Google to Wind up its Station Project Globally, RailTel to Continue Services

Google is all set to pull the plug off from the ambitious Google Station project. Google launched this public WiFi offerings in railway stations of India in 2015 by partnering telecom arm of Indian Railways, RailTel and now connects more than 400 stations. 

Later Google Station was expanded to other countries - Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam with local ISPs as partner. 

In a blog post by Caesar Sengupta, VP - Payments and Next Billion Users of Google points out that Indians are getting cheapest 4G data and better LTE coverage, hence they will wind up Station services while they will continue to work with 'partners to transition existing sites so they can remain useful resources for the community.' The post also mentions their initial target of reaching 400 stations was completed in June 2018. 

Sundarban Trip (2D/1N) in January 2020

We had a 2D/1N trip to Sundarban via an agency, Sundarban Chalo in end of January 2020.

Sundarban does not need an introduction, but let me put a small intro. In the delta of rivers (Ganga, Meghna and Bramhaputra) Sundarban is a reserved forest, full of mangrove trees and a world heritage site enlisted by UNESCO. The reserved forest area is intersected by multiple tidal streams and channels, and shared between India and Bangladesh. So jungle safari here is completely different from any mainland reserved forest or wildlife sanctuaries. The safari is done over boats, across the rivers, channels and tidal streams, and if your luck favors you can see gorgeous Royal Bengal Tiger in the wild.

Our tour started at 8 am as we were picked up from the front of Indian Museum in a van. We reached Godkhali ferry ghat in 3.5hrs, from there we reached Gosaba by ferry and they dropped us in a hotel at Pakhiralay by auto. Pakhiralay is southern part of Gosaba island, and just opposite to Sajnekhali divided by Datta river.

Xiaomi to Launch Mi 10 in India Soon?

Xiaomi has removed Mi MIX 2 from Mi Store India, resulting in only 2 smartphones under Mi brand - Mi Mix Alpha and Mi A3. Now Mi Mix Alpha is a concept phone, and probably the price will be more than Rs 2 lakh, and not coming to market anytime soon, and on the other hand Mi A3, an Android One smartphone was launched in July 2019.

With resurrected Poco has launched its second device X2 at 16-20K, and that's not a flagship killer, only phone that is flagship from Xiaomi is K20Pro (Snapdragon 855). That K20 Pro is not a truly flagship (priced as Rs 25-28K), rather it's a flagship killer. 

We expect Mi 10 series Xiaomi is focusing on right now. This series will help Xiaomi to bring flagships/premium phones in India, and price war will begin. If Xiaomi does not focus on premium segment right now, that segment will be locked by BBK Electronics promoted OnePlus & Apple iPhone. Their budget segment is safe with Redmi branded phones but next leap is here, and Xiaomi should not miss that opportunity. 

Update: As per latest reports, Xiaomi India CEO Mr Jain hinted about bringing Mi 10 series, that'll be first Mi phone after Mi 5. He also tweeted about 'costly' Mi 10 series as these phones will be made in superior 'state of art' facilities in China. There was a controversy with pricing of K20, probably he wants to avoid that with Mi 10 series. So Xiaomi is rethinking its strategy for India for sure. It's true that realme, a sub brand of Oppo saw massive growth and that slowed down Xiaomi's sales figure here. IQoo, a forked Vivo brand will also be launched with gaming centric audience. I am expecting more gadgets of premiumly priced like Mi Note and Mibook to be launched in India if Mi 10 series sees a good sales.  

Lava Wants A Comeback - Z53 Launches at Rs 4829

LAVA International has launched a new smartphone Z53. 

Well you may forget this company, but Lava was one of the leading smartphone sellers during 2G/3G days in India. Indian smartphone makers were hurt bad by disruptive launch of 4G in the country by Jio as well as by the demonetization. The floodgate was opened, and Chinese brands entered into the market and started capturing the market in fastest manner possible.

LAVA is targeting smartphone market for newbies, who are on feature phones like JioPhone. That market needed smartphone with good battery life at a low cost. Lava Z53 has been launched to fulfill that gap.

 Commenting on the launch, Mr. Tejinder Singh, Head Product, Lava International said, “We are delighted to present this new offering to all feature phone users who are looking to upgrade to a latest smartphone. Lava Z53 comes with a bigger screen and an outstanding battery backup which makes it a perfect choice for the first-time smartphone users. With this smartphone, we aim to serve customers better in Tier II & Tier III cities of the country as we have deep penetration there. We are confident the handset will be well received in the market.”

POCO to Launch Gaming Smartphone X2 on Feb 4th

Xiaomi has just spun off its Poco unit to be an independent company, and Poco India announced the second phone Poco X2 under its brand name in 10 days on January 27th, 2020. POCO X2 will be launched on February 4th in India. 

Though much details was not revealed of X2 so far, it would be a gaming centric smartphone, with reality flow 120MHz refresh rate (#SmoothAF). There will be a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor - but no further details was disclosed. 

The company will target all price brackets in coming days. 

Poco F1 was launched in August '18 and it's still in the market at Rs 14999-16999 (6GB+128GB/8GB+256GB) that's $210-238 approx. It is equipped with flagship chipset from Qualcomm - Snapdragon 845. It's still in demand from audience just like Xiaomi's Mi A3 (Android One), thanks to the high end processor and regular Android updates. 

Zakaria and Teritti Bazar Walk - Calcutta

Long Post Alert !!! 

After a long ​​wait and planning for years we made out a food walk as well as heritage walk across the city of joy, Calcutta (now known as Kolkata). I would prefer the name Calcutta as it carries the weight of history that's a mix of cultures. Calcutta, being the first capital of British India is a perfect landscape if you're looking for the colonial India, though it's not very perfectly maintained for somewhat reasons. 

Our walk begins with food, and why not? Bengalees love food. While winter starts its steps across the city, mughlai breakfast starts at sharp 4 o'clock at Sufia, Zakaria street, just opposite to Nakhoda Masjid. 

My friend Sagnik and his wife Ayindreela booked their Ola from Khardah (north suburb) at 4:40 am, and I took a local train from Barrackpore at 5:15 am to reach the city. I boarded off at Bidhannagar station and took a Uber ride to reach Sufia at approx 6:10am, while my friend directly reached there earlier. However Sufia is full of crowd, and men of Sufia are very busy in packing Nihari and Paya in the tiffin carriers as well as serving hot breakfast at the tables. All tables are full and remained full till we completed our Mughlai breakfast. 

I was told and read through the blogs that Sufia is out stock after 6:30 am, and yes that's true. You may miss any item if you're late enough. 

#KolkataHiddenGem #Food : Barua and Dey

Mutton Pantheras at Barua and Dey

Barua and Dey Fast Food Center, as it is known as now is one of the oldest fast food (or telebhaja/evening snacks) center in Kolkata. Located at Shyambazar, one of the oldest area of the metropolis Barua and Dey is mostly famous for authentic pantheras. 

Founded in 1934/1935 Barua and Dey (or Boruah and Dey) was founded by Nakul Chandra Barua. He was a cook at Great Eastern Hotel. He later left that job and start the canteen of 'Theta Pheta' club in Shyambazar region. I am not sure about the club whether it was for only Bengali babus. 

From the title of Nakul babu, it is obvious that he was from Assam. During that pre independence era, there were many clubs  formed by different British people as well as Bengali babus. It could be assumed that Nakul babu was a descendent of Mog cooks served in the kitchen of Shovabazar Rajbari. 

After the death of Nakul Barua and post independence the next generation stepped in. That time it was a joint venture between Fatikchandra Dey and Bidhubhushan Barua. Bidhubhushan babu was famously called as mama (maternal uncle), and their famous shop - Mamar Dokan was located just opposite to Manindra College. 

Now it is run by third generations -  Jaydeb Dey and Raju Barua. The location is also shifted from the main road to bylane. The present location is Gaurimata Sarani. Google Maps link: https://goo.gl/maps/wMg3fc7NUiUckWUX8

It is just a 2 min walk from Shyambazar metro, and you may not be very happy to see the condition of the shop. But they serve one of finest snacks in north Kolkata. Price wise they don't burn your pocket. It starts at 5:30 pm everyday and runs til 9 pm. But please go there before 7:30 pm as top items go sold off fast. 

There is basically no sitting arrangement, but few tools are placed infront of the shop on the road where you can sit and eat. 

Unappealing Condition of the shop, but don't go by the looks!

So what is Mutton Pantheras? This is something as fried patishapta with minced mutton inside. Well that's oversimplification! To make that cover one needs talent, and here they excel. 

Apart from pantheras, they sell breast cutlet, chicken fry, fish fry, fish roll, chicken cutlet, mutton chop, egg devil, fish finger. All are priced between Rs 40-60. 

Chicken Cutlet

Many believe that Mutton Pantheras is improvised Anglo Indian dish originated from French dish 'Crepes au poisson'. Many say it was made first at Shovabazar Rajbari. But Chef Nakul Barua made the modern pantheras. 

Many Bengali x English crossover food items have names originated from English word, like Coverage to Kobiraji, Braised (= fried lightly and then stewed slowly in a closed container) cutlet to Breast cutlet, Batter fry to butter fry as general Bengali people started pronouncing the words bit softly. Experts agree that's the flow of a language!

Barua & Dey now carries another example of cultural mix up (Mog & Bengali) on the gastronomic history of Kolkata. 

Other places to find Pantheras in Kolkata: Ringmo (Shovabazar), Nahoum's (New Market). And I am yet to visit them.