Mumbai’s tryst with Punjabi food
Jaibir Singh Kohli, the fourth-generation owner of Pritam da Dhaba, Mumbai’s iconic 80-year-old restaurant that has recently moved into a new space, shares how success is a homegrown, slow-cooked secret.
Hello Reader,
Some fun at the expense of the chaos at Twitter hurt nobody. While Elon Musk is reportedly busy asking leadership to stay on board amid mass resignations, farewell memes galore on Twitter, with one saying that it was like "the Titanic going down."
November isn't just proving brutal for the social network but also for , which has begun to lay off an expected 10,000 employees and has plans for more job cuts next year, CEO Andy Jassy told employees. According to Layoffs.fyi, more than 120,000 tech workers have been laid off this year.
Meanwhile, the government has released the draft of a new Personal Data Protection Bill aimed at protecting digital personal data, allowing the transfer of data outside India, and providing for penalties regarding data breaches.
On another front, to ensure that financial influencers—or 'finfluencers'—put out veritable information on social media, the Securities Exchange Board of India is reportedly drafting guidelines for them in the light of unsolicited social media 'stock' tips.
ICYMI: Even a Boeing 747 can land at Arunachal Pradesh's to-be-inaugurated Donyi Polo airport, connecting the state to the rest of the country. The world is definitely getting smaller!
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Mumbai’s tryst with Punjabi food
- Age no bar for founders
- Building a D2C ethnic wear brand
Here’s your trivia for today: Where is the highest rail bridge in the world located?
Food
Mumbai’s tryst with Punjabi food
While India may have been introduced to Butter Chicken in the 50s, it was the famous Pritam da Dhaba that introduced the original iconic dish to Mumbai.
Celebrating its 80th year of operation, the Dadar, Mumbai eatery has a rich legacy—it was the city's first air-conditioned restaurant, was inaugurated by Raj Kapoor, and recently opened a second location in Juhu.
Modern flavours:
- Pritam da Dhaba has been frequented by celebrities including Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Dilip Kumar, Rekha, and Sridevi.
- Its iconic kaali dal actually has no butter and is slow-cooked for over 14 hours for achieving a creamy consistency.
- The owners run 20 other restaurants under the same umbrella—including Ginkgo, Tertulia, Grandmama’s Café, MRP, and Tori.
TechSparks 2022
Age no bar for Zepto founders
While Zepto co-founders Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha may just be 20 years old, age is no bar for the founders who have a real conviction about their idea to start up.
"We believed the product will be exciting and change the way people are buying groceries today, so rather than our personal progress, we are more concerned about how to make Zepto a bigger player in people's minds,” Kaivalya said at YourStory's TechSparks 2022.
Young entrepreneurs:
- The IIFL Wealth Hurun India rich list 2022 named Kaivalya and Aadit as the youngest rich individuals in India.
- Started Zepto when they were teenagers, the founders dropped out of Stanford to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
- While they don't have decades of experience, Aadit said it helps that they’re building a product that nobody has built before.
Fashion
Building a D2C ethnic wear brand
Femina Miss India 2016 first runner-up Sushruthi Krishna and actress Samatha Prabhu saw that the ethnic wear market in India was unorganised. So, they started Saaki in 2020 to offer consumers premium quality ethnic wear at affordable prices.
Two years later, the Bengaluru-based label has established itself as a multi-crore brand catering to customers pan India through its D2C website.
Key points:
- SKUs range between Rs 2,300 to Rs 2,800, and it offers a range of kurtis, kurtas, sarees, tops, tunics, bottom wear, dresses, crop tops etc.
- The brand has catered to around 60,000 customers pan India.
- It is also available in more than 15 countries, including the US, the UK, and Australia. Around 25% of its revenue comes from international sales.
News & updates
- Cost of living: Japan’s inflation has risen to its highest level in 40 years as a weak yen drove up commodity prices. Core consumer inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose by 3.6% in October compared to the previous year.
- Breakthrough: A biologic therapy that delays the onset of type 1 diabetes received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Tzield's intravenous infusion has been shown to delay the progression to full-blown diabetes by a little over two years.
- Silver shines: Global demand for silver is expected to rise 16% this year to 1.21 billion ounces, according to the Silver Institute. While demand in India nearly doubled in 2022, automakers are using the metal to produce EVs, while solar panels account for 10% of the demand.
What you should watch out for
- Banking services at public sector banks may be impacted due to a strike.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the first greenfield airport in Arunachal Pradesh.
Where is the highest rail bridge in the world located?
Answer: India. The Chenab Rail Bridge between Bakkal and Kauri in Jammu and Kashmir over the Chenab river is at a height of 359 metres (1,178 ft).
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