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In the early 1900’s Ethnic Indians and   second generations Burmese Indians made up about 70% of Burma’s population.   Through the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s the military unrest lead to the exodus of Ethnic Indians from Burma back to India. Many of Amitav Ghosh’s books have touched upon the rich Burmese culture and the vast immigrant population that migrated from India throughout the nineteenth century and made a fortune in Burma. Those who made it crossed the borders and escaped to India amidst war, rough terrains, disease, filth and squalor.   Many riches to rags stories have been told and retold about Indians who lost everything including property, jewellery and loved ones during the process of fleeing Burma during the Military insurgency.   Many of them were enterprising business men and women who, despite losing everything else did not lose their spirit of enterprise and were determined to start from the scratch all over again back home. ...

When in search of a perfect filter kaapi that the town of kumbakonam is famous for, many a localite will direct you to Sri Venkataramana mess which is where arguably the most authentic filter kaapi is served.    If you happen to be on one of those whirlwind weekend Navagraha temple pilgrimage with no time to spare and the fear of missing out on filter coffee is gripping you, be forewarned.   Sri Venkataramana Mess is closed on Sundays. It does not matter to them that Sundays could be the day when the business is at its peak, what with those tourists from the cities coming down to Kumbakonam.   But Sri Venkataraman Mess has been in business for a long time now to worry about loss of potential market share. Instead they are known for their employee friendly policies. Legend has it that when their chief Chef who prepares their legendary Ulundu Vada was recovering after a long illness, he was not asked to take on the rigours of relentless work in the k...