24 May 2026

From the bartender’s corner – Khatta Nazar

Built on a base of Smirnoff Spicy Tamarind Vodka and topped with refreshing Aam Panna, this cocktail is a bold celebration of classic Indian summer flavors. Not the best fit for this rainy Atlanta Memorial Day weekend but, that is what caught my fancy today.

Aam Panna is a beloved North Indian drink made from raw green mangoes, known for its sweet, tangy, and lightly spiced flavor profile. Traditionally prepared using boiled or roasted raw mango pulp, it’s blended with sugar or jaggery, cooling mint, roasted cumin, and black salt to create an intensely refreshing summer cooler.

For garnish, I added tangy tamarind concentrate cubes to amplify the sweet-sour depth of the drink.

The result is a flavorful cocktail — the sharpness of raw mango, the rich tang of tamarind, and the warm burst of Indian spices in the palate.

Category: Cocktails | LEAVE A COMMENT
19 May 2026

But for that T-shirt… I would not have found a new friend

I was sitting in the Courtyard lobby taking an office video call. Noticed the gentleman sitting a bit ahead of me – also on a video call. What got my attention was his T-shirt.

He got done with his call first. As he was walking by me, I asked the folkd on my call to hold on and started talking to the gentleman.

Turns out he had gone for the 2016 Original Marathon – in Greece. It retraces the path of Phidipiddes from the beaches of Marathon up the mountains for 32 km and then 10 km down into the valley and finish off in the first Olympic stadium in Athens. The race bills itself as the “Authentic Marathon!”

I told him that I was there too – except it was the previous year. We talked for some time about running in general before I got back to my call.

Category: Running, Travelogs | LEAVE A COMMENT
17 May 2026

“Darn It!”

It is like those mail vans that mysteriously get mold, always at the same spot, all over again! Well, my running socks have their own version of that curse.

Every. Single. Pair. Same spot. Gone.

Each seems to surrender pretty much at the same square centimeter, like it is my personal sock graveyard spot. I’d have put my money on the heel going first. That is where all the pounding is, right?

Much like the postal vans, I do not know why at that same spot. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime to the rescue!!

Category: Musings | LEAVE A COMMENT