For those who eat

The most selfless love in one’s life is the love for food. Zomato harnesses this very sentiment to provide a platform that takes this love to new levels. It does so with panache and passion. Over the years, Zomato has evolved from being an aggregator of eating places to raising food to a social experience. It’s urban, it’s cool, it’s happening and now it’s becoming a part of colloquial vocabulary.

Zomato provides a crisp, intuitive and engaging experience, be it on the mobiles, or the web. Here are the things that I absolutely love about it –

God Lies in (beautifully presented) Details

Zomato tells me everything that I would ever want to know, and more. When is a place open? What is its specialty? The Menu? How much can it cost? Everything under the sun is right there. And wait, there’s more. Where can I find Tiramasu in DLF Phase II? Where are the Happy hours in Saket? Which metro station should I get down on to reach there?

What more? The information is presented in an amazing manner. It’s organized well (apart from the rating being placed a little too far away from the restaurant title) and it gives a no-nonsense access to all the information one can possibly ask for.

The Human Touch Taste

Zomato is not just about food, it’s also about people who love food (food alone doesn’t stand a chance anyway). I can follow the most credible reviewers, or people whose taste matches with mine, have discussions over a restaurant/review, delve deep in a restaurant’s anatomy by reading reviews before spending a fortune on my birthday party, and such.

The Foodie Network that’s build around Zomato is simply awesome.

On the Go!

What would a discovery be, if it’s done from the comforts of one’s home? Zomato’s pretty amazing mobile apps are a gateway to explore the unknown realms of the eating world. It shows restaurants around me, lets me find the one based on my need of the hour, and it recommends me one with a shake of wrist.

The apps are an integral part of Zomato’s experience. While the mobile versions have their limitations, they don’t lack a bit in doing what Zomato does best – find one the taste that one is craving for.

Overall, Zomato provides a great experience but it would be a lie if I would say that I find it fulfilling in every aspect of the word. And given how it has pampered its users, it’s only fair that I get greedy in wishing for things on Zomato.

Bring on the events!

Events, by far, have been the most underplayed (neglected?) feature of Zomato. It’s difficult to stumble upon one, even when the tab is right there on the restaurant page (if it ever is).

I would love to see “intelligent events” on the homepage. Here’s a concept –

- Show us featured events based on the day of the week it is – Karaoke night, Ladies night, Game night, Sunday Brunch etc. Seeing a tempting offer will certainly entice people to such places.

- Show us festival based cuisines offers – Couple dinners during valentine’s week, Beer places during Oktoberfest, Biryani festivals during Eid week, Navratri thali places during Navratris…

- When on the move, just like the app shows nearby featured restaurants, it should also show featured events around.

Good for what?

Every restaurant has a theme, a feel and ambiance that it plays upon to target like customers. I would love to know what occasion a restaurant is good for (whenever applicable), and for a given particular occasion which restaurant should I head to.

Consider having #hashtag cloud for, lets say, date night, candlelight dinner, boys/girls night out, family dinner, corporate luncheon, breakfast places and such. This could be the mood-specific categorization, which as I user, I see has potential.

Trend in style!

Every restaurant has a popularity index associated with it, but it’s barely visible. It’s good to see trending restaurants on the home page (a list that quite repetitive because being trending on the main page keeps them trending), but rest of the places, even when quite popular, don’t make the cut.

Along with the rating, a hot-meter can be put up on the restaurant page (something like moviemeter on IMDB) which is an indication of how happening the place has recently been. Zomato should show at least a few pages of trending restaurants, first 25, next 25 and so on, to find other hot places in the city. It should let me filter those out which are not in my “been there” list.

Also, there can be a cuisine specific trending listing too. I personally can never get tired of eating Italian, and this would certainly help me discover more places around serving that particular cuisine.

Zomato, by and large, provides an unmatched experience, way ahead of many others in the same vertical. It has evolved, improved and has continued to keep this experience focused and friendly. As a concept and as a brand, I cannot help but love Zomato more every day.

Long live the love for food. Long live Zomato - for those who (love to) eat!

The Telangana Turmoil

The case for a separate state for Telangana is a classic case of government politicizing a class discrimination of highest degrees. The movement is regarded as separatist but there is more to it than meets the eyes.

When electoral, democratic and legal methods get crushed by those in power, not many options are left for the oppressed. The oppressed in this case are the minority Telenagana people who have been, post-independence, voted out and ousted in the Andra majority regime in the state of AP.

Resorting to “undemocratic” means is the last resort of this movement. Government needs to come up with a better answer than setting up committee and delaying the call on this. There is a difference between fragmentation and restoration when deciding on state boundaries. Telangana just happens to gfall in the latter category 

Murder for 27/-

A man was shot on job on Friday night. The police and the intelligence seemed to have given up for there were no clues to track the perpetrators at the “adulterated” crime scene. The toll management has shrugged off giving compensation to the victim’s family so far and is trying to shrug off the incident by every possible mean now.

The lack of accountability of private bodies catering to a civic liability can produce disastrous results. All companies should come under a scanner to provide hospitable working condition for its workers. But they won’t till the time they keep getting away with it.

Eventually, the 280 toll booth operators got back to their cabins and continued their work. They would often be manhandled by commuters. There would be no security to make their work condition any safer. Nor would there be any insurance cover in case something goes wrong. But there would be a CCTV camera to keep a tab on toll attendants but not on the registration plate of the vehicles, sometime carrying criminals.

The Pretense of Generosity

Government is getting too comfortable at pulling the strings of the citizens at its own whims. The relaxation of orders to curb protests at Jantar Mantar and the India Gate highlights this fact. The withdrawal coming within 24 hours of banning protests at prominent public spots in the capital proves that it is just a power gimmick making people realizing their ‘place’.

The imposition of Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code was never justified in the first place. Certainly not for the peaceful protests and strikes that were expected after the sham that was made of the Lokpal Bill. The lifting of the sanctioned curb before the parliament session starts on August 1 is just a democratic mockery we are being fed.

It is in our hands to make the most of such relaxations. A little conviction of the reform should all one should need to bring down the government to justice. The window to the path of the revolution has just opened up.

Horn NOT OK Please

Stuck in a traffic jam? Getting bored of repetitive music on the FM? Frustrated with the vehicle in front for taking a few extra seconds to stir in motion? The solution is right at your fingertips, a button press away - HONK! Honk away your miseries. Honk for a better future…

A future full of physiological and psychological health issues like hypertension, high stress levels, sleep disturbances, hearing losses, stress and what not.  But thank goodness that the worst affected of all these effects are the children. Add to the ill-effects-list learning impairment and cognitive development delays and it’s a perfect recipe for a perfect future generation.

A little unfair that us adults who actually contribute the most to the noise pollution levels are digging graves for their own kids by cultivating such mannerism and lifestyle.

But why think of all of this? Honking is totally worth the hell we create for them.

Appeared in HT Edge on July 11, 2011

One less Uttar Pradesh

Misery and plight of seven females and their families has turned into an orgy of vile political drama. The accused are absconding from the law and the victimized girls are committing suicides. While this happens political battleground is turning into a powerhouse of allegations and constitutional mockery. Assurances are pouring in, amendments are being proposed, number are being justified by statistics and strict actions are being promised but the most objective step towards imparting justice is still not being taken…

Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, the rape capital of the country.

[This article has been published in The Viewspaper. Read the rest here]

In Deep Water

Two years in term and there is no respite for UPA government. Strings of accusations keep pouring in as new facts get unearthed every day.

Dayanidhi Maran’s involvement in 2G scam is one such skeleton UPA can’t wait to bury to prove a point of governance integrity. But compromising Maran would be a too little too late response for absolution from all that UPA has managed to get into.

Maran just happens to be a piece of jigsaw puzzle that will ultimately solve to be corruption at absolute government levels. Without involvement at the top it’s impossible to pull off a scam of such magnitude and cover it up for so long.

The only saving grace for this government can be through a thorough cleanup of all its deeds. Waiting for CBI to prosecute and take action is just getting too tiring for the entire country.