differ*, longer entries
Field Notes
What to say, what to order, and how to handle the room.
Latest
How differ* started: I quit with no plan
Why differ* exists, from the person who started it. A job he didn't like, a year in Canada that went dark, and choices nobody saw.
Field Notes
Duty-free alcohol limit in India, and the licence that doesn't exist
Two litres at the airport, then whatever your state says. The 2026 duty-free rules, the Kochi licence nobody can get,...
Field Notes
Mumbai after midnight: what's actually open
You can buy groceries at 4 am in Mumbai now, but not a beer, and there's no train. What the rules allow after midnigh...
Dry Day
Why India has dry days, and the tax they accidentally invented
Salem went dry in 1937, and a sales tax was born to pay for it. The history behind India's dry days, from Gandhi to A...
Dry Day
India's dry states, and what a party looks like there
Mizoram's last bar poured its final drink the night before the ban came back. India's dry states, the ones that quit ...
Field Notes
Why alcohol is the one thing GST can't touch
The Constitution names one product GST can never tax. How that one line explains why the same bottle costs five times...
Field Notes
Can you carry a bottle from Goa to Mumbai?
A truck on the highway and a railway attendant at Thane, both caught with Goa liquor on the same day. What the rules ...
Field Notes
How many bottles are you allowed to keep at home?
132 bottles, one house, one quashed case. How much alcohol you can legally keep at home in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, U...
Field Notes
Why you can drink at 21 in Goa and not until 25 in Delhi
Same person, same birthday, different answer in every state. The drinking age across India, and how Mumbai, Delhi, Ke...
Field Notes
You technically need a permit to drink in Mumbai. It costs ₹5.
A 1949 prohibition law still says you need a permit to drink in Maharashtra. A day's permit costs ₹5. Where it came f...
Field Notes
Do you need a licence to throw a house party in Mumbai?
Maharashtra has a one-day licence for parties with alcohol, and it isn't cheap. What the rule says, how it's enforced...
Field Notes
Three spritzes without alcohol: mosambi, jamun and kokum
A spritz was always about the fizz and the big glass. Three recipes that swap the wine for mosambi, jamun and kokum.
Batch 001, the list
