such a hassle. All three Taj properties, Lemon Tree, Ashiana Lakhanpal, The O Hotel, The Hyatt: we tried them all, and to our utter astonishment they were booked out completely, despite the fact that it's off season and not on a long weekend. After many phonecalls and much cajoling, we finally secured a cottage at the Taj Village. It was overpriced and garden view, but hey, at least we had somewhere to sleep.

Other than our early accomodation issues, though, Goa was extremely... accomodating. The weather held up, and we got enough sunshine to go hang at the beach and chill by the pool, and enough rain to keep it nice and cool. Plus, a lot more restaurants than we expected were still open, which was nice. If you do go now, be check out:

Ernesto's: Right in the middle of  old Goa, this is a super pretty restaurant that serves up what might be the best, cheapest steak in the country (Rs 300). Vegetarians, resign yourself to a meal of chilli cheese toast and pasta in red sauce. If you plan on ordering a bottle of champagne, call ahead and ask them to chill it. Mala, 49, Near Fontainhas Post Office, Panjim, North Goa, call 09823015921, Rs 1,000 for a meal for two.

Curlies: Yes, it's open! And the shack's elevation works particularly well in the monsoon, when the surf is all the way at Anjuna beach. Service is terrible as always, but the pancakes and prawns are still good. Also try - chicken snitzel sandwich. Anjuna Beach, Rs 100 for a beer.

Cavala: Possibly the happiest roomful of dancing moms and dads, 16 year old kids, couples and a few cheerful gay guys in the world. Plus a  super skilled, madly energetic band that belted out one crowd pleaser after another. We'll have whatever they're having. Baga-Sauntavaddo, Calangute, North Goa, call (0832) 2277587, Rs 150 for a beer.

 What we were sad was shut: Mezcal, A Reverie, Fiesta, Thalassa.