Poulomi Deb

Somebody forgot to tell September to slow down. Instead of winding down, Delhi's notching up the drama. The India Habitat Centre Theatre Festival wraps its ten-day run across four languages, while Virasat settles into Sunder Nursery for a four-day stretch, tracing one family's slow unravelling across generations. The Yamuna gets its moment at Nadi Utsav, three days of panels, performances and photo exhibitions built around a river this city usually forgets exists. Saturday belongs to the Great Indian Beer Festival, for anyone whose idea of a good afternoon involves fifty-plus beers and a game of beer pong they'll regret by Sunday (hint: us). Sunday itself is stacked: a 5am half marathon in Noida for the disciplined, Aashish Solanki's stand-up at Kamani for the not-so-disciplined, and an art hangout at Priya Park for anyone who'd rather just sit in the grass with a sketchbook and call it a plan. Not a dull week. Pace yourself accordingly.

Wake up long before September ends, please. We might not be talking about it yet, but the winter lull will be sooner than you think. Not that it’d stop us – but this month’s calendar is especially jam-packed with a bunch of stuff. Start with the music, because there's a lot of it. Ankur Tewari lands at The Piano Man touring Mr Faarigh, nine new tracks that lean into longing and travel the way his writing always has. Over at The Dome, inside a ballroom with fifty foot ceilings and enough Art Deco detail to make you forget you're in a hotel, an evening of Rafi classics is being staged with live vocals and a full ensemble. Purple Cassette closes out a nationwide tour on home turf with a garage rock set. And if you'd rather lose a few hours to something stranger, Mandragora's psychedelic house sets. The sheer scale of South Side Story will also happily oblige with some more range. The theatre asks for more patience this month, and rewards it. Virasat, staged at Sunder Nursery, spends four generations watching a family come apart, through cooking and cleaning and the small negotiations of daily life rather than any single dramatic moment. Malavika Sarukkai does something even rarer with Dance with Space: instead of just performing Bharatanatyam, she talks you through how it's built. Solanki, a former maths teacher who now makes a living being funny about fatherhood and gym delusions, brings his set to Kamani for anyone who'd rather laugh. Want to go somewhere that doesn’t involve

Over the past half-decade or so, much has changed in the way we live, work and play in our cities. It wasn’t too long ago that lockdowns rendered the city centre all but obsolete and brought to the fore the vital role of our immediate neighbourhoods and communities.  Now, the balance has been restored. Our local neighbourhood remains fundamental: mini-villages where the barista knows your order, where local restaurants, bars and indie businesses thrive, and where communities continue to band together for all sorts of cool stuff, from art walks and day festivals to creating greener streets and pedestrian-friendly spaces. And six years on from the pandemic, the city centre is seeing a renaissance, with brand-new music venues, galleries, coffee shops and more opening up and welcoming a new generation of hybrid workers and the back-to-the-office crowd (and, of course, city-breakers and tourists).  On this year’s list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods, you’ll see this mix play out. There are downtown hubs and seaside strips, homely enclaves and warehouse districts, all nominated by our global network of on-the-ground experts. This lucky lot spends their time exploring every corner of their hometowns to discover the best places to eat, drink, shop and hang out right now, so you can trust we know what we’re talking about. To decide the final ranking, a panel of Time Out editors vetted each neighbourhood against a range of criteria, including food and drink, nightlife, unique loc

Beware, and check in on your family and friends. Statistically, one in five people in Delhi is a big old snob who will talk you through the difference between a washed and natural process Ethiopian coffee. We're well past India's third wave of coffee, of course – it's no longer something that snuck up on us, nor is it an afterthought to chai. Today, we've split in every direction: specialty brews, coffee experience centres, protein coffee, decaf, coffee with a shot of whiskey, coffee matcha – name it or don't, you'll find it. Every month brings a new trend. Delhi is the last city to shy away from anything that’s, well... strong. Whether coffee for you is a morning non-negotiable, a reluctant catch-up-with-friends vehicle, or a flavour and cream experiment, this guide runs on one very simple principle, for your sake and mine. And that is: is the coffee good?

The bookstore culture's not what it used to be, it's true. But come on – this is Delhi. Folks quote centuries-dead poets over beer at dimly lit bars. With a straight face. How could it not be a city of readers? The writing legacy here is absurdly rich – so rich that Delhi's housed and nurtured Meer Taqi Meer's romanticism, Khushwant Singh's bawdiness and Arundhati Roy's meteoric rise all within a single millennium. If that kind of history can't keep e-commerce book-shopping at bay, nothing can. Which is why bookshops in this city still manage to hold considerable sway over readers, and a lot of that has to do with the owners themselves, who've quietly shaped literary trends through the way they curate.  I’ve realised on my bookstore rounds in and around Delhi that browsing can be a wildly different experience depending on where you visit. Each shop here has its own die-hard fanbase and, strangely enough, several are even used to establish bragging rights over fellow readers. Such is the cult of personality. So if you're confused about which bookshop suits you best, here's a guide to point you in the right direction.  

It’s an exceptionally rare day when a film isn’t being screened somewhere in Delhi out of someone’s good will. Tickets to screenings at many of these beloved spots are free or nominal; often, even in the city’s busiest or oddest hours, they draw seriously dedicated viewers and intense conversations. You really don’t have to wait for a classic old film to be digitised online or prove yourself as a buff to be let into some exclusive club. Chances are what you want to watch – and what you didn’t know you wanted to watch – are being screened, like, yesterday, with friendly people at their helm. For years now, we’ve been staying till credits roll in spots and clubs across the capital. This guide rounds up some of the best.

Not very long ago, exercising in Delhi meant a resigned jog around the colony park or a gym membership that peaked on January 3. On any given Sunday now, Delhi parks are doubling as Instagram content studios. Mornings see the Noida Expressway service road literally overtaken by runners in matching kits, and the Aravalli foothills are full of Gurgaon-ites who have discovered, somewhat to their own surprise, that they enjoy the outdoors.  Is this part of a new culture? I think it's just the chronically online iteration of our desire to touch grass – community in this form has ridden the boomer yoga wave, the millennial football-in-the-evening, the Gen Z looksmaxxing – it’s really something that I hesitate to call a trend. The appeal isn't necessarily about becoming an athlete, either. These clubs have made exercise feel less like another item on the self-improvement checklist and more like a reason to leave the house. A Sunday morning run can become breakfast with strangers, and a cycling group can turn a familiar stretch of NCR into a route you’ve never noticed. And there’s plenty to choose from. Delhi NCR now has running clubs for beginners and marathon hopefuls, cycling groups that range from leisurely rides to serious road training, and hiking and trekking communities that head out towards the Aravallis and beyond. Some are competitive, some are resolutely social, and some seem to exist primarily because nobody wants to make plans one-on-one anymore. Whether you want to r

Through the humidity and the half-hearted rain, Delhi's at it with the overcommitting again. Jokes and laughter carry our city through a lot. Kunal Kamra's touring his newest set through two cities back to back, still mining current affairs for punchlines nobody else will touch, while Brocode is betting six straight hours of stand-up can hold a room's attention – ambitious, though not unheard of for this city's appetite. Varun Grover's take on mortality and a hypothetical ketchup apocalypse might be the odder pitch of the two, but it's the kind of odd that tends to be exactly what makes this city so endearing. Of course, there’s no Delhi without its soft spots. Punjabi folk kneels into something more electronic, four languages flutter in through one musical evening, jazz keeps a steady beat going… a beat that only grows louder when you bring devotion into the mix, with Bollywood, a live band, and bhajans packed into another night. The BWF World Championships return to Delhi for the first time since 2009. Dastkar's monsoon mela is also reopening its tents as a Turkish food fest and a Korean pop-up compete for your dinner plans. Here's everything happening in Delhi this August. We suppose it won’t slip away. The best of August in Delhi at a glance:   Best music show by an emerging artist: Rashmeet Kaur’s Punjabi folk Best for shopping: Dastkar Monsoon Mela Best comedy show: Standing Up by Kunal Kamra Best sporting event: BWF World Championships | Badminton Best for bites:

Googly-eyed, with tongues occasionally flopped out. A swing of an engraved guitar into the air. At least four beer-stained chairs. Our throats are straining as something that sounds vaguely close to words hurls out. Oh well. It’s easy to let go. We’re all already slamming into each other, those of us in the ironic eye of the storm, the moshpit. But the second a glass breaks, or a kid wearing an Iron Maiden is trying to step on the stage, we break away, look out for them, and return.  What are we really doing at an ‘underground’ metal gig? Here’s a quick definition: distorted, screaming music, mostly heavy on every instrument used. Some call it evil. But those folks haven’t been part of a crowd of adults who’ve sat in a seconds-long formation to row a boat, made out of air, to the sound of Viking melodic metal on the floor. Nor have they been in happy tears, bonding with strangers over nothing but an album or a scream, or have enough breath for a Slipknot and Creed karaoke afterparty even when the clock’s struck 2am. Simply out of love. It’d been a while since I hit a metal gig, and as a regular goer of many years across cities, I kid you not: I felt something like comfort. Metal can be… childish. It’s vulnerable. You get creative with the insults, and then you grin. This was Delhi Underground Fest 2, part of the roaming Sick Tour by Kolkata Metalheads at Siyah Arthouse in Saket. Even though Delhi’s the capital, and independent music here is thriving like an ant in a cupcake,

Delhi in July is no joke (except for the literal onslaught of format-pushing comedy shows across the city). There’s a glimmer of hope for patches of rain, but you wouldn’t tell it’s just a glimmer from everything that’s going on across the city this month.  Theatre and art are holding their own. Rajat Kapoor's darkly comic Macbeth – Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, and enough meta-theatricality to give a literature professor a headache. Taj Mahal Ka Tender and Krishna Katha are doing their own interesting things a few doors down. Art that wants you to stay for hours, talk without filling your mouth with too much theory, and patiently flip through pages. Music fills in almost everything else. Jasmin Sandlas for the chaos. The Nizami Brothers for their devotion. Abish Mathew for the people who need their comedy to occasionally break into song. And you’ve got a few interesting organic markets and festivals too. But yes – the comedy scene is this month's real story. The familiar names are back – Abhishek Upmanyu, Urooj Ashfaq, Manik Mahna – but so is something harder to name: a restlessness with the standard one-person-microphone setup. This month has dating shows that pull strangers from the crowd, breakup comedy built on audience participation, and a two-hander from Delhi's own open-mic alumni.  Here's everything happening in Delhi this July.

The particular fluorescent exhaustion of a Saturday evening in Select Citywalk or DLF Avenue isn’t the end of Saket, though that has its occasional delights. This neighbourhood’s charm also exists in a fashion that I’d call the stuff of side-questers’ and souvenir-grabbers’ dreams.  A bunch of abandoned poultry sheds-turned-cafes that became South Delhi’s favourite budget film indie setting, a sixty-year-old ceramics market that’s become responsible for much of my kitchen’s contents, and arts initiatives in the most unassuming of corners… in the same neighbourhood where post-post-modern sports are kicking off, and lowkey bars compete head-to-head with hundreds of Delhi’s best in-big-building dining spots. Several of my Saket favourites are near a metro station, making most of them reachable in a single visit. But no one visits Saket just once if they live in Delhi. As these picks will likely indicate, bringing friends here is great, but it’s rewarding to give some of these spots some time alone as well.

Sure, you could do the Qutub Minar dash in twenty minutes, land at Ambawatta One to tick the box of watching the sunset spill over the monuments with a picante, and move on. Spend some more time on Mehrauli’s expanses, though, and your curiosity is rarely not rewarded. This is one of Delhi's oldest neighbourhoods, home to over 50 monuments spanning multiple dynasties – dotted with rose kulfis and steaming chai to boot.  Every year, between September and November, Phool Walon ki Sair takes place. It’s a qawwali-led festival with origins in the 19th century. For three days, Delhiites converge to offer ceremonial floral fans and tributes at two sacred sites: the dargah of 13th-century Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki and the ancient Yogmaya Temple. Then… there’s a contemporary art centre and boutiques with some of India’s most bougie names in design and fusion restaurants. A rather stale phrase, that of the old and new coming together,  comes to the mind of many Delhi residents when describing the city, its gallis and buildings alike. Mehrauli is one of the few areas, personally, where you can get away with saying that and not sounding generic.  You get it. This guide, really, is just asking you to give Mehrauli the kind of time that a Delhi University south campus student would.

The second time I hit Shack, a block party had taken over Shahpur Jat from their little white and yellow corner. The techno slammed right into their next-door one-room art gallery and up their first floor, where I must confess I was eventually found dancing like a maniac (that too with a friend who’d, by and large, sworn off clubbing). Mind you, this was in daylight, and free. The phrase ‘coffee rave’ was nowhere to be found. Only the bickering next to the entrance was capable of taking over the music – the ground floor of the cafe, which is where the very lively co-owner Abhishek is most likely to spot you. The first time I was at Shack, the only sound was us chattering away with him, the whirr of coffee machines, the clinks of cups. The place, after all, is ‘meant for bootstrappers’. The plain, warm tones of it exude chill. ‘We don’t need to know where the onion or the tomato in our biryani came from to know it’s good. So we don’t need to know what ‘notes’ are in coffee to know it’s good.’ This two-liner came belting out of Abhishek as he poured out a cup with one of their oldest coffee machines, bending his head over every steady detail. I didn’t think such a combination of phrase and action was humanly possible.  The coffee and food at Shack Coffee Co The coffee menu’s short by Delhi standards, but by and large, strong. We tried both their blends (roasted in-house) in a pour over and an espresso respectively. You’ll want to do the prissy thing of sniffing and gulping thes

Selva landed in Aerocity with the self-professed goal of expanding Delhi’s idea of Latin American cuisine from pre-mixed tacos and spice-dusted mayonnaise for cheese to flavours plucked from both forest and land. Sarthak Sidana, who founded it, says the freshness of South America’s ingredients while visiting his brother, above all, that inspired Selva.  Well, this goal’s been dipped in before, most notably by Eldeco Centre’s Latoya in Saket. Luckily, no one in the capital gives a crap about who’s first. And Selva makes sure it’s never pigeonholed into one showman personality. The first phrase that comes to mind when I walk in is sexy of the Delhi cocktail bar kind. Sleek, sharp-angled, black, gold, and woody interiors dim enough to remind you you’re in a planned ‘hospitality district’, but stopping just short of causing squints at the menu. Squint instead to find an eschewed entrance to the intimate bar, Selva Maya, inside. Find your way in when it's open. It’s a serious miss if you don’t sit at the bartender’s table for at least a third of your time.  The cocktails themselves, with sourced ingredients that the bartenders are nerds about, are outrageously both good and boozy. How dare a pricey Delhi spot do that? The food’s a mix of Nikkei, Peruvian, Mexican, and even fusion Japanese, a combination that slowly grows on me with misses here and there, which is a good thing. It’s a polarising menu (you’ll see why soon), and the table I’m sharing is full of sharp-tongued folk. St

Don’t walk into CMYK expecting to find the next big thing in pop culture, Bookstagram, or even, depending on what you like, literature. They’ve been around for a while in Lodhi Colony, but with their recent boost of two more floors, the bookstore’s all but reinforced their love for huge, hardbound ‘coffee table’ books that veer towards non-fiction, cookbooks, history, and even graphic novels. Here, you discover words and pictures of the kind typically stuffed away in commercial bookstores. To be fair, they do plan to house some fiction… and you’re also spoiled for choice for good reads in Delhi.  At the tempting risk of sounding like a traveller blog of the 2000s, I must recount this, since CMYK's an academic haven just short of a library card. My sister being an economics major and my studying English have inspired several jokes about polar opposites. History and food are near the top of the list of where we find a lot to talk about, where we find anecdotes from our notes that the other finds interesting, and we did, standing in CMYK. The tight curation – possibly, in fact, one of if not the tightest in the city – will inevitably cause a good conversation. Large, pretty picturebooks, of course, help, as does a caffeine rush.  (Meherchand Market’s snowballed with places; my recommendation here would be Devan’s or Roastery.)  We visited CMYK just as their very first exhibition cropped up, too; a set of seven black-and-white photographs of Delhi by William Dalrymple hung arou

Jimbu Thakali’s NCR outlet happens to be their first India foray after several restaurants in Nepal. Founder Vivek Man Sherchan was aware of the fact that they’d now be representing an entire country. This perhaps heightens in a setting like Gurugram’s M3M 65th Avenue, where residents and their families look new openings up and down like a hawk circling mice, and where the international Asian dining is by and large Chinese or Korean.  I’ve walked into an earthen, terracotta setting that’s softened still by subtle green undertones and engravings from different regions of Nepal (even on the bathroom sinks). There are paintings of Gods, there are photographs of the country that I will later learn were taken by a refugee from Germany who stayed in Vivek’s grandparents’ house for three years.  To be clear – it is the playing card, in Delhi, to aggressively theme a restaurant’s setting around a country especially if the cuisine is focused on that country. Make no mistake. At Jimbu Thakali, it’s not a show of gear. The staff here will point you to each area that each item is from. Vivek can go on for hours, I’m confident, about the stories behind the photographs. Lentils and vegetables are imported directly from Nepal.  As lovely as the food at Jimbu Thakali is… please hold. I’m compelled to first appreciate the easy chemistry the staff have with each other. It translates to confidence in a way that PR briefs, I’m afraid, simply cannot replicate. A not insignificant chunk of my even

Centuries of astonishing history in Delhi, and a large part of how we've responded is by building a bougie sandwich shop next to a 12th-century mosque. It’s almost merciful that 1AQ is one of Mehrauli’s modern outposts, a walk away from the Qutub site and the archaeological park. It’s perhaps best known for housing the Ojas Art gallery, which leans towards contemporary, Indian and tribal-inspired art – a brief, welcome departure from ancient history. 1AQ extends into a distinctive 3,000 square feet space that also hosts a book and design shop with a shopkeeper who’ll take you up on a conversation on what you should read. My friend fondly recalls, upon jokingly saying that they were broke, that they were told the plots and authors of cheaper selections. There is also a large manicured garden with neat little statues. This space was conceptualised by Anubhav Nath and designed by Ranjit Sabhikhi. People say it’s easy to miss on the road, but that’s rubbish. All you have to do is keep your eyes peeled for the brightest primary-coloured gallery you’ll see in a city obsessed with greying out its museums. It offers more than fine arts, too; one weekend you’ll spot a saree fair on its grounds, the next there’s a concert under the enormous Banyan tree (or, if you ask a patron or employee, The Banyan) that lords over the garden. Hottest off the press at 1AQ as I write this is Zetu, Delhi’s first Sri Lankan restaurant, which I must say, makes much better use of the elegance of this spac

Monkeys clamber across 700-year-old arches at dusk. With a little less of a disturbance, parakeets streak between the trees. Wild boar have been known to trot across the path just as you're trying to photograph a tomb. Two hundred acres of history, sitting right behind one of Delhi's most visited monuments, the Qutub Minar… and visited by maybe a fraction of the crowds that pour into the complex next door.  Delhi is famously a city of cities, seven of them stacked atop each other across millennia. Mehrauli has been continuously inhabited since at least the 10th century (before the Sultanate, before the Mughals, before the British) and the park holds over a hundred monuments, spanning more than a thousand years of that story. Sultanate tombs, Mughal mosques, Lodi stepwells, a British colonial folly-turned-cafe, and the ruins of Delhi's oldest fort are all within walking distance of each other, connected by dusty forest trails and sandstone markers.  You could spend an afternoon here and feel like you've walked through several centuries. Or you could just picnic, photo-op, stare at the woods around you, spend hours talking, read. You do you. What to find and learn more about Balban’s Tomb: The first thing you encounter after entering the park: a ruined square structure with arched openings on all four sides, half-swallowed by creepers. This is the first place in India where a true stone arch and a true dome were used in construction. Rajon ki Baoli: Built in 1506 during the Lod

Finding Jugmug Thela is the sort of mini-puzzle usually reserved for good small bites found in North Delhi. A saving grace – though perhaps it slightly takes away from the charm – is that it’s easily walkable from the Saket metro station’s Gate 2. You follow hand-painted signs down a lane in Saket’s Saidulajab instead that feels one wrong turn away from someone's aunt's backyard, until fairy lights appear in the dark. And then comes that age-old massive sign. The café occupies a spot in Champa Gali, a beloved little cluster of eateries that many of us who went to college in Delhi decided was a budget indie film setting. Jugmug Thela, which often partners with sustainability NGOs, predates much of the precious-courtyard-café template. The recycled wood, the mismatched bulbs, the shelf of dusty paperbacks, the potted plants; no attempt to try too hard to be hipster, believe it or not. In fact, it could probably scoot by on vibes alone; it sometimes does. You might wonder if it’s worth delving into the fancy fusion dishes. But the food, more than being a special detour in flavour or range, is soothing, which explains why Jugmug is so popular as a last pit-stop. This is particularly true of their pastas, sandwiches, and the Jugmug Specials – their takes on street food. Pair with their masala kadak chai or hot chocolate if you want a hot drink, or a shake if cold. Service is warm, occasionally distracted on weekends when the place fills up, but that’s only to be expected. The best

I can’t count the times that I’ve passed Seven Seeds in a summer evening auto, been caught by the glowy ochre light out of its glass-protected interiors and sentence-case tiled name, and bided my time for an occasion to visit. As it turns out, this coffee shop fits many, and by now, I’ve enjoyed them all. You could be here for a solo cappuccino and a book, a snob taste test, or post a loud-mouthed Humayunpur restro-bar hang at 3 in the morning. Being open till 4am is easily one of the best things about this place, rivalled by the fact that they do specialty coffees as well as their classics, and their surprise espresso martinis later in the night. Even when the wind slaps tissues out of your hands in the outer dining area, and chatter gets loud between not-so-far-from-each-other tables, there’s something very calm about these sky-blue walls, amusing caricatures, and road safety mirrors for decor. Not to mention music at an ideal volume – and they’ve got good taste in jazz. The coffee Many successful small coffee shops in Delhi are so because of one or two consistent picks on the menu that you can sip on while you work. You’ve got your usual choices, like the manual brew, which my friend orders. He’s the type to obsessively stalk coffee beans and their origins online before he buys roasts. And he’s quick to remark that he’s not sure if the beans are roasted fresh in-house. Whether he’s right, he appreciates that it’s smooth without the bitterness, holds its ground even as it c

Pour Over Coffee Roasters, so far, has got three distinct characters – and in concept, they nail the respective feels of their distinct surroundings. One is a suave Khan Market eatery which turns into a bar at night; one’s the earlier-to-close Santushti Complex cafe which gears more towards breakfast and a crowd of all ages, and one’s a small kiosk, perfect for to-gos, operating out of a corporate office in Noida. That’s almost like the ideal kiss-marry-kill of coffee brand outlets. As it turns out, this flexibility extends to the menu. You can sit all day and debate what constitutes a good dining spot in India’s most expensive market or a high-end shopping complex, but to be frank, as pretty as they are, it’s easy to forget once you realise how well-curated the menu is. Food, drinks (coffee and not), hard drinks: a crisply uniform 5 pages each, but a fresh mix of the old and new. Bean history flash cards and palette cleanser soda, here, do more for the experience than you think. The coffee we tried Skip your usual here and go straight for the PO Specials section of the menu, though I suppose there’s no preventing you from the manual brews if you’re that person. The Australian Mocha hits a balance between chocolate and sweetness without thickening itself into a glorified melted pudding. Still thinner is the Vanilla Cold Brew, which, no matter how many times you whisk that spoon and watch it become whiter, packs coffee so strong it could be a premature cocktail. Then rolls in

Zetu’s to be found in an unobtrusive corner on the premises of one of the city’s brightest-hued art galleries, sharing candle-lit headquarters with 1AQ’s good old banyan tree. Yet, unlike so much of its surroundings in the historically wanderable Mehrauli, this restaurant isn’t something you spot by lucky chance at all. It’s Delhi’s first permanent spot for Sri Lankan food, and it was generating laborious strings of chatter long before it even opened in the neighbourhood… which just so happens to house some of the city’s fanciest eats.  You’re led inside with coconut water in hand atop a golf cart, if you so choose. I found myself straightening my back.  Sitting inside, amid cream-coloured and nicked-texture walls with a few stunning paintings (of course), strangely, I zoned out at ease. I walked around the outer dining area, where I’d recommend you take your seat, without feeling like I was inconveniencing fellow diners. As it turns out, this was built into the architecture (by co-founder Anurag Dania), what with the palm trees, ample space between tables, and music a touch too faint. It’s vaguely tropical and the light from indoors ensures you can actually enjoy candle-powered squints at the menu – but make time to see their rotating mini-exhibition inside. Sarah Nikahetiya, a co-founder here and former British diplomat to India, nods vigorously when I ask her about this. ‘I’m from a small village in Britain, and we wanted to retain a sense of community and homeliness,’ she

It’s almost bastardising to review Big Banana, simply because of the chokehold it has as one of Delhi’s absolute best dive bars. I haven’t managed to articulate this in the times I’ve been there, which were mostly spent on ordering the same things and leaving in roughly the same state of happiness, but the grandest thing I have to say is that I love it. It’s a crime that it’s often overshadowed by the biggest daddy of Delhi dive bars – 4S – but that means you can still perhaps find a table here without being jostled too much. The familiar noise of cheer around you is perfectly tempered by the sensible design of the spot: one section’s for slightly calmer catch-ups, where it’s easier to hear, and the other runs into big, grinning, sometimes messy groups of people where recognitions are common. Staff are also incredibly understanding, but firm on noise control, which is perfect. Right opposite of the larger section is a smoking room, for which cigarettes are easily picked up from thekas outside if you’ve forgotten yours. (Though you may get away with being a bum.) I’m not about to tell you what alcohol to order at a neighbourhood bar. But if you want to try out a cocktail here, by all means, do. They’re a Russian roulette in terms of stiffness (this is where it becomes even more lovely that the staff field all sorts of questions, despite how busy they are). Flavours, though, have always found their rightfully-tasted taker. The menu sticks to their names, many of which were prob

Sidecar has consistently made it to best bars of Asia lists, and there are several reasons why. We’re not gonna stick to those. Instead, bear with the ragged synapses of my brain that have been built up over my several good times here, because there’s much more to this M Block royalty than technical craft. The music I'm not being hyperbolic when I say they play better music than most bars in Delhi. And I know that sounds like a thing one says, but stay with me. Most bars treat music like a texture, something filling the silence. Some places get too precious about it, going full coffee-shop jazz. But at Sidecar, they’re doing something right.  Show up at 5.30, and you're in slow jazz territory. Not dirge-y, more like patient, setting you up. As the evening pulls in, the pace picks up, and you don't notice it happening. By 11, they have raging blues going, but it never overpowers conversation. Usually American blues and jazz from until the 90s… I don't think I've ever heard anything beyond that. They've got this absurdly extensive playlist, so repeat visits don't mean repeat songs.  The cocktails The menu keeps changing (barring some classics), mind you, but it's always done with a (not overdone) concept in mind. I tried rifling through Google to jog my memory about their latest ones, but I think it’s best I left it to the honest bits. There was this Authors menu early on: drinks supposedly favored by Philip Larkin, Tolstoy, Mark Twain, that sort of thing. (The Mark Twain drink

Lodhi Colony, already known for being one of the capital’s more walkable neighbourhoods, has a new claim to fame: a recently inaugurated Miyawaki forest. The New Delhi Municipal Council has begun developing Bharat Vann, a one-acre urban forest inside Lodhi Colony Park, using the dense-planting Japanese technique.  Over 10,000 saplings across 76 native and climate-adapted species – fruit trees, shrubs, flowering plants and shade-givers – are going into the ground, with growth projected to hit 10-12 feet within a year.  Once established, the forest’s expected to have walking tracks and dedicated space for yoga, pranayama and open-air meditation. What is a Miyawaki forest? A Miyawaki forest is a method for growing dense, native forest in a small footprint… fast. Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki developed it in the 1970s. You plant a mix of local tree, shrub and plant species very close together, which forces the saplings to grow upward and compete for light. The result is a mini-forest that can pack in dozens of species per plot and mature in years rather than decades, making it especially useful for greening small or degraded urban patches like the one now going in at Lodhi Colony Park. Is this Delhi’s first Miyawaki forest? Delhi's Miyawaki experiments actually go back further. Grassroots groups got there first: EcoSikh planted the Guru Nanak Sacred Forest in Tilak Nagar in 2019, and volunteers used the method for Dwarka Sector 7's ‘first urban forest’ the following year.  In

Public passes for the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) go on sale tomorrow, September 22, at 10.30am. Given this morning drop, it might be worth covering your cubicle up and using your work computer to book. Keep an eye out on their Instagram for the link. And in the meantime, if you're early enough, snag a spot on their website's mailing list and get early access to tickets. The DIFF’s arguably one of the biggest film festivals in the country. It's marking its 15th edition this year, running from October 29 to November 1 at the Tibetan Children's Village (TCV) in Upper Dharamshala. What is DIFF? Founded in 2012 by filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, DIFF has built its reputation on staying small on purpose. They have a line-up of Indian and international independent cinema, screened across four venues on the TCV campus: Hermann Gmeiner Hall, Dekyi Tsering Hall, and the two PictureTime screens set up on the basketball court and football ground. In short: features, documentaries, shorts, and the odd genre curveball, alongside panel discussions, workshops, and filmmaker Q&As through the day, straight from around 9am to 9pm. Worth knowing before you buy: passes aren't transferable once purchased, there's no reserved seating (Special Delegate and Supporter passholders get priority queuing, though), A handful of day passes are sometimes sold at the venue for local attendees, but don't count on it.  What to know before travelling to DIFF Getting there: The neares

If you’ve braved the queues in M Block Market since Benne Dosa opened in December (I spotted them yesterday), you know the dosa hysteria that’s swarmed all over Delhi. Ever since Benne touched down in Greater Kailash 2, South Delhi’s breakfast-obsessed (and those across time and space, to be honest) have willingly traded an hour of their time for a crack at their food. Now, Benne’s expanded with a second NCR outpost, offering those in Gurugram the exact same ghee-soaked goodness without the soul-crushing commute across the border. For a city usually obsessed with brunches and sky-high cocktail lounges, something’s wonderful about sitting at a utilitarian stainless-steel table, watching fat dollops of white butter melt into scorching rice batter, and washing it all down with a glass of frothy filter coffee. The new Benne also comes at a time of South Indian food booming across the capital, both darshini-style and fine-dine (think Nadoo and Hosa), but rest assured, their fan-following’d probably climb up a mountain of idlis if they had to. Here’s what landed on the new Gurugram menu Benne dosa: Choose from plain, masala, the spice-heavy pudi plain, pudi masala, or a punchy garlic roast. Idli and vada: Don’t skip the cloud-like thatte idli, served slathered in pure ghee or tossed in fiery ghee pudi. Bengaluru specials: Delicate Shavige Bath (vermicelli upma), sweet, airy Mangalore Buns, and rich Donne Pulao, finished off with melt-in-your-mouth Mysore Pak or Badam Halwa. Beverag

Siyah Arthouse, a rooftop haven best known for hosting affordable, Gen Z-run music gigs and youth-led events in Delhi, announced it had to shut shop this week.  Among other things, the Saket spot was one of the cornerstones for Delhi’s underground metal scene (and sometimes, genres like shoegaze), with heavy lineup nights like Shab-e-Siyah alongside homage shows like their TOOL and Ozzy Osbourne tribute gigs. These riffs shared a schedule with Cinergy indie film showcases, filmmaker Q&As, and practical masterclasses like Devanshu Singh’s director workshops. Their calendar was roundly eclectic. You had Kalakar Bazaar art swaps, open-mic comedy, late-night screamy karaoke, vinyl listening sessions. They also hopped onto the slew of bar lectures across the city.  I can’t tell you how romanticised that lift at the bottom of Siyah Arthouse's building is. Once you were up, even if sets began late, you were fully sorted bar, snacks, and wooden tables and benches on the terrace for rambling conversations. Personally, they also served as the perfect quiet zone for dealing with overstimulation at a gig. For now, the team has teased a potential return in a ‘different shape’. I first heard of Siyah Arthouse’s closure unprompted from gig organisers at an unrelated concert. Wherever and if they choose to pop up next, you can expect the dedicated community they built over late-night sets over cocktails and DIY markets to follow.

The countdown to India's most-watched bar ranking has entered its next phase. The 30 Best Bars India 2026 Masterlist has just dropped, naming 245 bars from across the country that are now in contention for a spot on the final Top 100, and, ultimately, the coveted 30 Best Bars India list itself. No matter what you like in a drink, this is our country's top bartending talent right here. The Masterlist is built from a mix of open nominations and expert curation: 175 bars put themselves forward through self-nomination, while a further 70 were handpicked by the Masterlist Jury. Together, they form the long list that a 125-plus-member jury will now vote on to whittle down to the Top 100, due to be revealed soon. Don’t want to wait that long? Here are our takes on the best bars in Mumbai and in Delhi. Mumbai seems to be leading City-wise, the numbers tell a familiar story of where India's bar culture is concentrated. Mumbai tops the table comfortably with 57 entries, followed by New Delhi with 37 and Goa close behind at 36. Bangalore rounds out the leading pack with 32 bars, while Kolkata (14), Pune (13) and Gurgaon (12) make up a solid second tier.  Smaller but notable showings came in from cities including Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Kochi, Mysore, Amritsar, Indore, Dehradun, Chennai, Guwahati, Shillong and more: a sign that the scene's centre of gravity is spreading beyond the usual metropolitan cities. What kinds of bars made the cut? Restaurant bars dominate the Masterlist b

Earlier this year, the genre-bending Gorillaz broke several Instagram feeds and human heads by announcing an India tour in Bengaluru and Mumbai for their album The Mountain. Now, the duo’s shot out of the blue to add a Guwahati stop!  Given the theme of the release, this is a fitting and clearly very welcome addition – Guwahati’s been popping its head up as a concert destination this year like no other non-’tier 1’ city (Post Malone, Guns N’ Roses, and more). Reportedly, this was partially due to a collaboration with Assam Tourism, who have previously pushed for the concert economy’s growth in the Northeast state by bringing down pop/hip-hop star Post Malone in December 2025 and in November, will host rock legends Guns N’ Roses. Here’s everything to know about the Gorillaz tour given this big news. The complete tour rundown Guwahati: January 31, 2027 at Sarusajai Sports Complex (Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium)Bengaluru: January 23, 2027 at the District Arena @ TerraformMumbai: January 27, 2027 at Jio World Garden, BKC Sales for the Bengaluru and Mumbai are already live, with tickets starting at ₹5,000. The pre-sale for Guwahati, meanwhile, starts at noon on September 12. The general on-sale starts on September 20 at 1pm. All tickets are available on the District app. More about Gorillaz For the uninitiated: Gorillaz are the world's most successful virtual band, created in 1998 by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett. The project consists of four anima

Have you ever endured a duty-free run or international baggage allowance to get your hands on fresh Lindt treats? The likely answer is no. You’ve probably just stared at them in the aisle or waited for your rich aunt. Well, the legendary Swiss confectionery brand has officially debuted its first-ever standalone Indian flagship boutique at Worldmark 5 in Aerocity, Delhi. Designed to mirror the brand’s high-end boutiques across Europe, the new retail space combines warm wooden accents with the rich scent of cocoa. Inside, you can browse the brand's full international portfolio (if I may), ranging from high-percentage dark chocolate slabs in the Lindt Excellence range to artisanal pralines and luxury gifting hampers. They’ve also got the Lindt signature Pick-and-Mix wall. From floor to ceiling, it’s packed with color-coded, foil-wrapped Lindor truffles, allowing shoppers to fill up custom bags by weight across a variety of flavors including milk chocolate, sea salt, hazelnut, and coconut. The boutique also features live chocolatier demonstrations where you can watch truffles being crafted in real time, alongside guided tasting sessions to help customers assemble custom assortments. Aerocity’s been bombarded with openings lately, many of which naturally cater to travellers to India. This is a rare sort that feels actually exciting to people living in Delhi. More about Lindt It all began in 1845 with a Zurich confectionery run by David Sprüngli and his son, who pioneered solid cho

Starting September 23, Lodhi Colony’s CMYK Bookstore will be exhibiting over 60 sketches and lithographs by three giants in art history – Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Salvador Dali. Titled ‘Master Impressions’, the exhibition will feature limited editions of the originals, most of which have even been signed by the artists.  The idea is to ‘reveal printmaking as an important extension of each artist’s practice, from Picasso’s economy of line and Miró’s language of signs and forms to Dalí’s precision, colour and Surrealist imagination.’  We remember each of these legends for their grander, more hued works, and in a time where mass-produced work is easier than ever, the best part about this CMYK exhibition is perhaps its focus on what’s more pared back. It’s part of CMYK’s growing collectables programme, which has featured rare books, limited editions and original graphic works. The bookstore itself, which was recently renovated to have more space for events and exhibits, has been making a name for focusing on stocking non-fiction and picturebooks – a bold choice, but one that pays off in a place that’s browsable for hours. Before this one kicks off, have a look at some other exhibitions that are currently on in the city. More about Picasso, Miro and Dali Pablo Picasso revolutionised 20th-century art through Cubism, breaking traditional perspective to view subjects from multiple angles at once.  Joan Miro developed a playful universe that bridged abstraction and Surrealism usi

In every thought-piece about Delhi, it’s established that the city’s haunted by memory and missing histories. Ahead of the winter – which is prime time to fixate on and remember what used to be – the capital’s art galleries are already capitalising on this. Across Delhi’s white cubes this month, five shows stand out in perhaps an unplanned theme together. From borderlands that rewrite our internal geographies to domestic shadows pinned to post-colonial memory, these exhibitions ask how the histories we carry remains after the gallery doors close. If you find yourself wandering the capital with a desire to slow down, here are five exhibitions in Delhi chosen for exactly this purpose, across Safdarjung, Mehrauli, Defence Colony, Anand Niketan and NGMA. Phantasms | Anant Art Gallery, Safdarjung This solo show by Thamshangpha ‘Merci’ Maku’ was curated by Anna Sireiliu Charenamei and Sohorpem Kazingmei with Shaleen Wadhwana acting as curatorial advisor.  Through the artist’s understanding of literature, community, and forests, the show promises to grapple with how homesickness haunts someone ‘born into the margins of the nation state’; how this someone’s history is both invisibilised and weaponised. Maku understands the borderland as both physical and something that messes with what he calls an ‘interior order’. Anant Art Gallery's one of the city's most underrated galleries, if you ask me, with their curatorial strengths lying equally in the surreal and political. Where: Anant Ar

Experimental music collective Alt Baithak’s marking its first anniversary in Delhi by hosting a five-hour-long rave that’s designed to reclaim the meaning of the word ‘rave’. For the gig on September 12, 7pm onwards, passes are for just under a hundred rupees each. True to the principles of their programming over the last year, the rave’s described as based on principles of peace, mutual respect and curiosity. It features a lineup of swymkndr, RAIN, merohi, LOVE, and anam. With gates opening at 6:30pm and a BYOB policy, there’s something about how Alt Baithak approaches music and dance that feels more accessible and playful than most club nights. More about Alt Baithak They’re a baithak that hosts art of all forms, known for a host of unreleased electronic music, intuitive dance, indie film screenings, production workshops, art and piercing markets, and the occasional specialty coffee and craft cocktail when they collaborate with other collectives. Formed in 2025 explicitly against the idea of being funded, Alt Baithak gigs are experimental and move with the crowd, above all. You’re encouraged to dress however you want, dance however you want, react in whichever way you feel like. Set designs at these gigs, whether at Mool or elsewhere, are some of the coolest you’ll find in the city. The details When: Saturday, September 12. 7pm-11pm. Where: Mool, South Extension II How to reach: Take an auto from the South Extension metro station on the pink line. Parking at Mool can be hea

The internet’s officially descended into full detective mode. As Lollapalooza prepares for its upcoming edition at Mumbai's Mahalaxmi Racecourse, they’ve dropped a highly anticipated set of hints at the lineup on their social media, leaving us dissecting every pixel. While rumours fly, a few heavy hitters have practically left their calling cards on the table. If the breadcrumbs mean what we think they mean – here’s the lowdown on the acts expected to grace the main stages from January. Olivia Dean The British neo-soul sensation essentially blew her own cover before any official billing even hit the wire. After dropping subtle clues on social media, fan-club subscribers started receiving texts signaling her long-overdue debut on Indian soil. Fresh off the massive critical acclaim of her debut album Messy and recent releases, Dean brings buttery, brass-infused vocals that sit right at the intersection of retro soul and modern pop.  Limp Bizkit If you hear a nostalgia-fueled roar tearing through the venue, that’ll likely be Fred Durst and co bringing the late-90s nu-metal. Hints pointing to the Jacksonville heavyweights suggest Lolla is leaning hard into alternative legacy acts. Between Wesley Borland’s bizarre stage gear, Sam Rivers’ heavy basslines, and anthems like Break Stuff and Rollin', this is likely where the moshpits will be. Katseye The multi-national girl group birthed from the joint HYBE and Geffen project The Debut: Dream Academy also seems to represent Lolla’s sha

Raksha Bandhan is this Friday, August 28. It’s not so far away, but come on, allow yourself a second of honesty: You’ve got time. If your fallback Rakhi gifting plan for 2026 involves a box of sweets alone or a plastic rose that smells faintly of warehouse dust, it’s time to level up. Speaking as a sister: we spot last-minute panic purchases from miles away! The good news is you don’t need an elaborate operation. Delhi’s crawling with spots and things to nab all sorts of stuff that will feel more personal than an instant delivery. Before the mid-week rush hits, we’re handing you a small cheat-sheet of where to head in the city – based on what your sister’s interests are. For those with a sweet tooth Manam Chocolate, Eldeco Centre: This is Indian craft chocolate made with homegrown cacao. Grab their limited-edition Rakhi Bonbon collection featuring Coffee & Cream or Sesame & Citrus Caramel, or bakery treats like Mini Croissant Mixes and custom craft hampers. Foodstories, Ambience Mall (Vasant Kunj): Swing by for their ‘Sibling Archive’ line featuring desserts with names like The One You Stole or The Midnight Snack, which will probably amuse the cheesier of your siblings. They also stock interactive chocolate fondue kits and massive Pizzookie boxes. The Cinnamon Kitchen: Ideal for those who are mindful eaters, offering gluten-free and refined sugar-free bakes like pecan & caramel cookie tins, chocolate crunch millet Cakes, and rich dark chocolate fudge brownies. Gladful: In a s