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Taste of Life: Navratra is period of fasting, penance for Goddess Durga

India, Oct. 15 -- Sir John Malcolm (1769-1833) was a Scottish soldier-diplomat who later served as Governor of Bombay and helped extend East India Company authority across western and central India. L... Read More


Taste of Life: The anatomy of a fast

India, Oct. 8 -- At noon on May 8, 1933, within Yerwada Central Jail, Mahatma Gandhi drank a glass of water with salt and soda, beginning a 21-day fast. Before nightfall, the colonial state ordered hi... Read More


Taste of Life: Impact of Mahatma Gandhi's fasts in Pune

India, Oct. 1 -- On the morning of April 30, 1933, Devdas Gandhi, son of Mahatma Gandhi, brought an urgent dispatch to the office of the Marathi daily "Dnyanaprakash" in Pune. Recognising the gravity ... Read More


Taste of Life: Pune's Ganeshotsav drew devotees from near and far for visarjan

India, Sept. 24 -- During the Peshwa period, Ganeshotsav in Maharashtra was celebrated from the fourth day to the tenth day of the bright half of Bhadrapada. It was a religious festival, centred mainl... Read More


Taste of Life: Ganpati melas: Songs, crowds and a struggle for food

India, Sept. 16 -- The Ganeshotsav in the early part of the last century was known for its many dance and song troupes, known as "Ganpati melas". Children, young men and women who were part of these g... Read More


Taste of Life: When festivals became platforms for political awakening

India, Sept. 10 -- On June 16, 1937, the sixth death anniversary of Achyut Balwant Kolhatkar, the versatile litterateur and popular journalist, was commemorated at the Central Talkies in Pune. NV Gadg... Read More


Taste of Life: Poonah grape that was deemed "only fit for tarts"

India, Sept. 3 -- One of the pleasures of studying the history and culture of food is discovering where a single line in an old book, newspaper, or a recipe can lead. A passing reference to a dish, an... Read More


Taste of Life: The basket that travelled with the Raj

India, Aug. 27 -- In January 1936, the GIP Railway decided to introduce dining cars on all trains connecting Bombay with Poona and some other cities. It also published a circular requiring all first-c... Read More


Taste of Life: The forgotten art of Poona's lifelike clay figures

India, Aug. 20 -- The practice of making durable representations of fruits and vegetables in materials such as clay and wood has a long history in many parts of the world. By the nineteenth century, t... Read More


A taste of freedom, made in secret

India, Aug. 13 -- It was the afternoon of August 13, 1947. A young woman stepped out of her house in a hurry and walked briskly toward the Reay Market (Mandai). Feigning composure, she kept looking ov... Read More