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Echoes of Twelfth Night in colonial Poona

India, Jan. 8 -- Diaspora communities often become preservers of cultural elements, including rituals that may have faded or become extinct in their original homelands due to modernisation, political ... Read More


Rediscovering the lost Poona Cake and New Year traditions

India, Dec. 31 -- One Saturday morning, a couple of years before the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, I was at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in Delhi, searching through old records. Before me, on th... Read More


Christmas in colonial Poona: Faith, food and cultural exchange

India, Dec. 25 -- It was the practice of "The Natal Mercury", a newspaper published from Durban, South Africa, to publish in the place of editorial articles contributions from eminent statesmen and mi... Read More


Bamboo shoots: A historical perspective in Bombay, Poona

India, Dec. 11 -- At the Bombay Natural History Society's quarterly meeting on October 4, 1887, an exhibition displayed the season's fruits and vegetables in Bombay, featuring 175 varieties, many sour... Read More


Taste of Life: Monkey-Nut, bladder bait nets prized fish in Poona waters

India, Dec. 4 -- Culinary archives, which are often considered to comprise cookbooks and menus, offer a fascinating glimpse into the world of historical gastronomy. They allow us to explore the culina... Read More


Taste of Life: How the avala tree took root in India's cultural and spiritual heritage

India, Nov. 27 -- A picnic is an act shaped by ideas about nature and culture, food and taste, beauty and ethics, and community and solitude. To picnic is not just to eat certain foods, but to enjoy t... Read More


Taste of Life: Piccalilli - a jarred memory of India on English tables

India, Nov. 13 -- "Brussels sprouts stand like soldiers, Cabbages crouch in rows, Leeks in their regimented lines Defy the frost that grows", wrote Vita Sackville-West in her poem "A November Garde... Read More


Taste of Life: Serving food and bonding with people since 1925

India, Nov. 6 -- In 1885, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, educationist and social reformer, wrote in his essay "Bhojangruha" that a truly progressive city is one where every person - local or outsider - can fin... Read More


Taste of Life: Shooting parties in Colonial Poona

India, Oct. 30 -- In mid-nineteenth-century Britain, field sports were considered an important source of individual character-building and national and imperial well-being. Shooting was an integral pa... Read More


Bhakari over sweets: How food united protesters in 1930 Diwali

India, Oct. 16 -- Food has a unique ability to bring people together. It breaks down barriers and builds a sense of belonging. It helps healing and building bridges, and forging solidarity. In the th... Read More