From Poha to Plot Twists

Went for groceries. Came back with a story. Seoul has a way of making a simple errand deeply, unexpectedly eventful.

Mar 08, 2026

Found My People (And Then Some)

Found the Indian store. Two of them, actually, kitty corner from each other. Went with Foreign Food Mart over National Food Mart — felt like the right call, for reasons I can’t fully explain.

Exactly what you’d expect. Sakharpadhé next to Jhaal Chanachoor, agarbatti and sindoor peacefully coexisting with halal meat and beautifully embroidered kufis, Parle G holding its own next to Couque D’Asse — the Korean biscuit whose name, I assure you, is wildly mispronounced by every South Asian in the store. Couque D’Asse - the Koreans named a children’s biscuit this. Somewhere, a marketing guy is very proud.

The owner — Bangladeshi, speaks Bangla, broken Hindi, and fluent Korean — has quietly built a little United Nations. One of his employees is Korean. The whole place just works.

Now. Same block: two transgender clubs. One block down: the adult store we’ve discussed. And one block further: Saravana Bhavan.

Two Indian grocery stores. Two transgender clubs. Adult store. Saravana Bhavan. All within 200 feet. Truly a one-stop block. Spiritual needs, dietary needs, lifestyle needs, and a masala dosa for the walk home. We are a complete people.

I did not go into the adult store this time. Hard to project any kind of mystique when you’re carrying poha and Parle G. I made the mature call.

Other Things Seoul Did This Week

Walked past the War Memorial of Korea — tucked away, noted, will visit properly another time.

Three things I can’t stop thinking about:

Bus lanes run on the outermost left on both sides of busy roads, with stops in the center of the street. No cars cutting in, no chaos. Just buses, doing their thing, on time, every time. Revolutionary. Someone tell Mumbai.

Spotted a furniture truck where the sides open out fully, then you just stack everything in. Tables, chairs, cupboards — easy load, easy unload. Truck parks nicely along the sidewalk. Versus the traditional rear-loading ordeal. Whoever designed this deserves a quiet round of applause.

Tried out Makkolli - Korean rice wine, lightly fermented, slightly fizzy - paired with masala peanuts. Nobody told me this. I stumbled into it myself. The tangy, earthy rice wine against the spice of the peanuts makes you reconsider your life choices. In the best way. East Asia meets South Asia may be my new Friday routine.

And Then She Arrived

Two months of doing whatever I want, whenever I want. That era has concluded. Happily. Even if for just a week.

Seoul just got a lot more interesting.