Eat
Eat where the calendar eats.
In India the food is not a side programme, it is half the reason to come: the thali and the tandoor, the street stalls and the Irani cafes, a different cuisine in every state on this calendar. These are the formats worth planning around, and the food events themselves are below.
The formats that matter
The thali. The complete meal on one tray: rice or breads, dal, two or three vegetables, a curry, pickles, papad and something sweet, refilled as you go in the Gujarati and Rajasthani versions. It is the fastest way to eat like the city does, and the festival seasons build whole menus around it.
Street food. India's great democratic art: Mumbai's vada pav and pav bhaji, Delhi's chaat at Chandni Chowk, Kolkata's kathi rolls and puchka, Indore's Sarafa bazaar after dark. Eat where the queue is, eat what is cooked in front of you, and let the stallholder set the spice.
Biryani, by region. Hyderabadi dum biryani, sealed and slow-cooked; Lucknow's Awadhi version, gentler and more fragrant; Kolkata's, with its famous potato; Mumbai's Bombay biryani. Every city on the calendar defends its own, and trying the local claim is a legitimate travel project.
The Irani cafes and the old rooms. Mumbai's Irani cafes, bun maska and chai in century-old rooms around Fort and Grant Road, and their cousins everywhere: Delhi's Indian Coffee House, Kolkata's College Street coffee house, the tiffin rooms of Chennai and Bengaluru. Cheap, historic and irreplaceable.
The sweet shops. Mithai is a season, not a course: Diwali runs on it, Kolkata's mishti is a geography of its own, and every festival on this calendar has its sweet. Buy small boxes from the busiest counter.
Where the calendar eats
Mumbai: the Irani cafes of Fort, Mohammed Ali Road in the festival season, Bandra's bakeries and the seafood rooms of Mahim and Fort. Delhi: Old Delhi's chaat and kebab lanes, Pandara Road by India Gate, and the cafe streets of Hauz Khas and Khan Market. Kolkata: Park Street's institutions, the Tiretta Bazaar breakfast, and mishti everywhere. Hyderabad: biryani in the old city and around Madhapur, and the Irani cafes by Charminar. Chennai: the tiffin rooms and filter coffee of Mylapore and T. Nagar. Lucknow: the Awadhi rooms of Aminabad, kebabs that melt, biryani that argues back.