Once we crossed Jora Girja (the name refers to the twin steeple of St. James' Church), my wife announced that she wanted ice cream from a place she had recently discovered. So off we went to All Blues , tucked away on Wood Street just off Shakespeare Sarani. The cafĂ© was beautifully done up and offered an impressive range of handcrafted ice creams, many with wonderfully unusual flavours. I settled on a generous scoop of Piña Colada , while my wife chose Cherry Woods . Both were served in crisp cones and were absolutely worth the detour. By now it was around half past one in the morning, yet Kolkata showed no signs of slowing down. As we approached the Park Circus Seven-Point Crossing, fruit sellers were still doing brisk business. Naturally, we stopped. One vendor had an irresistible display of mangoes, and we came away with a couple of kilograms of Chausa and Langra mangoes. This season, we've been enjoying mangoes almost every day—perhaps making up for the years when we s...
Sometimes the best evenings are the ones that aren't planned beyond a simple dinner invitation. I had finally met Neema Kudva , someone I had been chatting with over WhatsApp for the past couple of months. My mother-in-law had connected us because Neema was planning a visit to Kolkata for a research paper and project centred around Durga Puja . Having spent years exploring the city and documenting its heritage, I was happy to share a few insights and connect her with people who could help make her visit more meaningful. When we finally met at my in-laws' home, it felt anything but awkward. Conversation flowed effortlessly and the evening quickly dissolved into laughter, stories and endless conversations. At one point, my father-in-law looked at us and asked, "So, how long have you known each other?" He simply couldn't believe that we were meeting in person for the very first time. Then came one of those wonderfully unexpected moments. Neema mentioned that she wa...