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A tour of the Anglo-Indian kitchen table with Bangalore-based Bridget White Kumar reveals a list of interesting sounding dishes like bubble and squeak, pepper water, Bengal Lancers shrimp curry, railway mutton curry, dak bunglow curry, Hussainy curry, foogath,  pepper okra, bread pudding, carmel custard and shandy.

Bridget deconstructs these dishes in the interview and takes us through a typical day in a Anglo-Indian kitchen right from  breakfast, lunch to dinner and drinks. (Link to a video interview with Bridget.)

Anglo-Indian food  is a fusion or a hybrid cuisine that evolved during the colonial period of India (17thc onwards) and initially had  more of a European flavor with some Indian spices thrown in explains Bridget, author of several books on Anglo-Indian cuisine.  Over the years, Anglo-Indian food has acquired more of a regional flavor  points out Bridget.

Bangalore once had a strong and dynamic Anglo-Indian community in the cantonment area, but over the years it has  shrunk to a small, but tight-knit community. An upshot of the migration and re-location of the Anglo-Indians to other parts of the world meant that many of the old, family recipes have either been lost or forgotten. Bridget  is on a mission to rescue and preserve the old, forgotten recipes cooked during her grandmother’s time.  She recently worked with Bangalore’s Taj West End for their upcoming Anglo-Indian food festival that is part of their 125 years celebrations. The West End turns 125 years old this year and Anglo-Indian dishes were a regular fair at the hotel for over 100 years.

Born and brought up in Kolar Gold Field, Bridget moved to Bangalore in the early 1970s. She worked in a bank for several years and took an early retirement, and pursued her passion in preserving the heritage of the Anglo-Indian cuisine.

Related Links: Glenda Michelle Singh on Anglo-Indians of Lucknow – video and audio.

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Meet Bangalore’s cartoonist Paul Fernandes, who found that he could not stay away from the city even if he wanted to. There is something about this “city of pubs,” “pensioner’s paradise,” “garden city” that keeps him grounded and happy.  It is the many moods of that happy, delightful and lazy charm of an old Bangalore that infuses his cartoons and illustrations (video link).

Born and brought up in the cantonment area of Bangalore, Paul is happiest  when he is driving around the neighborhood in his familiar bike. These trips let him soak in the old charms of Bangalore and notice those tiny details about life and people, which he then files away carefully in his cupboard of memories. When the time is right he sorts through his cupboard of memories and highlights them in his work. Embedded in his work are Bangalore icons like monkeytop houses,  BVR, Koshys, Plaza Cinema, St. Joseph’s (his alma mater), Commercial Street and Taj Westend.  Dogs, cars and bikes are a constant and recurring leitmotif in his works.

PG Wodehouse meets Mario Miranda is the thought that flashes through your mind when you look at the series of happy and humorous illustrations in his gallery aPaoulogy. His work is a homage to a “swinging Bangalore” of the 1970s and it captures a city that no longer exists except in the minds and works of old Bangaloreans like Paul.

After working in the advertisement industry for years Paul hung up his hat and is now focussed on running his gallery Apaulogy.

Paul has illustrated a number of books including Peter Colaco’s Bangalore and On A High Note as well as his own Shine Board Arts.

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Mohandas Pai on education, investment  and IPO  in part-2 of our conversation.  He is the chairperson of the board of  Manipal Global Education Services that has schools and educational institutions in India, Malaysia, Dubai and Antigua.  Interestingly, the California Educational System serves as a role model for Manipal’s educational system.

What prompted Mohan to join Manipal Global Education Services after he left his job at Infosys? Is there an IPO in the cards for Manipal? How did his passion for education begin? At Infosys he helped build the corporate university for the company. Mohan sits on the boards of many educational institutions around India.

Central to Mohan’s thinking is the role of education in transforming people, who in turn transform their community and country. While education is a force multiplier, there are challenges that need to be ironed out in the Indian system as he points out in the interview.

Besides education, startups and innovation are on Mohan’s radar at the moment. Along with Ranjan Pai he  started a private equity fund that invests in startups in biotech and e-commerce space.

In case, you missed here is the link to Part-1 of our conversation, where he talks about how he joined Infosys and his interest in all things financial.

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How do  you keep a company financially healthy? How do you deal with the capital structure and the financial forecasting of a company? That is the challenge many companies face, and having an efficient and effective Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is key to the financial success of a company.

Meet Mohandas Pai, who has carved out a niche for himself in Indian’s financial and accounting world. As the CFO of Infosys, one of India’s largest IT company, Mohan implemented a series of international compliant accounting standards and processes at the company and won recognition for it.

His next stint at Infosys was as the head of Human Resources, Education and Research. Mohan appears to have brought in the same kind of vigor, energy and process-driven mechanism that he appears to favor and helped build Infosys campus in Mysore.

In 2011 Mohan shifted gears and went from Infosys and joined Manipal Global Education Services and is currently the chairperson of the board there. Along with Ranjan Pai, he is also an investor and they recently invested in Bangalore-based company BookAdda.

In Part 1 of our interview Mohan talks about how his interest in the financial world developed as a teenager and his fascination with reading the annual reports of companies. He shares a very interesting story of howe he how he was recruited into Infosys by Nandan Nilekani and about his stint at the IT company that put Bangalore on the world map.

You can watch a short video clip interview with Mohan.

Tune back in for Part-2 of our interview with Mohan.

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Nandan Nilekani is the co-founder and former head of Infosys. This is the company that put Bangalore on the global map.  New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman credits Nandan for coining that famous phrase The World Is Flat,  which became the title of  his book.

Banglaore-based Infosys is one of the best Indian success stories.  Founded during the “License Raj” phase, the founders persisted and grew their company  from a small entity to a huge, global IT powerhouse.

In 2009 Nandan left Infosys and joined the Government of India when Prime Minister Singh appointed him to a cabinet level position. He currently heads the Unique Identification Authority of India.

In the middle of his hectic life, Nandan carved out time to write his book Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation. The book was  published in March 2009 in the US, and I caught up with him in Silicon Valley while he was on an extended book tour.

In Part-1 of the interview Nandan talks about his appearance in Jon Stewart’s show, the structure and essence of his book, the challenges facing a new and emerging India, entrepreneurship and the startup culture in India.

You can listen to Part-2 of the interview here.

Here is a short video clip interview with Nandan.

Photo credit: World Economic Forum

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In Part-2 of the interview Nandan Nilekani talks the changing dynamics of Indian political landscape, especially in the federal-state relationship. What can India learn from China? What is needed for India to move forward? What is missing? These were some of the questions he answered.

In case you missed, you can listen to Part-1 of the conversation, where Nandan talks about his appearance in Jon Stewart’s show, his book Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation, and the challenges facing a new and emerging India.

Nandan is co-founder  and former CEO of Infosys, an Indian IT powerhouse that was founded during India’s famous “License Raj,” phase. Thomas Friedman in his book credits Nandan for coining that famous phrase, which became the title of  his book: The World Is Flat.

Currently, Nandan heads the Unique Identification Authority of India. He was appointed to this position by Indian Prime Minister  Singh in June 2009.

Here is a video clip interview with Nandan. In case, you missed here is the link to Part-1 of our interview with Nandan.

Photo credit: World Economic Forum.