Lounge Loves: A Korean boardgame, Nisaba's village mutton roast and more

Dreaming Of Game Strategy

Last weekend, I attended a workshop to learn Go, a strategy board game where two players compete to claim territory by placing black and white stones on a grid. While it originated in China around the 4th century BC, I got to know Go as Baduk through Korean dramas. In The Glory (2022), Song Hye-kyo’s Moon Dong-eun talks about the game’s quality of allowing you to build and guard your house in silence, all while trying to dismantle someone else’s. Organised by Da Bombaes community, this workshop was part of a broader experiment I have been conducting. For most of my life, I was convinced that gaming was not my thing. Lately, I have been trying things before declaring myself unfit for them. During the workshop, our instructor warned that we would dream about patterns and territory captures after playing it once. He was right.

—Shephali Bhatt

What’s In a Ring?

Months ago, while watching a fashion show, I spotted a model wearing a ring with pearls, which moved with every gesture. The show’s stylist couldn’t recall where it was from. That sent me down an internet rabbit hole. I tried every possible keyword combination: “pearl droppings”, “moving pearls”. Nothing. Three weeks ago, after complaining to a friend about my failed search for this object of desire, I scrolled through the Amrapali website—and there it was: a beautiful gold-plated silver piece with pearl drops. But my size was sold out, both online and in-store. After several requests, they finally agreed to customise one for me, and I’m now patting myself on the back for my power of persistence.

—Pooja Singh

Mango Joy

Mangoes are much-loved across the country but there’s something particularly sweet about the annual Mango Party at Bengaluru’s Ranga Shankara theatre. It’s simple enough: Every person attending—no matter how young or old—brings 1kg of washed mangoes which are added to a common pool at the café. And then you pick any number you like, choose a plate, and proceed to skin, suck or chew to enjoy the fruit. Last Sunday, from 11am-5pm, as families and friends shared mangoes, storytellers and theatre artists entertained them. Over the past 20 years, the Mango Party has become more elaborate but at its heart it remains a lovely way to share memories about a fruit that’s near universally loved.

—Shalini Umachandran

Chef’s Kiss

Last week, when a friend took me out to lunch at Nisaba, the fine-dining restaurant located on the premises of Humayun World Heritage Museum in Sunder Nursery, Delhi, I expected a culinary delight to remember. After all, this establishment is the brainchild of chef Manish Mehrotra, whose tasting menu at Indian Accent is by far the best meal I have ever had. But little did I imagine the variety and subtlety of flavours that would assail my tastebuds. Personally overseen by Mehrotra, each of the three courses proved to be perfection on a plate—exquisite without being flashy, the ingredients dazzling the senses and the mind. My favourite was the village mutton roast with caper aloo bharta, served with chilli chutney and reshmi paratha. A slow cooked masterpiece that calls for slow savouring and meant for every season.

—Somak Ghoshal