Caffeine

 Caffeine is good. Humanity owes much to it.

Coffee, tea, yerba mate, coca cola - whatever your poison. 

With coffee, we are spoilt for choice - filter coffee, all the espressos and lattes, instant coffee - some of which can be very good. 

But as everything, coffee is about timing. When to consumes as much as what to consume.  Much as it happened in history.

Speaking of history, listen to this - Conquering the Night: The History of Coffee (youtube.com)

Our coffee epiphany happened in Utuado, Puerto Rico. Ergo, I will basically be partial to PR coffee forever. 

Cafe Gran Batey - this shall forever be the benchmark for us. I would go back to PR just to visit this coffee farm, meet the very lovely owner-farmers and buy some of their beans. 

Revenge of the Kadipatta

 One of the first things to hit the hot oil and impart its flavor.

One of the first things to be noticed as “this isn’t the sabji”.

And definitely the first thing taken out of a plate of poha.

Kadipatta has had enough. 

Bring on the mixer grinder and let the bastard grind you down with chilies, coconut and kaali mirch.

Ab nikaal kadipatta, bhosadikey. 

I, the mighty leaf of Indian cooking, have let loose the dogs of war. 

Iska swaad maaney Ranti Nasha. https://youtu.be/V3KVxT0xbMk?si=APrrHar3-bn8hIdA

India's Founding Moment

 This book is frustratingly enlightening. 

Frustrating because it was written by an academic, possibly for other academics - the language he employs does not make it easy.

However, and this is crucial, if you persevere through the academese, the incidents, concepts and people discussed here, give us a perspective that is fundamentally crucial to understanding Indian democracy as it was created. 

So, as we celebrate India’s T20 World Cup win, here is to a better understanding of why the Union exists. 

Make Cycling Great Again

Like the horse, it became an instrument of leisure and not of cheap, carbon free transportation for short distances.

It became the target market for all kinds of specialized merchandise that you could buy to make it more “pleasurable” and “efficient”.

There’s many an app that can tell you all your vitals were jacked up and you were at the peak of human performance while giving the public a view of spandex butt for many miles. 

Does no one just go for a bike ride anymore? In normal clothes? Cheap ass way of getting around like it used to be? Just to get some wind in your hair and enjoy the sunshine? 

I guess we deserve to sink in the rising oceans. Whilst wearing our lycra and checking Strava stats. 

Ridiculous.