Bauli Moonfils, which look like croissants but are soft and squishy, filled with cream. I believed them to be croissants until I actually had one. Easy to find all across India, these were part of the diabetes inducing high-sugar breakfast I had sometimes. I used to buy them while travelling, along with Britannia cakes and Winkies Swiss rolls.
I don’t remember the first time I ate a croissant but the first memory of eating a croissant is of the IKEA store in Hyderabad. It was with 'A'. 'A' came to Hyderabad in the second half of 2019, so this should be sometime after that. Was it on the day when I and 'A' got my desk and chair and assembled it, or some other day, I am not sure. But we enjoyed it. We enjoyed every bite of it. The fluffy, buttery, crunchy and doughy breads from heaven.
This started the quest. The quest to find the best in Hyderabad. If I went to a bakery and they had croissants I tried it. 'A' came to visit me on the weekends and we used to chart the action plan. Going through reviews, news paper articles, listicles and what not, trying to find the next place to try croissants. On one fateful weekend we went to the Theory Cafe at Jubilee Hills. The cafe is in one of the best neighborhoods in Hyderabad. They made (hopefully, are still making) croissants on Sundays only. The croissants were sweet with caramelized almonds on top. Alas, this was the first and last time I had those croissants. It was a memorable evening with 'A'.
After the above two experiences, it is difficult for me to eat croissants and not remember 'A'. We still discuss the details every time I stumble upon a good croissant.
I met 'P' because we joined the company on the same day. 'P' and I used to chat after lunch in the 13th floor balcony of our office overlooking Madhapur, Hitec City and Kukatpally. The metropolis of glass and concrete sprawling in all directions. 'P' is very ambitious. One of her ambitious goals was to turn vegan. That was tough. Especially if you love buttery croissants at the IKEA store. Every meeting with 'P' was an excuse to try a new restaurant. 'P' was trying to hard to become a vegan but she loved baked desserts which generally have dairy products in them. Most of our meetings were ‘vegetarian cheat days’ for her. I termed our meetings as therapy sessions. They had good food and deep conversations. I distinctly remember one of these therapy sessions in the IKEA parking lot, with croissants and cinnamon rolls in hands. 'P' introduced me to the Tres Leches cake before I left Hyderabad, that was the beginning of another affair.
'R' joined my team just after the pandemic started. Virtual conversations are no match in person interactions but still we used to talk about a lot of things. The first time I met 'R' in person was at a table tennis game. After the game, he was dropping me home, when he asked, and I remember it vividly - ‘Are you interested in food? I am planning to go to the Afghan Food festival’. My answer was a beaming and screaming ‘YES’. The Afghan dinner was the beginning of a series of food excursions. 'R' was a local, like ‘P’, but unlike her, he was an expert in non-vegetarian food. We made spontaneous plans to eat awesome food. Bheja fry after the morning walk was one of the most memorable mornings in Hyderabad. Malai Shawarma after work was a great excuse to have profound discussions about the universe. One evening I asked 'R' if he wanted to eat croissants as I was craving for them and planning to go to the IKEA store after work. 'R' said he loves croissants but can’t find any good ones in Hyderabad. I accepted the challenge. One of the happiest moments for a foodie is when he introduces another foodie to something and the latter enjoys it. 'R' loved the croissants at IKEA and I was over the moon.
I left Hyderabad in early 2022 to move to Amsterdam. Breakfast changed from idli and chutney (my favourite in the world) to croissants and coffee. Cheese croissants, ham and cheese croissants, cream filled croissants — I was in croissant paradise. I am trying to eat different vareities of croissants at various bakeries. I still discuss the croissants with ‘A’, ‘P’ and ‘R’. But the adventure is not there anymore. Something which was hard to find in India, is available — freshly baked — in my nearest grocery store now.
I am living alone during the pandemic. People react differently to little or no social interaction. My network of dependable friends has kept me going through the pandemic. Living alone gives me a lot of time to think. I started this page to jot down my thoughts. This text below may or may not make sense. It is as much as for me as it is for someone else. After the pandemic has passed, I can go through them to learn some lessons.
Organising my thoughts has always been peaceful. Trying to weave a coherent story with all the information I’m bombarded with everyday. Trying to fit it in my belief system. Or change my assumptions. It is a continuous process that has been going on throughout my life. Indoctrination makes the job easier. Although some kind of implicit indoctrination is unavoidable due to the gregariousness of the species, I try to expose myself to as many ideas as possible to expand my worldview and avoid subscription to a particular belief system.
Think about about this -
if you find what's written here engaging and come back again to read if I have written something new,
are you subscribing to my belief system?
I feel I have found the reason people get attracted to religion. The pandemic and the resulting isolation has shown me the value of community. The value of constructive dialogue. The ease of somebody else explaining me how the world works rather than me finding it out on my own. I find uncertainty painful. But uncertainty is the norm. Prior to this pandemic the sense of uncertainty was not as profound as it is now. In an age where exploration means visiting a place online and then visiting it in-person, it’s difficult to wrap my head around the uncharted territory created by the pandemic.
Online games, especially role-playing games provide the required escapism in the current monotonousness of life where home and workplace have merged.