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Chinmay Damle

Chinmay Damle

Articles by Chinmay Damle

Taste of Life: When service is the highest form of devotion

Taste of Life: When service is the highest form of devotion

Updated on Jul 16, 2026 03:25 IST

When Chris Nolan, Matt Damon and Tom Holland sipped chai at iconic Bombay café

Matt Damon, Christopher Nolan and Tom Holland before the premiere of The Odyssey in Mumbai.

Updated on Jul 13, 2026 03:17 IST

The Salvation Army’s forgotten agricultural mission in India

The Salvation Army’s forgotten agricultural mission in India

Updated on Jul 2, 2026 02:53 IST

How the Salvation Army took Cassava across India

After his visit to Travancore, Booth-Tucker decided that the Salvation Army would “introduce” cassava to other parts of India. (HT)

Updated on Jun 25, 2026 01:02 IST

Taste of Life: Could cassava have ended India’s 19th-century famines?

Cassava, also known as manioc or yuca, is a woody shrub prized for its starchy, calorie-rich root tubers. (WIKIMEDIA)

Updated on Jun 18, 2026 02:10 IST

Grape-Nuts and the Indian summer

Despite its name, Grape-Nuts contained neither grapes nor nuts. (HT)

Updated on Jun 11, 2026 01:24 IST

Toffee trail: From Britain to Colonial Poona’s streets

Toffees made by Mackintosh’s company of Halifax, England, had been available in Bombay since at least 1898. (HT)

Updated on Jun 3, 2026 23:20 IST

Taste of Life: How 19th-century institutes shaped western India’s agri-education

Richard Temple was one of the strongest advocates of agricultural instruction in the Bombay Presidency. (WIKIPEDIA)

Updated on May 21, 2026 24:44 IST

Taste of Life: Experiments with weight loss manuals and fashionable diets

A book on treating obesity by Dr Wilhelm Ebstein (in pic) became quite a rage in Bombay and Poona in the winter of 1884. (HT)

Updated on May 14, 2026 02:20 IST

Taste of Life: How Banting diet became a measure of human worth

William Banting, who was 200 pounds, was obese and suffered from immense ill health due to his weight. He lost 46 pounds with a strict low-carbohydrate diet. (WIKIMEDIA)

Updated on Apr 30, 2026 01:08 IST

Poona’s summer-houses: Hub for tea parties, status, and affluence

Poona’s summer-houses: Hub for tea parties, status, and affluence

Updated on Apr 22, 2026 22:22 IST

Sheep breeding and making of Deccan mutton economy

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mutton was an important source of protein in the Indian diet, but the production was low, and the quality of mutton was not good. (HT)

Updated on Apr 15, 2026 22:22 IST

Taste of Life: When and how muscovado sugar was produced in Poona

Muscovado sugar sat at the centre of the wider plantation economy and the transatlantic trade network. (HT)

Updated on Apr 9, 2026 01:02 IST

Taste of Life: Roles food habits play in shaping religious nationalism

Pune was home to a large number of temples dedicated to Hanuman. These were small, modest shrines, often with curious names, and celebrated Hanuman Jayanti with great enthusiasm. (HT FILE)

Updated on Apr 2, 2026 01:01 IST

Taste of Life: How sugar garlands became symbols of swadeshi pride

Appeals from swadeshi goods grew stronger in Maharashtra around festivals, especially Shimaga (Holi) and Gudhi Padwa, when it was customary to give children strings of sugar confections called “sakharechya gathi” on Shimaga. ((PIC FOR REPRESENTATION))

Updated on Mar 19, 2026 01:36 IST

Taste of Life: Flavours and faith: Pune’s timeless Ramazan

The irresistible food and festive spirit attract people of all faiths during Ramazan. (CHINMAY DAMLE/HT)

Updated on Mar 12, 2026 24:47 IST

From fields to first rank: The story of Rajubai Gujjar

The College of Agriculture was established in Pune in 1908. (HT FILE)

Updated on Mar 4, 2026 22:52 IST

Taste of Life: How a river carried cholera into Yerwada Jail

Fom Yerwada Jail’s central tower, the Moola River could be seen winding to either side for nearly a mile, its blue line marking the boundaries of the peninsula on which the jail stood. (HT)

Updated on Feb 25, 2026 23:46 IST

Mutton Club: The social order in Colonial India

The British historically loved mutton due to its central role in the economy, as sheep were initially raised for wool and older animals were consumed after their wool-producing years. (HT)

Updated on Feb 18, 2026 23:44 IST

Taste of Life: Chocolates, candies and forever love

Access to chocolate was once a marker of elite power, closely linked to masculinity and physical strength, and before the Industrial Revolution, it remained the preserve of the wealthy alone. (HT)

Updated on Feb 11, 2026 23:48 IST

How Agarkar chose reason over rituals in mourning

How Agarkar chose reason over rituals in mourning

Updated on Feb 4, 2026 22:58 IST

Dr Madhav Gadgil: Voice of the ‘ecosystem people’

Dr Madhav Gadgil: Voice of the ‘ecosystem people’

Updated on Jan 21, 2026 23:48 IST

Echoes of Twelfth Night in colonial Poona

There was an excitement in the air and a large English crowd, as expected to attend the Holy Communion in the morning, which was to be followed by readings about the visit of the Magi. Epiphany hymns were being practised, and later, lunch was to be served. (HT)

Updated on Jan 8, 2026 07:52 IST

Rediscovering the lost Poona Cake and New Year traditions

Baking New Year’s Cake, Illustrated London News, January 3, 1852. (HT)

Updated on Dec 31, 2025 17:54 IST

Christmas in colonial Poona: Faith, food and cultural exchange

Indian party ready to give a “kirtan” on Christmas - The Round World, September 1, 1903. (HT)

Updated on Dec 24, 2025 22:20 IST

Bamboo shoots: A historical perspective in Bombay, Poona

The very young shoots of some species of bamboo, if boiled in water with a little salt, resembled an inferior quality of asparagus. (HT)

Updated on Dec 10, 2025 23:44 IST

Taste of Life: Monkey-Nut, bladder bait nets prized fish in Poona waters

Article written by army man, with pseudonym Felix, in “The Country Gentleman and Land & Water Illustrated” (August 10, 1907) documents some “eccentric practices of fishing” in 19th century Poona. (WIKIPEDIA)

Updated on Dec 4, 2025 24:44 IST

Taste of Life: How the avala tree took root in India’s cultural and spiritual heritage

Pune was once dotted with orchards and gardens of prominent noble families. The Mehendales, Khasagiwales, and Rastes owned avala groves where “Avalibhojan” was celebrated with striking splendour. (WIKIMEDIA)

Updated on Nov 27, 2025 02:34 IST

Taste of Life: Piccalilli — a jarred memory of India on English tables

Relishes made using winter vegetables, like the beet, were used for replenishing the home supply or were made and sold at a profit in local markets. (WIKIMEDIA)

Updated on Nov 13, 2025 01:10 IST

Taste of Life: Serving food and bonding with people since 1925

First advertisement for New Poona Boarding House appeared in Dnyanaprakash daily on November 3, 1925. New Poona Boarding House, started by Gururaj Ramkrishna Udupikar, fondly known as Maniappa, completes a glorious hundred years on November 10, 2025. (HT)

Updated on Nov 6, 2025 01:30 IST

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