Author: manuscrypts

  • Decoding the rise of millennial investors, with ET Now

    From being part of the BTS Army to getting nostalgic about Backstreet Boys, millennials are a diverse cohort, and have many sub-segments. Based on the recent CAMS report, ET Now gave me an opportunity to chat about the investing patterns of millennials.

    The transcript.

  • Parva

    S. L. Bhyrappa

    Like many good books, this one too made its way into my list in a random fashion. A friend saw the different Mahabharata versions on my shelf and asked me if I had read this one. I hadn’t even heard of it! I initially thought I’d skip because I thought it was part of the recent glut of (IMO) ridiculous books being written from different perspectives, which were quickly reaching a stage where even the view of the elephant named Ashwatthama would become a book! But this was published around the time I was born, and the hope was that perspective would therefore be (ironically) fresh. And indeed it was. The best part of it is its overall outlook, which makes it seem contemporary, in a good way. 

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  • Habba Kadal

    If you’re here for the wooden bridge located in Srinagar that crosses the Jhelum river, sorry! Perhaps my search optimisation is finally working. This is about Habba Kadal, the Kashmiri restaurant in Whitefield, Bangalore. Though it has been around for at least a year, we chanced upon it only very recently, thanks to a conversation with neighbours. We reflected that our gluttonous days, when we used to actively seek out nearby, and even far-off restaurants, are probably over. But that’s a different subject.

    Habba Kadal
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  • The Coming of Age

    Simone de Beauvoir

    Sometime back, during a college reunion, D’s friend mentioned how she was shocked when she realised that she (and therefore us) were ‘those people’ who were being referred to as ‘middle aged’. A couple of years ago, I had written a blog post on entering the second half of my life, which I was hoping would not be a “mountain’s downhill, but instead, a series of small hills, gracefully undulating until the end.” So yes, I have been thinking of old age, and this book, though written back in 1970, is a great exploration of what it means to be old. 

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  • Hakone, Arashiyama & Nara

    While we stayed in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, we also made day trips to a few places.

    We reached Kyoto via Hakone. Hakone’s claim to fame is the Mt.Fuji view, and yes, it delivers. On paper the ‘Hakone Round Course’ looks like a sprint, but with the Hakone Day Pass and some planning, it’s quite a breeze. We started early and the Kodama 703 was our very first Shinkansen ride, to Odawara.

    Hakone

    We first used the coin locker system in the Odawara station, dropping our large bag so we didn’t have to lug it around. A local train took us to Hakone-Yumoto, where you start the Hakone Round Course, which can also be done in reverse. It uses five different modes of transport – train, cablecar, ropeway, boat and bus. The first trip is on the cute Hakone Tozan Railway to Gora. D decided to do some drama by pretending to lose her Hakone Day Pass.
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