Kachori Croissant

In our 11th standard chemistry book we encountered a revelation. When the teacher told us that, "Plaster of Paris was the other name for Calcium Sulphate Hemihydrate," some of us looked at each other and telepathically nodded in reverse-agreement: "Calcium Sulphate Hem-whatever is the other name for Plaster of Paris."  So the omnipresent 'P-O-P' was something with a 'professional' chemical name! I always thought that in India, Plaster of Paris was affectionately called 'P-O-P' rather than being a simple abbreviation 'P.O.P'. It took me over twelve years of schooling to realize that P-O-P meant serious business. And serious business it is apparently. After staring at the corners of the ceilings of thousands of Indian homes and analyzing the beauty of the cornices made of P-O-P while the fan rotated at the centre of this affordable middle class architectural marvel, I found myself in Paris. To gauge the versatility of this chemical, you...

In the words of Joe Dassin: 'Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Élysées.' Basically, 'there's everything you want at the Champs-Élysées.' I can't reckon any specific song addressed to 'Rajpath' saying it has everything you want (unless the list includes power, history, pride or ice creams, helium balloons and glittering toys). The former boasts of high end stores that mock your purses at times, while the latter gives you an occasion to assume that while you take a bite of your orange candy, the head of the state is perhaps also relishing his dessert just at the other end of the same road. The Champs-Élysées and the Rajpath are two pathways that are held dear by the capital cities of France and India and their people for being extravagant promenades of history, architecture, culture and democracy. But more importantly, these are New Delhi's and Paris' most 'happening' spaces. These are public spaces that resemble each other like no ...

Heard of 'Three Men in a Boat'? To say nothing of the Dog, obviously...Well, this article is not about that. But yes, it definitely talks about two extremely different premises- as different as the first 'Jerome' is from the second 'Jerome' in the eponymous reference I just spilled.  Two different premises: two different men- one short, tiny, nimble, agile; the other tall, strong, bulky, innocent, and having anger issues at times. 'Asterix and Obelix'? 'Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu'? To say nothing of the dog? 'Dogmatix' and 'Rocket'?   The fondest comic characters of our grandparents' and parents' generations have stark resemblance that few can deny. Pran, our very own Indian 'Walt Disney' gave life to Chacha Chaudhary back in 1970- a time when Rene Goscinny's and Albert Uderzo's 'Asterix and Obelix' series had already swept the imagination of kids, young adults and comic lovers across regions and age...

Two directorial debuts that shook the world of film-making out of its mainstream slumber in the two respective countries they were released. Francois Truffaut arrived in 1959 with his 'Les Quatre Cents Coups' in France- popularly known as 'The 400 Blows' worldwide. Vikramaditya Motwane brought to the screen his first feature 'Udaan' in 2010 in India. Both the films are right at the level of 'Holy Grail' classics in France and India respectively when it comes to the theme of 'coming-of-age.'  Motwane's heart wrenching hat tip to Truffaut's elements is what makes Udaan not only a worthy tribute to The 400 Blows but a 21st century re-imagination of the post-war idea of an everyday boyhood struggle. They are film siblings. Each of them extremely unique, yet sharing a similar gene sequence. Their protagonists have uncannily resembling innocence as well as delinquency. They suffer from similar malaise. Alienation, loneliness, confusion, rebelli...