Alakananda Bhattacharya, Author at Masala Mug

Cotswolds – A Breathtaking English Countryside Vacay & How To Do It Right

On August 23, 2023 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Travel

Reading Time: 15 minutes Just close your eyes for a second and visualise a page from a fairytale book from your childhood. What do you see? Deep blue sky, vast green meadows with scattered white sheep grazing all day, a picture-perfect house by a small canal with a lovely garden and a wooden fence; birds chirping, wildflowers, colourful leaves…am I getting warmer? Well, congratulations, you’ve just pictured a real place very much existing on Earth, not a fairyland. That place is known as the Cotswolds. No fabrication, no exaggeration, and absolutely no filter needed. So, if you’re confused about where to plan your next …

My second dive in Thailand was a game-changer

Why Scuba Diving Experience Topped My ‘Thailand Highest Points’ List

On December 26, 2022 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Travel

Reading Time: 10 minutes By the end of every trip, someone always ends up asking me; “So, what’s your highest point?” And if nobody does, I find myself asking the same question to myself. Sometimes, it’s hard to decide on a winner. So I take a safer route of a tie where two contenders score neck-to-neck. Very rarely, there is a clear winner. Luckily, my Thailand trip in 2022 did have one. And boy, with what skyrocketing scores! Without getting much into the million planning sessions amongst 11 friends, creation of wish lists and whatnots, let’s just “dive in”! As the day got closer, …

Why The Stories Of Old Manali Never Get Old For Me

On June 9, 2022 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Travel

Reading Time: 9 minutes “So, where do you want to go this time?” asked Dev on a scorching summer evening while he regulated the AC from 26 to 24 degrees. “Maybe a new place this time,” I replied after gulping down half a bottle of water in a go. “I might want to explore some new treks, or jungle trails, old temples, some new cafés. I don’t know, we’ll see when the time comes.” This is the summer of 2022- a fresh new hell in Delhi when the mercury hit 40 even before May. Humans getting impatient and restless; Traffic getting unbearable; cars burning, …

An Open Letter To Raj & DK: How You Made Family Man 2 A Rollercoaster Ride For Me, Yours Truly!

On June 12, 2021 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Films, Movies and TV Shows, Opinion

Reading Time: 8 minutes Dear Raj & DK Sir, Sometimes, it takes just a ping to send shivers down your spine. The date was May 19. Delhi was smoldering with the mercury touching almost 42 degrees. A young (ish) girl, in her late 30s, was huffing and puffing without electricity, yelling & whining at the rowdy temperament of the summers. However, it was not the hot weather that was making her palms sweat. It was the sweet anticipation of something else. Suddenly her phone rings and it sends shivers down her spine. Her eyes widen, her face reddens and she starts screaming. But in …

15 Fahadh Faasil Movies That Would Leave You Spellbound

On April 5, 2021 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Films, Movies and TV Shows, Opinion

Reading Time: 11 minutes Let me be completely honest. This is not just another “must-watch movie/web-series list article”. This is a narrative journey of my love for this actor I discovered quite recently and simply can’t get enough of him. Just in the span of a few weeks, I was introduced to a gem with chameleon-like abilities to transform into any character, got completely awestruck and fell head over heels in love. Whether being the protagonist, the “hero’s friend” or one of the many characters in a multi-starrer- Fahadh Faasil manages to catch your eye…and that too just with his eyes (oh those beautiful …

Top 10 Web Series (2020) In Hindi That Made The Year Less Sufferable

On January 31, 2021 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Movies and TV Shows, Opinion

Reading Time: 9 minutes Trying new lockdown recipes– Check! Posting singing and dancing videos on social media- Check! Joining online guitar classes– Check! Creating your own Youtube Channel- Check! Binging on web channels- CHECK! Sounds too familiar, doesn’t it? Well, that’s precisely the year 2020 for you…in a nutshell! Between all those new activities and skills that you accomplished and juggling between Work From Home & Work At Home this year, “Netflix and Chill” has become more like a blessing than a casual phrase. We can’t thank the brilliant content all over the OTT platforms enough to help us get through the year. Truly, …

Kuthar: The Perfect Hideout In Himachal (Just 300km From Delhi!)

On December 16, 2020 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Travel

Reading Time: 10 minutes For how long can you depend on virtual travel? It’s been too long watching old “Facebook Memories”, flipping through last year’s Lan Ha Bay travel pictures and videos. And the worst part? Almost getting used to that! A whole year gone by without stepping out of the city and just ruminating on memories…more memories! It was time we made some new ones. For travel junkies like ourselves, one whole year without the mountains or beaches or forests felt like claustrophobia. And more than anyone else, our 74 years “old” father (who’s used to spend at least 6 months of the …

Pujo From Home – The New Normal For Bengalis in 2020

On October 3, 2020 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Lifestyle

Reading Time: 9 minutes One of the most relevant Durga Pujo memes doing rounds this year was the one that showed a month and a half gap between Mahalaya and Saptami as if, maintaining social distancing. It was like the universe’s way of warning us, that this year, Pujo is not going to be the same! Every year Mahalaya comes with the first wave of autumn breeze in the air (what we Bengalis call Pujor gondho), the excitement rises up and the countdown begins! As soon as Bengalis all over the world hear the first song “Jaago, tumi jaago…” of the Mahishasur Mardini album, …

Bandish Bandits – A Binge-Worthy Musical Journey You Wish Had Never Ended

On September 8, 2020 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Movies and TV Shows, Music, Opinion

Reading Time: 6 minutes “Kharaj ka riyaaz karo…jitna neeche se gaaoge, utna upar ja sakoge” (Practice Kharaj…the more you practice the lower octaves, better will be your higher notes). When I heard these lines coming from Panditji played by Naseeruddin Shah, I knew this wasn’t a half-baked series loosely based on Hindustani Classical music. Director Anand Tiwari and his team of writers had done their homework, and how! Apart from the obvious power performances by Bandish Bandit’s creme cast Naseer Sahab and Atul Kulkarni, the series was filled with musical moments that took me back to my own Indian classical training memories. I might …

Scariest Horror Movies! Which Of These 10 Foreign Films Have You Seen?

On July 6, 2020 By Alakananda Bhattacharya In Films, Movies and TV Shows

Reading Time: 8 minutes Horror movies are highly underrated. And when I say “horror” I do not mean slasher, gory bloodbath fest with guts & brains spilling out everywhere. As a true horror junkie, I believe the real art of making a good horror flick is to scare the shit out of you without necessarily having to use visual details. The very reason why films like “The Shining” and “Ju-on” are considered to be some of the world’s scariest films is they actually have haunting powers. You can’t unsee what you saw and forget what you felt! My partner and I have been ardent …