Piccolo Posts

Work From Home and The Boss

2020-05-09T21:20:00.001+05:30

It would not be wrong to say that Work from home is the new buzzword in the town. Most of us in the IT sector are doing this and yes, it's quite comfortable. Especially for people who travel hours and hours in crowded public transport systems smelling fish and co-passengers' armpits. No, It's not hyperbole - its a fact. Ok! At least in Mumbai, IT IS A FACT. 

The local train travel in summer becomes pathetic. The workplace is all heavenly but the travel is hell. By the time you reach office, the shirt tucked in is out in the open. The nicely ironed trousers look no more like they used to, two hours ago. Nicely polished black leather shoes are full of dust. You look at them pathetically and rub behind your trousers. Messed up and not ready to work is the mental state when you swipe into the office. And all this trouble just to reach a place which you don't like. Haha! That's life buddy. But the same life fills your pockets on the last day of every month.

Work from home has allowed us to work and earn continuously. Yes, especially in the COVID-19 crisis days, this feature has become a boon. Laborers, daily wagers who are unable to get work are suffering. People are not able to go back to their homes in other states. Nor are they able to fill their stomachs here. Agreed that the government is doing every bit of help they could but they can't go door-to-door asking everybody if they had some food today. Because everyone doesn't have a home here. People working at factories who used to sleep there, after the factory closed at night are homeless today. Factory owners have shutdown factories due to the deadly virus and workers are left helpless. So, we all must be grateful that we are working from and staying safe in HOME SWEET HOME.

But Work from home also has an issue. Yes! you guessed it right. There is only one issue in the office. THE BOSS! The boss is a very innocent person who only knows how to say yes to the clients and no to his employees. Again, this is not a hyperbole. This boss is using Work from home as a weapon. They have made these stupid whatsapp groups, installed outlook mail on mobile, and are always in a delusion that their employees are always working and available. The work environment in some of the workplaces is very bad. The boss calls at any time. There is no end time. Companies should have stricter policies to support employee time and personal life whether he is working from home or not. Yes, I was the one who started this article by urging each one of you not to complain and be grateful but this is for those who don't understand. Those who think that ghar pe hi to baitha hai, thoda kaam kar lega to kya jayega. Those who think that by paying the employee at the end of every month, they have acquired 100% shares of their employee's life. Those selfish people who are hungry for self-recognition because they have never achieved anything else in front of their hungry for self-recognition bosses. Bigger the organization, more vicious is the boss ladder.

Work from home is all good and the way our organizations are supporting us is laudable. The organizations make us complete so many work from home training to be compliant with all their policies. The bosses should also undergo coaching to learn the ethics of respecting employee time and personal life. The organizations should make sure that bosses are managing their employees correctly. Excessive pressure on the bosses puts unnecessary pressure on the lower graders and finally, employees give up to find a new boss who is also THE BOSS.

Madhya Pradesh: A Hearty Affair

2017-09-11T00:39:00.000+05:30

This post might be the happiest thing in the world today because this post was in draft mode for more than an year now. But I didn’t give up on it because of the sole reason that the trip to the heart of India was a very special one and the one to remember for life.

Travelling lets you experience the unpredictable. You know everyday when you wake up that you have to catch that 9.32 train and reach office at 10.15 and start the donkey work, run the rat race – the same race everyday, which fetches you nothing. Travelling helps you break a little free and breathe a little easy – connect with the people and the things outside the routine; see new faces; listen to new languages; understand new accents; talk to people you have never talked to; ask them for help irrespective of whether you get it or not.

February 2016 brought to me, an opportunity to visit Madhya Pradesh. The occasion was our friend’s marriage but we decided to make the most out of it and make the journey even more fabulous. There was another wedding of a friend in same group in the last week of February in Punjab. Not everyone was able to manage two big leaves in the same month. So, it was only two of us on the journey to Madhya Pradesh.

DAY ZERO: KYA SUPER COOL HAI HUM

Re-living our college results days. Our names are in there!

“Krupa kariney dhyaan aapo!” loud announcements were being made as soon as our train reached Surat on the platform number one. We had got an RAC berth: a single sleeper class side lower berth for the two of us. It was eleven o’clock at night and already five hours past our boarding time at Mumbai Central. We were somehow managing on a single berth and to our surprise there was one more guest- the mighty and everlasting cold air. I had carried only a sweatshirt as a cold control measure to minimize the baggage; I had to make only one backpack because our journey involved a lot of travelling and I did not want mess.

But I underestimated the cold outside Mumbai. The cold was there to kill. All windows were shut but there was a super cool leakage in the windows and the joints that kept us ice cold and sleepless till the Sun God came to rescue. We managed by inserting tissues into the leakage areas but all that hard work was just so little. Later on our trip, we would realize that this cold was the better cold; the worse is yet to come.

DAY 1: INDORE GAMES

My friend Amit hails from Indore. So, he was the guide. Our alighting point was Ujjain but we extended it to Indore because I wanted a glimpse of the city which is called as Mini Mumbai and my friend needed no explicit reason to go to Indore. After getting off the train we went straight to The Indian coffee house and ordered hot medu wada and of course – coffee. Then we walked through the city and visited the Rajwada which was once presided by Rajmata Ahilyabai Holkar; Queen of the Maratha ruled Malwa Kingdom. The Rajwada is now converted into a museum which displays the grandeur and the history the Holkars.

After paying a visit to the Holkars, we desired to munch some food again. We ate the famous Kachori, Nariyal wadi and topped it up with Gulab jamun dunked in Rabri - Pure heaven if it wasn’t anymore.

Gulab Jamun <3 <3 <3

Nariyal Wadi

Kachori

We started walking again through the lanes of Sarafa Bazaar which has innumerable gold merchants. They were so many; we wondered how everyone would be making profits. The lanes bought us to the Sheesh Mahal also called as Kanch Mandir which is a Jain Temple with interiors made up of broken glass. All the designs and arts inside the temple looked marvellous. This was the first time, I ever visited a Jain Temple or was probably even allowed in the first place.

After having a good look at ourselves in the Sheesh Mahal, we did some snack shopping and some lunch.

We had to leave Indore and rush to Ujjain because today was the marriage day; it was almost evening and we were still roaming Indores. It would take another hour to reach Ujjain.

We reached Ujjain at about five in the evening and went directly to meet the bride; our friend Trupti. After freshening up, we were directed to a pre-booked hotel room in Ujjain. This would be the only hotel room which we would be staying in our entire trip of four days ranging from Mumbai to Jabalpur and back.

Not Hotel California!

The marriage was after midnight. That was super late and super cold according to Mumbai standards. Only if I had paid a little more seriousness to Trupti’s advice to be prepared for the cold, I wouldn’t have had planned to wear just a kurta that night. The marriage was in an open ground full of cold natural air. They had put these red flowers from The Jungle Book to keep us warm.

The Red Flower

The reception and the dinner were through by 10 pm and then most of the guests started going back to their homes. After an hour long break, the midnight wedding started in the presence of only the ones who mattered. By this time the cold had surpassed all the human limits known to me. I wondered why it wasn’t snowing. I was going to the lobby inside every now and then to get some warmth. All the uncle and aunties were in their sweaters. Even the brief was given a beautiful red shawl.

Our eventful and extended Day 1 was finally over. We enquired some helpful and local guests about the places which we could visit over the next two days.

DAY 2 : INNER PEACE

Sanchi Stupa: The blue line in the middle is me!

The Madhya Pradesh Government makes good tourism advertisements but that's all it does for the betterment of their tourism. Atleast this was what we thought during our transfers because getting around seemed difficult. There was no direct bus from Ujjain to Sanchi Stupa. Locals told Bhopal jao. So we went to Bhopal with our hands full of poha served on paper. Poha is the vada pav of Madhya Pradesh. Even from Bhopal, we got a private bus after much exertion. We left Bhopal without having lunch because we were getting late for the Stupa. While returning it was almost dark.

We hired a guide at the Stupa who had told us many informative details about the designs on the Stupas and the history of the Stupas. It was very peaceful but since we had to return to Bhopal before its too dark, we had to leave the Stupa. Silence helps you understand yourself and the environment you live in. Our entire day was full of noise, clutter and this part of the day was mending it all. We had tea and went back to Bhopal.

Bhopal served us with warm food. It was a much needed meal of the day. Before the meal, we booked a bus to Jabalpur. It would be an overnight journey.

Poha on the way

Our guide explaining one of the Stupas to Amit.

Many such pieces have been damaged by foreign invaders.

DAY 3: ONLY TWO LEFT

By the time we reached Jabalpur, it was eleven in the morning. We tried to get information on ways to get to the Bandhavgarh National Park. There were multiple suggestions but none of them were sure. From Jabalpur Bus station, we went to Jabalpur Railway Station to catch a train to Katni Junction. At Katni, we decided to hire a cab which will ferry us back to Katni before nine in the evening.

Outside Jabalpur: Interesting Advertisement for a share rickshaw.

The Bandhhavgarh National Park had different plans for us. There were only two tigers spotted that day; those two were none other than us. That’s how we try to joke and change the topic when someone gives us an extra concerning expression saying – ‘Arere! Ek bhi tiger nahi dikha?’

The Barking Deer

Spot the Tiger!

The Two Tigers :D

But the ride through the jungle was interesting. Being continuously on the lookout for the black striped animal; fearing that we might lose out on that one chance to spot one. Of course, by the end of the safari, we had spotted the barking deers, the peacocks and other flora and fauna but not the big guy; the tiger.

On our way back, we stopped at a dhaba. I still remember how satisfied we were after gulping down the chicken curry, the rotis and the rice. With our stomachs full, we marched our way to the Katni Junction Railway Station, ticket-less!

That awesome dhabha on our way back to Katni from the Bandhavgarh National Park.

DAY 3 CLIMAX: THE CONFIRMED TICKET

The Return Ticket!

For our last minute bookings, we were grateful that we got an RAC from Mumbai to Indore. But we weren’t lucky enough for the return journey and the return ticket didn’t confirm. We were in a soup. I called home and my dad gave an idea which did wonders. He told us to take a general ticket from Katni Junction to Mumbai. Using that ticket, we approached the TC of the Allahbad - Mumbai train which arrived at Katni Junction at about eleven in the night. He said that there are two seats available in the 2AC sleeper class. Bingo! We got into the train relieved and ready to sleep in the first class compartment from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra. I never slept better while travelling on trains.

We missed the Mahakaal and the Tigers so one sure thing is that we will be back in Madhya Pradesh once again. #KeDilAbhiBharaNahi

Katni Junction

I couldn't resist plotting our travel.

Stories by the Tracks

2017-05-14T16:16:00.002+05:30

Story 1: 11.25 Ki Last Local

I came early to catch the train. I also had to get something to eat. Not that I was extremely hungry. I already had a good bread butter toast and corn cheese sandwich in the evening. But I needed someone or something to accompany me, so what if it was just a vada pav or another sandwich stuffed with fresh cut veggies and topped with salt, pepper, oregano and cheese.

I saw the cleaner giving finishing touches to the takeaway counter. Still I proceeded to approach the man at the coupon counter who was busy counting his collections for the day. The man, still counting the notes shook his head with a crooked smile to tell me that I was destined to go alone today. When I got into the train, there was only one guy in the coach with a poker face. I had to recheck the indicator which was shining bright and bold - 11.25 pm - Thane - Slow - 12 coach - will halt at all stations.

I eagerly waited for vendors to make an entry as they do when it is not the last train. The samosa wala, bhel wala, chips wala, seeng chana wala; nobody came in. The only ones who came in were an excited group of friends who had caught an impossible to catch last train. Suddenly a dead coach was full of life and hustle bustle. More people entered as the time approached 11.25 pm.

I was waiting eagerly for the train to move but it didn't. The motorman gave an extra two minutes to the latecomers. There were some more happy entries in these bonus minutes. I didn't put on my earphones as I always did. There were all kinds of noises already happening around me; the people gossiping about their day; some talking on their phones; last minute announcements and finally the train honked. Loud and clear - I am the one to take you from here to there. There was a tone of authority in that sound. As we left the station, I realized that probably, I was not all alone.

And when I reached thane, I realized that the last train to thane is not actually a last train. The indicator was shining bright and bold - 12.05 am - Panvel - Slow - 12 coach - will halt at all stations.

Story 2: The Tiny Little Girl

The little girl knew, she would not be pampered. Probably, would never be in her life. So, when her young mother slapped hard on her tiny bald head, the little girl didn't cry as other children of that age would have done. She instead smiled - with all her little bright teeth on display; she smiled and pinched her mother's cheek with all might, using her little fingers. That hold was possibly hard enough because she was gifted with another slap on that head of hers.

Then the girl opened her bottle. It was a small 250 ml pet cold drink bottle filled with water. With much efforts, she opened the lid of the bottle and drank the water without spilling a drop. She closed the bottle tight and lied down where she was sitting; like she was the queen of the world - stretching herself to cover as much area as possible.

The mother was lost in her own thoughts but she was continuously staring at her child. Probably she was thinking of the hard day ahead of the little break with her little break-partner.The train arrived and I left the tiny little girl happy, innocent and unaware in her tiny little world on the huge platform number nine of the Thane railway station.

Wine I Was In Nashik

2017-01-18T00:53:00.000+05:30

Chapter 1: Hum Kis Galli Jaa Rahe Hain

Find the grape!

I boarded the 9.15 am LTT-Lucknow Pushpak Express from platform number 4 of Kalyan station on a cold Friday morning. My day ahead was highly unplanned. The only thing confirmed was my seat and that my train would reach Nashik 10 minutes before 12 pm. It didn't though- I alighted at 12.15 pm at the Nashik Road railway station. I almost had an entire day before I could meet my friend who would be coming from Pune. After having a heavy but not exactly fantastic lunch nearby, I caught a local bus to Nashik CBS. I had decided to go to Sula vineyards first. The rest of the things will be planned later.

I started hunting for cabs which could drop me to Sula but I only got some super high quotes in return. The Nashik district court is just adjacent to the CBS. A rally in progress was approaching towards the court. Policemen were clearing off the road for the rally to march ahead peacefully. I crossed on to the other side because I didn't want to be stuck besides the rally. On the other side just opposite to the district high court main gate, I saw this new delicacy, probably a Nashik specialty– the Pav Wada. Huge buns were being dipped into besan and then straight into the huge kadhai – the view was stupendous! I didn't take much interest in tasting the thing because I had just refilled myself at lunch and after all it is just a pav coated with besan and without their best buddy – Potato!

I looked up Uber and Ola estimates to Sula and decided to book one of these. Little did I know that I was making a big mistake!

A vineyard just in front of Sula's administrative office.

Chapter 2: Solo at Sula

Sula Vineyards - 0 km!

A driver named Karbhari picked me up at the CBS. Sula was a 15 km ride from CBS. In my notebook, I noted down happenings and my activities throughout the day which I could list down on my blog. This notebook was primarily for a writing workshop here in Nashik which would happen over the weekend. It was for this workshop that I was in Nashik. I keep attending such gatherings and workshops related to writing. These kick you in the right place and give you the right inspiration to continue writing. I decided to come in the morning and go tripping around Nashik instead of reaching at night. This was a Marathi writing workshop which is why I had thought of writing this post in Marathi earlier. But the workshop was an eye-opener for me in terms of the people and effort involved. There were people who had published over 10 books in Marathi and still attended the workshop. Apart from the inspiration to write, what I learned was that I had loads to learn before I could start writing again in this language. I was spellbound when people started giving their introductions. And when it was my turn, my entire 6 years of experience in IT was summed up in merely three words – मी आयटीत आहे

Sula is a beautiful and a peaceful place. They have touring and tasting sessions in batches. The tour costs Rs. 100 and wine tasting costs you Rs. 250 in which you get to taste and know six varieties of wines. My tour session started at 2.30 pm followed by wine tasting at 3. The tour only concentrated on the wine making process but it would have been great if they had also showed us some of their fields and demonstrated about how the different types of grapes are cultivated. I loitered around the place for about an hour and got out of Sula.

During the wine tasting session

There is no facility to go back to the city. No autos, no buses or cabs. I waited at the gate for an hour when luckily two cabs came in and stopped by. I asked one of them and set out back to CBS. So, coming to Sula in a pre-booked vehicle which can drop you back to the city would be a good idea.

My friend was en route at 5.30 pm from Pune and his estimated time of arrival in Nashik was not before than 10.30 pm. I reached back CBS at 6.30 pm in the evening. In a quick chat with the cab driver on my return, I decided that I shall go to Trimbakeshwar – one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and the origin of the River Godavari – my family kuladevi.

The big one!

Chapter 3: Har Har Mahadev!

It was pitch black dark at 6.30 pm and I was half way away from the holy temple. There is a separate bus terminal for Trimbakeshwar from Nashik called the Mela Bus Stand and buses are plied continuously on this route. There was already a bus ready to go but there were no empty seats. Many people were waiting out for the next bus but there was no queue. I took popcorn and started munching. The next bus came after about 15 minutes. People started rushing towards the bus even before the bus stopped. I somehow took a good position and went inside the bus. I could see many empty seats inside but they were all hypothetical. There were two types of empty seats – One booked by handkerchiefs or backpacks and the other booked by good friends. The number of seats booked by friends has no limit – a school girl had booked the entire last row for her friends – brilliant! One more popcorn!

The main entrance at the Trimbakeshwar Mandir

When the next bus arrived, I was in mucho spartan mode. I saw to it that I got a window seat before any friend, handkerchief or a backpack. An old lady had pushed in a huge luggage bag somehow through the window to book two seats. Nobody knows how many seats does a handkerchief or a backpack book because they don't tell you that. The teller - in this case, the old lady wanted two seats but a man fought for one of the seat. After much argument, of course the old lady won!

At Trimbak

I had already heard many accolades of winters in Nashik so I took both my jacket and my sweater. Cool breeze flowed in through the small gaps of the ST bus window panels. I reached the Trimbakeshwar at 8.00 pm. Luckily for me, the place wasn't very crowded and there was a very limited queue inside the temple. No one is allowed to take mobiles, camera and bags inside the temple and good arrangements have been made for the devotees to safely secure their belongings before they enter the temple premises. This division of technology and spirituality is very necessary, especially now a days because taking the photo of the God or the temple matters more than actually perceiving God and the place itself. And then of course there are un-silent phones, loud talkers on calls and all the unwanted noise.

After lunch, nothing had gone into my stomach apart from the masala popcorn at the bus stand. It was time to eat. I was missing a vada pav from long – a good and a hot vada pav. I could see stalls with vadas and the pav vadas that I had mentioned earlier but I wanted hot vadas. I stumbled upon a street vendor who was just doing that – ready to get those golden hot vadas out of the kadhai. Perfect timing! I ordered one. But my excitement was only till that first unfortunate bite. He said chutney but he put farsan inside the pav along with sweet chutney. I didn't know a vada pav could taste so grotesque till this point in my life. This guy had successfully devastated a legendary Mumbai delicacy.

There were 'garma garam kesar doodhs', 'chana jor garams', bhelwalas also on the street but then the vada pav had suppressed all my urges to eat any of those. I could smell farsan in all of them. I found a hotel - asked him whether the food would be hot and ordered the blissful dal rice.

Chapter 4: Visiting Some More Gods

The taste of Nashik.
A street vendor near Kala Ram Mandir

Nashik is called the grape capital of India. With the same might, it can also be called as the God capital of India. There are many Gods here. I along with my friend and my friend's uncle at whose house we were staying, met up after the day 1 of our workshop ended at 6.00 pm. From there we went to a place called Panchvati. We visited Kala Ram Mandir which a huge and old temple built by the Peshwas. According to a legend in Ramayana, during vanvas, Rama and Sita stayed here in the Panchvati. There is also cave known as Sita Gufa and the place where Rama killed Mareecha. Physically, this is the closest that I have ever been to mythology.

Not the kondaji chivda that every tourist in Nashik buys and takes home - this time I bought Vijay Bhel from Madhavji Chivda. We got to visit all good places and eat the nice and right things because of my friend's uncle who is a local in Nashik. He was extremely helpful and cordial. I also learned new games of cards at night courtesy my friend and his uncle.

The next day, after wrapping up the day 2 of workshop, it was time to leave. My return journey started at 8.45 pm and I was home at a super fast speed by midnight.

Lost (Haiku)

2016-09-18T17:16:00.000+05:30

Everything is so calm.
Where are you? Come and whisper,
Tell me where am I.

All is normal but still she feels like she is lost without him in sight. She knows that he is somewhere near but she still needs an assurance. She wants him to come close to her; tell her that she will always be in his heart and they will be together forever and she will never again be LOST alone.

P.S This is my first attempt at Haiku for the #RhymeIndia Haiku Contest by The Times Of India.

Kerala Diaries - Moonu

2016-06-26T18:45:00.000+05:30

It has been around eight months here back in Mumbai and Mumbai keeps you busy; so busy that I didn't even care to write more on the Kerala Diaries. A few weeks back, I was going through the notes in my phone and I found a note named Moonu. This note contained pointers to all the things that I wanted to include in the concluding part of my diaries. So, that got me started.

I can never get the picture of the Cochin International airport out of my mind – it’s vintage. I did not pay any attention to it at first. When I boarded my pre booked taxi to the hotel and the taxi was on its way out, I just happened to turn back and I saw this. Isn’t it retro?

The Cochn International Airport

The airport was way out of the main city. It took almost 90 -100 minutes to reach Ernakulam. On the way, there were Mammoottys, Mohanlals and Vijays on huge hoardings, advertising gold, exotic sarees, scooters and also their movies. Mohanlal’s movie Loham was due that week and at a theatre near our hotel; people were celebrating its release by beating drums and dancing outside the theatre. This scene made me understand the reason why celebrities are called ‘celebrities.‘

jab neend khuli to laga ki me apne hi ghar par hu

aakhe khuli to dekha ki

ghar hota to maa jaldi se nahaaneko kehti

kitchen se khusbooyein aati

tadke ki awaaz aati
thodisi neend bhi shayad... aur aati

My weekends would be late, slow and only one – Sunday! I got bored of the food here because it is monotonous – or maybe I failed to find good places for variety. You get idly; the same dough with some more water - dosa; the same dosa with a fluffy centre - appam. I don’t have a problem with these but I would never mind a vada pav or a missal pav, poha or a quick onion bhajjiya plate. There was an aunty near our office who used to sell medu wadas, egg pakodas, mirchi bhajis, daal vadas and chai; everything at Rs. 6 per piece!

I love the medu vada. So, before office, I would go hunting for places that would offer good breakfast or good medu vada. After having some bad and some overpriced breakfasts, a new shop opened up! Chariot – was the name and I would go there very frequently with my team-mates to eat their scrumptious and quintessential fish thali (I drool as I write!) This restaurant opened up its breakfast special outlet! They made good medu vadas and good coffee. When I ordered medu wada for the first time, the woman attendant reacted, “What vada?” She understood only when I pointed out the vada to her. Medu vadas are called Uzhunnu vada in Kerala. Now, Uzhunnu is not as easy to pronounce as it seems. There is a curious case of syllable ‘Zh’ here in the malayalee land. Yes, you pronounced Kozhikode wrong your entire life. Learn how to pronounce ‘Zh’ in this video. I also came across a nice article in the Deccan Herald which humorously describes how difficult it is to pronounce ‘zh’, both for the malayalees and the non-malayalees.

‘Meals’ is the thali equivalent jargon but not quite literally. In this thali there is rice and sambhar and the Kerala papad (appadam) - no chapaati - no various types of bhaajis - wonly sambhar and rasam and some chutneys and pickle to go with. I loved the rice that they eat there; nice, round and soft. And when you put these rice morsels into your mouth with some sambhar or fish curry, you will be the happiest and the most satisfied living being on the planet. But this staple food of Kerala will make you fat; very fat. You won't even realise your fatty acids until an evening when you are super bored and you go to a mall; enter a lift with mirrors on all sides and have a look at yourself from every possible angle.

Beef is very popular in the God's own country... err this God is not Hindu... maybe. Every non vegetarian menu has beef in it. The water served along your main course is pink and luke warm– they mix some jeera in this water which helps in digestion. Typically on every table in a restaurant, there are two jars; one has rasam and the other has the classy buttermilk. But amidst, the sambhars and rasams, I wonder where bhindi, methi, mutter, baingan, gawar, gobi, paalak, batata went missing. Only at handful restaurants, I saw bhindi, baingan and gobi; and the gobi was chilly gobi from china - not the aloo gobi from dilli. Even for snacks; I miss pav bhaji, misal pav, vada pav, samosa, poha, sabudana khichdi.

We also used to get Parotta with a double-T. It’s quite popular – I never tried it though. A Parotta is nothing but a Paratha made up of maida and you have to witness how it is prepared – quite a process. But why use maida; please leave maida for the muffins.

I used to go to a fixed restaurant for dinner and most probably had Chinese veg fried rice and a paneer tikka gravy to go with it as suggested by the attendant. He was a very friendly, so once I requested him to show me his recipe. He agreed quite reluctantly. When I entered the kitchen on the floor above, it was not as clean as I expected to be – may be the reason why the guy was reluctant in the first place. There was a very old man cleaning utensils in one corner and a pahadi guy cooking. He showed me his ingredients and pre-cooked masalas. I appreciated him for the fried rice that he cooks every day. He was a hindi guy, so we also spoke how people do not speak any hindi in Kochi. I came back with a plate of fried rice in my hands and attendant brought me the panner tikka. As I came down, the rest of the families looked at me. I thanked the attendant guy for allowing me to have a look at my order being cooked live.

While starting to write the post, I thought this would conclude the Kerala Diaries series but it looks like there will be a Kerala Diaries – Naalu. So tiriccuva!

For the rest of the posts of Kerala Diaries, please click here!

The Lost Love

2016-03-24T21:35:00.000+05:30

Image Source

THE LAST DAY

It was dark outside. I could see only the dim lights in the makeshift houses lined along the railway tracks. I looked at my phone; the notification light was continuously blinking because the phone battery was down. Cold breeze flew in through the windows as the train ran past the stations. I was not in a hurry; I wished that the train kept running and never stopped. I wished the night would never end, just as I wished that we shouldn’t have broke up.

I was going back home after the college farewell. It was the last day in more than a way for me and I was filled with distress and anguish. I wanted to talk to her. Stations passed, people got down and the train stopped too but I did not want to go anywhere. I sat there numb and looked at my phone; the phone that she had gifted me. It was still blinking. It pleaded me to charge; it pleaded me to call her. I finally decided to call her once again. I pressed the unlock button.

“The train will leave for the carshed, young man. Get out of here... Go home, it’s late,” said the police hawaldaar who entered the train and thumped his stick twice on the floor to disrupt into my thoughts.

He did not wait till I looked up. I looked around to see if there was any place to sit on the platform. The police hawaldaar saw me again and gestured me to the way out of the station. I pressed the unlock button again as I went out of the station. My phone beeped. It was Mom.

THAT DAY

It was still dawn when I stepped out of the cab and walked towards the entry gate of the Delhi airport. The early morning February air was pleasantly cold.

I was travelling to Bengaluru to attend a college friend's wedding. It had been four years since we graduated from the same college. This wedding was also going to be a reunion of our batchmates. But what I didn't know was that the reunion would begin much ahead of time; right in the queue in front of the airline counter.

I was almost sure it was she. Same height! Same long hair! Same complexion! Curiosity had my eyes glued to her. And then about 60-odd seconds later, when she turned, she proved me right. My ex-girlfriend stood two places ahead of me in that queue. We had never met after the college farewell.

She was wearing blue jeans and a grey top with a cross bag. Eyes covered with huge glasses that touched her cheeks as she talked to the attendant. Her hair was carelessly folded into a knot which was on the verge of falling out. She was holding the phone in her mouth and probably searching for the ID in her cross bag. She looked even more beautiful than the college days. Her luggage appeared almost her weight. How did she carry that beast up to here!

The queue reminded me of the days when we would wait for the bus at the bus stop. We would talk sense and non sense for hours without realizing how time flew away and the buses passed away. Time also flew these four years and I didn’t even realize until this day that the last day was four years ago.

I overheard her blocking the window seat number 8A. I gave a thought on blocking 8B but that would have been very awkward for both of us. And it was my first flight; who would want to miss the window on the first flight? I blocked 12A.

THE FIRST DAY

Our first meeting was an accident or it can be called as a lesson in value education – Punctuality. Our second semester exams were over and we were awaiting the results. Our group decided to go out on an excursion. Aditi was also in my class but the girls had different groups and different plans. The only interaction between girls and boys during the class would be of lover couples gesturing each to bunk the next class; our plans would be top secret. Aditi and I never had an interaction longer than a “Hi!”

It was early morning on a Saturday. We had to get up even before the Sun would and be there at the Dadar Terminus. The hostel rates in Byculla near our college were too high so I found a PG facility 4 kilometers away from Dadar railway station. All my other friends would come over from Byculla which is about 10 minutes from Dadar by train.

I knew I was late. I still don’t remember switching off the alarm and sleeping again. I woke up an hour late. When I reached, the train had already started leaving the station. I ran with all my vigour, with a hope that if the train stopped, I would jump in.

I was not the only one running after the train; even Aditi was running after the same train. She was having an even more tough time running with her many and heavy belongings. We were both running completely aware that we had missed the train. By the time the train entirely left the platform, we were gasping for breath with both our hands over the knees. She was looking beautiful in her full length black skirt and a polka top.

“Goa?” I asked after gathering some breath.

“Yes,” she replied, still gasping.

“So how did the girls know about our Goa plan?” I asked curiously after gulping down some water.

“It was Varun who told Sneha about your trip.” Aditi took long pauses between each sentence to gather all the oxygen that she could. ”Sneha convinced us because she wanted to go out with him.”

We enquired outside the station and got to know that there were buses from the Dadar Bus Depot. We rushed to the depot and booked two seats to Goa. The bus would be slower than the train and would reach Goa by late night. We would be late to catch up with our respective groups but it was our fault.

“Are all these bags yours or are we expecting someone else?” I asked her in a teasing tone.

Aditi pinched me hard on my arm and the conversations started. We never joined back with our groups in Goa and we never stopped pulling each other’s legs until the night of the farewell.

THAT NIGHT

The college campus was all set up to host the farewell of its five hundred students who would officially be engineers after a couple of months. Dinner was set and the teachers had started munching. Announcements started, urging the students to rush to the dinner counters. Aditi was one of the few students who were dancing from the moment they entered the campus; she was in no mood to stop.

“Aditi, let’s go and eat... it’s getting late.” I shouted as loud as I could have, but Aditi couldn’t hear it.

Even Aditi was from Delhi and after the first year we found out a place for her too in Dadar. We had to reach Byculla station before the last train would leave; we had an hour in hand. I also had some good news for her. I gestured Aditi to wait backstage. I took more food than I could eat so that Aditi could eat some.

“Now tell me.” Aditi crossed her arms and brought her ears close to me. “What is the good news?” she whispered and picked up a paneer tikka from the plate.

“I am going to the US, Aditi...”—I held her shoulders and bought her closer to me —“...to do my masters.”

“Are you serious— I mean, are you telling this to me now?”

“This was the surprise, Aditi, aren’t... you happy?”

“How can you just leave Rishab? You know long distance never works.”

“We will make it work Aditi. We both believe in each other don’t we?”

“How should I believe you? You take important decisions— and, you are telling me now—”

“Because this... was the surprise. I... I thought you‘d be happy.”

“How can I be happy when the person whom I love is leaving? You broke my heart... Rishab, you can’t do this.”

“What’s wrong with you Aditi? It’s just a matter of some years. Everything will be fine then.”

“You will never come back Rishab. No one comes back. You have to choose between your dollars and me, Rishab.”

“Don’t... do this to me Aditi.” I muttered to myself as Aditi went away putting down the paneer tikka which she had picked up to eat. My plate was full of food. We hadn’t eaten anything. She was hurt. But I couldn’t have missed a golden chance to study in the US. I searched for Aditi but I couldn’t find her. Sneha told me that she just took a cab and left. My phone beeped. I hurriedly took my phone out of my pocket, thinking it would be Aditi; it was the low battery alert – 10%. I was stunned by the metaphor that phone showed the juice left in the battery or in our relationship. I called Aditi.

“Pick up! Pick up Aditi. I want to talk to you.” The phone kept ringing forever, but Aditi didn’t pick up.

All that our three year relationship boasted of was the belief that we had in each other and today Aditi did not trust me. She left me alone. We have had quarrels – a many of them but today I was scared. I had lost something valuable. I was feeling empty. Aditi was my strength and today, I was helpless, hopeless and powerless.

“Come back Aditi. Please.”

REUNION

“Delicious!”

Paneer Tikka has always been my favourite. I had taken more than I could eat. The cuisine was so exhaustive that anybody would have been spoilt for choice. The dining hall was full of lights. The walls were all glass which made it look larger than the original size. I had met a few friends, but not many from my group had turned up. The close knots tied in the college did not continue really well after those four years.

I was engrossed in picking up my third gulab jamun when someone patted on my back. I did not turn around till I safely escorted the sweet to my plate.

I was confused whether I should smile or be stern. I wasn’t prepared for this. I had thought, I would be the one to approach first, but it was Aditi. Time flied back four years and all those memories, laughs, fights and the break up exploded up like a volcano inside me but I remained calm on the outside. I smiled and offered her food. She took a piece of paneer tikka, dipped it in the green chutney and took a bite.

“If only you had eaten that piece on the farewell too, Aditi,” I thought to myself.

I still repented that breakup because the time we had spent together was unforgettable and the way in which we broke up was appalling. We chatted on how good the food was, how beautiful the bride was and how Bengaluru is not as cold as Delhi. We took long awkward pauses before we could think of a new topic to talk on.

“I never found anyone who is so loving and caring. Let us give our relationship, a second chance.” Aditi broke the ice and took the topic that we both avoided for a little while.

“I never searched for anyone else, Aditi. For me, it was always you but you left me when I needed you the most. I still didn’t understand why you didn’t trust me.”

“Rishab, I knew you would go to the US for sure...it was your dream. I wanted to secure our relationship. I was scared that you wouldn’t return.”

“How could you not be sure about... about me, Aditi?”

“I did what I felt right at that moment. That is past. You have returned back and we have met again. Don’t you think, we should live back those moments once again?”

“I did not go to the US, Aditi... That night, each and every minute of time went against me. After leaving college, Mom called me. Dad had a heart attack and his health was extremely critical. I left for Delhi next morning by the first train but till the time I reached... he was no more. I couldn’t have left Mom alone so I decided to skip the US. I tried again but it never worked.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Aditi was shocked.

“I called you a dozen times that night, but you never picked up. You never called back. The innocence in our love had grown up into a selfish beast and I had failed to recognize that... It’s better to leave it alone for our own good. What if we had never met again? How can you even think of asking about a second chance? I am sorry... Aditi... but this time... I do not trust you.”

My phone beeped and vibrated hard. It made a very loud noise because I had kept it on the table; it wasn’t a call. The battery had completely drained out and the phone switched off.

The above short story was my submission for the TOI Write India Contest - Month of January.

Top 10 Hindi Movies Of 2015

2016-01-02T23:18:00.000+05:30

‘Badlapur se Bajirao Mastani tak aur Tevar se Tamasha tak’, the hindi film industry delivered some amzing stories and some blockbusters as well. While the much hyped and the commercial giant Bombay Velvet flopped, small budget movies like NH10 and Badlapur made their mark. This year saw Suraj Barjatya coming back to Bollywood and bringing back Prem. Also Aishwarya Rai came back with Jazba. Let’s roll our eyes on the year 2015’s top ten movies that Bollywood gave us.

Badlapur

2015 started off with a bang for Varun Dhawan who smashed the box office and his chocolate boy image with his power packed performance as Raghu, in this movie. Add to that a character with negative shades, so naturally played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Radhika Apte makes 2015 work for herself with her genuine performances in Badlapur, Hunterr and Manjhi – The Mountain Man. The movie is hard hitting, gripping and its brilliant music score by Sachin-Jigar makes you fall in love with this movie.

Piku

This Shoojit Sircar creation is a beautiful narration of the relationship between a father and a daughter. Amitabh Bachhan continued to rule the cinemas with Piku after the magnificent Shamitabh. The characters and the looks being created for the legend are enviably wonderful for his contemporaries. The unusual pairing between Deepika Padukone and Irfan Khan turned out to be very subtle and natural. The simplicity of this movie backed with an amazing music score by Anupam Roy makes it one of the ‘must watch’ of 2015, or rather an all time favourite.

Qissa

This movie is a hard hitting tale of a girl raised as a boy. Irfan Khan plays the father who wants his third child to be a male to carry on his legacy; but when he gets to know that even his third child is not a boy, he just cannot accept his fate. So, he raises her as a boy; even names him Kanwar Singh, but things start getting complicated as Kanwar starts growing up. And when he also gets Kanwar marry a girl, there is trouble, a lot of trouble. An unusual storyline supported with the brilliant performances of Irfan Khan and Tillottama Shome makes this movie weird and wonderful at the same time.

Drishyam

Drishyam is the Hindi remake of a Tamil movie with the same name. The film is a thrller drama which keeps you on your seats till the last scene. Drishyam was critically well received unlike the other south indian remakes; Tevar and Gabbar Is Back which also released in 2015. The slow reason not to miss the movie is its story and an engaging screenplay.

NH10

An average Indian movie goer is getting more intelligent as 2015 comes to an end. People are looking out for quality and small budget movies are actually gaining much more recognition and business than their richer counterparts. Dum Lagake Haisha, Talwar, Court among other low budget films were accepted wholeheartedly by a common movie goer. NH10 is about righteousness, revenge and Anushka Sharma’s power act. Watch NH10; it will be the most thrilling 2015 movie you’ll see.

Talvar

The movie is based on the infamous double murder of Aarushi and Hemraj. Apparently, another movie called Rahasya starring Kay Kay Menon was also loosely based on the same murder case. The thoroughly engaging script for the movie has been written by Vishal Bharadwaj. Irfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma were a lovely couple back in 2009 in Life in a Metro, but they are poles apart in this movie. Neeraj Kabi had a great year with a performance oriented role in Talwar and a negative character in Detective Byomkesh Bakshi. Detective Byomkesh Bakshi is also one of the better movies of 2015 which did not do well at the cinemas.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan

This movie is actually one of the good movies starring Salman Khan after a long time. The movie is commercial, but sensible cinema at the same time. Off late, Salman only focuses on the number of whistles that he will get in the hall. But, Bajrangi is both whistle-worthy and noteworthy. After being a weird negative character in Badlapur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui got a lovable role in Bajrangi Bhaijaan. He also played Manjhi in the movie Manjhi – The Mountain Man which is also one of the good movies of the year 2015.

Dum Lagake Haisha

Actors make movies and movie make stars, Ayushman Khurana and his choice of movies are worth a mention; Vicky Donor, Nautanki Saala, Hawaizada – all movies have a different flavour. Sanjay Mishra plays Ayushman’s father in the movie and as always he plays so lovely. In fact, 2015 has been a year of Supporting actors; Nawazuddin siddiqui in Badlapur and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Tabu in Drishyam, Tanvi Azmi in Bajirao Mastani, Radhika Apte in Badlapur, Deepak Dobriyal in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Konkona Sen Sharma in Talvar amongst others. Dum Lagaake Haisha is a sweet story with sweet performances and sweet characters. The good old 90s music by Anu Malik brings back Kumar Sanu to our playlists again.

Bajirao Mastani

Deepika Padukone had a great 2015 with Piku, Tamasha and Bajirao Mastani. Although Tamasha did not do so well, she rocked the box office with her latest as Mastani. Bajirao Mastani is the grandest and the most controversial biopic in 2015 amidst Main Hoon Charles Sobhraj and Hawaizaada. The movie focuses on the love story of Bajirao and Mastani. The movie must be watched for its larger than life portrayal of the great Maratha Peshwa Bajirao Ballal.

Masaan

Richa Chadda’s impressive filmography got even more impressive with this film. Set in Banaras, this movie also stars Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi. Two stories run in parallel till they meet only in the last scene. One of the stories has a very sweet budding romance between Vicky Kaushal and Shweta Tripathi. Both, Richa Chadda and Vicky Kaushal lose their love and start feeling trapped in Banaras ironically in a city where Hindus believe to set their soul free by performing their last rites at the Ganga ghat. Song composed by Indian Ocean capture the essence of the movie without breaking the narrative, unlike many other movies.

Just Two Months

2015-12-26T21:16:00.000+05:30

One of the very first essays that we write at schools is ‘My Home’ - back then, I pondered on what is the difference between a home and a house. I have many friends who have left their homes at a tender age to pursue better education; to get a job or for a healthier standard of living than their primary locations. Some keep moving throughout the country because their parents have jobs which require them to get transferred periodically.

I never realized what it meant to be away from home till I got a chance to stay outside home for about two months in Kerala on a work assignment. It is tough to adapt to a new place away from the comforts of our home and its locality. A new place means finding a new vegetable market, a new doctor, the nearest bus stop, an ATM, a new barber, a new cablewala, doodhwala, kiranawala, laundrywala and also finding new friends. I consider myself fortunate that the working hours would not last beyond 7 -7.30 pm – a general Kochi day will start at ten in the morning and end at most by eight-thirty in the evening. So, we got enough time for our extra-workicular activities which were many.

One regular activity away from home was a Skype call every night wherein I would get to see and talk to my family back home. We would exchange what we had for our dinners, people, the culture, work, home and everything under the sun! That few minutes of communication would lighten up a really hard day for a first timer outside home. Obviously things and days started passing easily as I got accustomed to Kochi. I explored new places on weekends.

While going to Kerala, I thought two months was too much time outside home but while returning back and even now when I retrospect, I think those two months were just two months.

This post has been written for blogchatter prompt - Away From Home.

Blogchatter is a twitter initiative where bloggers from all spheres connect, engage and support each other in taking blogs to next level. Also every Wednesday we have a chat session at 8.30 pm discussing a range of blogging topics each week. Do tune in!

Uttarakhand: An Odyssey

2015-12-12T23:10:00.000+05:30

We were here! Even on that rock.

On a beautiful Saturday morning, it was time to board that flight to Delhi which would mark the start of a nine day full of a breath-taking experience. For me, there were many things on this trip that would be my debut; travelling through the clouds^*, walking on the ice clad mountains, trekking to heights as huge as 15000 feet, seeing my own breath coming out as vapours in those cold nights and walking close to a 100 km in a 5 day span.

* travelling through the clouds is an over-excited first timer’s representation of boarding a plane.

Day 1: Potholes In The Air !

On the 18^th of July, 2015, at the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport’s Domestic terminal in Mumbai, the most happy and excited soul was probably mine. I was enjoying it all; collecting the boarding pass, security checks, and specially the boarding. When the plane left the ground; I could see the jam packed roads, the bandra-worli sea link, the birds sitting in warm sunlight probably mocking us humans – “Did you just pay to fly?” High up in the air, while passing through the clouds, the plane jerked due turbulence; as though there were potholes in the air! Some friends would come from Pune and some were Delhiites. We all were to meet at Delhi and then take a train which would reached Haridwar at around 7 o’clock.

Day 2: Highway Number Athhaavan.

After airways and railways, today was the time to get into the raw zones of Uttarakhand by road before we get down and start on feet. We all boarded a Tempo Traveller which took us to a place called Govindghat via NH-58. Govindghat is located at an approximate altitude of 6000 feet in the Chamoli district, 22 kilometers away from Joshimath. On the way we got down to see Devprayag which is a confluence of River Alaknanda and River Bhagirathi. We could clearly see two different coloured streams coming together and forming up a broader stream after the union.

The NH-58 is a very challenging route full of obstructions due to landslides. It normally takes around 10 hours to cover those three hundred kilometers full of stoppages and critical road bends. Our journey through the NH-58 took more than 14 hours due to a major landslide which took around 3-4 hours to clear. For safety reasons, vehicles are not allowed to go beyond Joshimath after eight in the evening. This would mean that if we get stuck at Joshimath; we had to find a hotel and spend the night there and travel to Govindghat which in the morning; which also meant that our trek start time from Govindghat to Ghangaria will be delayed. But nothing of that happened; we reached Govindghat at around 8.30 pm after cajoling the police guard who had stopped us near Joshimath. After a day long journey on extremely crude roads that kept us swinging continuously in the tempo, we had hot and delicious Gobi Ki Sabji and Paratha to end the day on a high.

Don't look at us; look at the traffic!

Day 3: Ganpati Bappa Morya. Chalo Ghangaria.

Govindghat is a beautiful place; serene and cool. We were all geared up to start the trek to reach Ghangaria which is at a massive 10000 feet above sea level; this meant that we would gain almost 4000 feet as we trek towards Ghangaria. The 11 kilometers trek was filled with silence; the only noise was that of mother nature and us.

River Lakshman Ganga

We relaxed on the banks of River Lakshman Ganga. The ambience there was so refreshing and energetic that it was tough to leave that place. As a non-trekker, one good thing for me about this day’s trek was that it was not completely uphill; it was mixed with surprise flat and downhill patches too. We also ate fresh green apples on the way. We reached by evening. After freshening up, our guide told us that 200 meters inside Ghangaria, there is a glacier. We walked over to discover that there is also a huge waterfall amidst huge mountains on both sides and green patches on ground. The aura around was so amazing that a few of us decided to sit down and meditate near that place. We ended up having a lot of fun.

There are no mobile networks in Ghangaria; there are these good old STD phones that allowed us to communicate our whereabouts and well beings to our families back in the cities. We would normally talk at nights after dinner. We could see breath vapours as we talked. We were away from any internet, TV or mobile connections. It was just us and the Nature – rendezvous.

Ghangaria: That is the waterfall and the glacier which I mentioned earlier.

Day 4: The Valley Of Flowers – Level 1.

With persistent body aches, it was hard to get up early and get ready but as the day started kicking, we started rolling; after a heavy breakfast of Kulcha Sabji and a hot serving of chai. After packing our lunch packets that we would eat in the valley, it was time to get started and cover at least 4 kilometers into the valley today, so that tomorrow we can get past the 4 kilometers and reach 7 - 8 kilometers inside the valley till we reach the banks of River Pushpawati.

One of the river crossings in the valley

Getting to the valley is a couple of hour’s trek. The Valley of flowers is a treat to the eyes with beautiful and colourful flowers all over. Due to fog, we missed many flowers but we had one more day in the valley. On the way, there were many river crossings. When you see an eye full of flowers, it looked as though a blanket of flowers is covered on the valley to protect it from the cold weather outside. The Valley is covered in snow all the time except from the months of June to September.

After covering about 4 kilometres into the valley, it was time to come back. We hoped that tomorrow, it would be less foggy.

My favourite from the valley.

Day 5: Take 1 - The Valley Of Flowers – Level 2 ?

While doing breakfast, it started raining. We thought our day would be wasted but after some time, rain stopped but it was all foggy. So, we decided to go to Hemkund Sahib today and postpone The Valley to the next day.

Day 5: Take 2 - Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akaal !

This holy Gurudwara is situated at an enormous 15000 feet. The 7 kilometers trek from Ghangaria has an altitude gain of almost 5000 feet, so the trek is very steep and tiring compared to The Valley. When I reached till the Gurudwara, I was extremely exhausted. On the way, we crossed glaciers and saw some splendid landscapes with huge mountains all around. Even after trekking to such humongous heights, there were still some peaks which oversaw us; I was awe-inspired by the size of those mountains. We reached to the Gurudwara at about 1.30 pm. Hemkund literally means a pond of snow. We took a dip in ice cold water and we were all shivers till we got hot water and food at the langar. We left back to Ghangaria at around 2.15 pm because it would soon get darker and foggy and staying overnight at Hemkund was not allowed.

The pond at Hemkund Sahib. So clear! Seconds ago when we were in it, there was no fog at all!

Day 6: Valley Na Milega Dobara.

This day we were all hopes that the fog shouldn’t ruin the day. I was extremely fatigued and deep down my mind; I was okay even if the fog played foul. But the weather was extremely happy that day and we marched past the 4 kilometers that we trekked earlier. At the end of it all there was River Pushpawati and its serenity waiting for us. I closed my eyes and relaxed on the banks; all I could hear was the water gushing with supreme power through the valley.

River Pushpawati

Day 7: Govindghat Returns.

Technically this was the start of the return journey but there were many things-to-do pending, so we didn’t realize the homecoming had started. We had to go back those 11 kilometers to reach Govindghat. We started earlier because we had to visit Badrinath, Mana village and Pandukeshwar in the later part of the day.

Mana is the last Indian village on the Indo Tibetian border. On the way, there is a legend which is known as Bhim Pul. After defeating Kauravas, Pandavas handed over the kingdom of Hastinapur to their grandson - Parikshit and came here for a heavenly abode. On their way to heaven, they came across the fierce River Saraswati which was impossible to cross. It is believed that Bhim lifted a gigantic rock and placed over the river, so that the Pandavas could cross the river easily.

At Bhim Pul

River Sarawati has a mystical start. It starts from between the mountains at the Indo-Tibetian Border. You can see the video below to watch the spotless flow of the River; the flow is so bursting with purity that it feels like it is milk flowing out. The River Saraswati is known as Gupt Sarawati because it goes on to merge with River Alaknanda at Keshav Prayag at Mana itself but the stream disappears somewhere suddenly; it doesn’t grow like the one at Devprayag which we saw earlier.

While returning back, there is a place called Hanuman Chatti. Then we went to one of the Char Dham; Badrinath – very colourful – Jai Badri Vishal! We also got down to visit the Lakshman Jhula which is built over the River Ganga at Rishikesh. On the way, we could also the see what the 2013 floods had done to the surroundings. I was all goosebumps when I saw the water level at which the water flowed during the floods; the difference between the level now and then is disturbingly huge.

Back at Govindghat, there is place called Pandukeshwar where Bhim built two monolithic temples overnight; one temple of his father Pandu and another temple of Lord Vishnu which is called the Yoga Badri. Yoga Badri is the winter residence of the Badrinath idol because the main Badrinath temple remains closed during winters.

Badrinath

Day 8: Har Har Gangé !

It was time leave Govindghat and lead back to the noise and pollution back home. We would miss the mighty-forever mountains, the fear-no-one rivers and purest dose of oxygen to breathe. It was time to head back 300 kilometers of the rocky, landslidy and swinging journey to Haridwar. We started at around 7.00 am and reached at around 6.00 pm, booked a hotel, kept our bags at a hotel and rushed towards the Ganga for the evening Har Ki Paudi Ganga Aarti. But unfortunately we were late and missed the aarti. There were thousands of devotees seeking the blessings of the Ganga. We were back to people, pollution and pandemonium. We went back to the hotel, had lunch and boarded our 10.00 pm train which would reach Delhi next morning. From there, on Day 9, we would be boarding a flight back to Mumbai.

The amount of happiness that the trip has given is not translatable into words. I would like to thank each of my friends; Akash, Amit, Anuja, Arup, Harpreet, Mamta and Sneha for conceptualizing and executing this trip so that we could witness and appreciate the better part of the nature.

इन पहाड़ो कि गोदियों में,

न जाने मैं कहाँसे आ गया।

इन खूबसूरत फूलों में,

न जाने कब खिल गया।

चढ़कर इन ऊँचाइयों पर भी,

ऊपर एक और शिखर नज़र आया।

हाफ्ते हाफ्ते ही क्यों न सही,

हमने रब को पा लिया।

All the splendid pictures above are shot by my friend, Akash Khot. Akash blogs at skyposts.blogspot.in He is covering The Valley in a more detailed part by part series in marathi. Click here to check them out.

Art Thou Smart?

2015-11-22T18:59:00.000+05:30

Someone someday said and has said it spot-on that having a smartphone does not necessarily make you smart. Your phone is smart and you have to use it smartly. It all depends on how you spend time with your phone; how many nitty-gritty details you get into or how many hours can you play Candy Crush continuously. Using the smartphone effectively is more about cleaning the app cache for Candy Crush than playing Candy Crush because if you concentrate only on the latter then your phone is going to crush someday. It will lag. Just like your bike needs servicing to keep kicking the roads, your phone also needs servicing– cleaning app cache, system cache, residual, files, unused files will help your processor get more breathing space. Killing unused app processes will keep your RAM free. When these two #technocrats are happy, your phone is happy. Take care of your phone.

Phones today are loaded with so many features that life has become so much easier. Everything is a touch away. Book a movie ticket – Book my show, Buy a phone – Flipkart, Book a cab – ride now or later; Ola, buying groceries, doing an exercise, remembering a task, lighting a torch, booking travel tickets, identifying an unknown song – there is an app for everything and anything. Even plumbers and electricians are now just an app away. These killer devices can do so much more than just calling, messaging and emailing and yet you smash them on the floor when you are angry. It is time these stalwarts deserve more respect that you ever gave them.

With the ever evolving technology, a smartphone available last year and now has huge technical differences. The camera, RAM, processors, screen size, internal memories and expandable memories change for good. Processors are going octacore, the batteries nowadays are as huge as 3000mAH – 4000mAH, RAMs are as huge as we’d have had in our PCs a few years ago and the cameras are going crazy. One of the biggest platforms for these smartphones; the Android OS also updates to one version sweeter every year. The smartphone manufacturers also keep up with the updates and work on their own custom layers above the base OS to release them to users. And when I say smartphone manufacturers, there are quite a few Indian players on the field and giving a tough game to their South Korean and Japanese counterparts; even outdoing them. A Chinese mobile phone manufacturing giant recently set up its assembly line in Andhra Pradesh. There is a lot happening in the country. We are all part of unbelievable intelligence and innovation. Brace yourself and see the infographic at the end of the post.

The basic purpose of a phone which I always believe to be vocal communication is also undergoing changes. By now everyone is familiar with the famous girl who challenges everyone to try her famous telecom service provider’s 4G network. Obviously the ads invited a lot of mockery but with 4G in place, video calls, downloads, uploads are going to be faster than ever. And having said that, I hope that the service rates are not as high as the speeds.

With great power comes great responsibility. The wise people working for technology are always going to better it year after year. Smartphones will be getting more powerful year after year. Their assistant friends like the smart watch, the smart band, the bluetooth headsets are also getting more powerful and intelligent. So, with that powerful device in your custody, make sure you use it to its maximum potential and not play some stupid games in it.

On Imtiaz Ali's Jab We Met

2015-11-13T00:29:00.000+05:30

Jab We Met is a poetry. The metaphor is that the train symbolises the way of life. There are two passengers, two ways of life and the movie is of two halves. In the first half, we fall in love with Geet, who is a bubbly, young, carefree girl trying to live life as it comes by following her heart. Everything works fine for her that way, till the beginning of the second half. Aditya is depressed with his life; he does not know what he is seeking but the moment he understands Geet and her world, he gets his answer - C'est La Vie.

The second half makes life easier for Aditya who learned to live life to the fullest from Geet. Taking decisions at his family business by following his heart makes his company witness success that it had never seen before.

The movie has a connect and the connector is Geet. She is so full of life that after the first half, I wished that their journey from Mumbai to Bhatinda had a little more show time. There is a sweet scene in the second half where Aditya asks Geet to shed her tension wala face and make the earlier bubbly wala face, and Geet makes that for a second. The film has many such feel-good scenes.

Imtiaz Ali went on to make Highway which is yet another journey involving rediscovering life. Even Tamasha which is his next is based on the theme of reinventing self. His movies have marvellous landscapes. Jab We Met is set in the northern part of India. The movies are visually so beautiful with exhaustive natural aspects whether it is the scene where Geet calls Aditya to meet her in the lush green fields at five in the morning or their jeep journey to Anshuman’s place where they travel on roads sandwiched between snow clad mountains. There is a freshness in his movies which can be felt throughout.

The running behind the trains scene from DDLJ is an eternal one. Jab we met has many of them because Geet has this record of never having missed any train in her life. When she chooses Anshuman over Aditya towards the film’s end, she says, ‘Aisa lag raha he ki koi train chootne wali he’ where she refers to the intuition of her life decision going wrong. The Punjabi family shown in the family is a true blue Punjabi family; enthusiastic and dare devil. The energy in the song Nagada Nagada is super contagious.

Finally all is well in the end when Geet and Aditya marry and have kids. Just before the end credits, the four of them are talking to the Late Dara Singh where he says, ‘Arey bachho, hamare umar me waqt nahi lagta. Ek jhalak kaafi hoti he, ye jaanne ke liye ki ladke aur ladki k beech kya chal raha he’ and Aditya says ‘Jee daarji’ and the end credits roll. What a movie!

Image Source

Kerala Diaries - Rendu

2015-09-06T05:20:00.000+05:30

Mahabali at our Hotel

Kerala celebrated its state festival Onam last week. It is celebrated over period of ten days. I was always indifferent abut this festival until I landed here during the festive season. It is believed that King Mahabali or Maveli as the malayalees say, visits them during Onam every year. Mahabali is an asura king who is good; the only bad thing in him marks Vishnu's fifth avatar - Vamana. The people under the good king's rule were happy and prosperous. The king soon developed an ego that he had everything he wished in the world. The king had kept a yadnya where he promised that he would grant anyone with anything he asked for. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu in his Vamana avatar asked King Mahabali for three pieces of land equal to his feet. As soon as the king granted his wish, Vamana grew into the skies, kept one foot on the entire heaven; the other on the entire earth. When Vamana asked, where should he keep his foot for the third piece of land; the king told him to keep his foot on his head. And the mighty king was sent to Pathala with a blessing that he could visit his kingdom every year. The entire Kerala is decorated with flowers and peoples during this period; yes the people look very adorable in their traditionals.

Peek-a-boo! A beautiful Pookulam in progress.

Onam Sadhya is served as a special food delicacy during this period. Every function on this occasion has an Onam sadhya. The food is served on a banana leaf; rice and sambhar are the main items and are accompanied with banana chips, chutney , avial, rasam, pachhadi and the wonderful payasam to end it with a bang. The ladies come dressed in their traditional sarees with jasmine flowers endorsing their thick hairdo. The gentleman are at their best in a shirt and a veshti. The keralaites welcome their king with Pookolam or the flower rangoli. So, there are Pookolums everywhere.

There is always some background instrumental music playing at my workplace. During Onam they would play classical music; ghatam and flute. What a combination! I never enjoyed IT more than this. For those who didn't get the pun, it is deliberately written in capitals and is not a mistake. Everyday they serve us with tea or coffee at the desk. I thought they could have served us with various types of payasam for those ten days. Tongue-in-cheek.

A Pookulam at a function organised by the client.

Later this week, there was a bandh declared by the trade unions all over India. The localities here said that Kerala would be bandh for every minute of the twenty four hours that day. And they were correct; not a shop was open; it was a 100% bandh for 24 hours. Kerala might be having some history on this voluntary 100% bandh. In Mumbai, the protesters have to break down some shops and then they shut down shops and after all this, all the shops open by 6 o'clock. A bandh in Mumbai is officially over by 6 o'clock. Kerala kept us hungry that day. The entire Kerala was closed execpt for our client's office. So we walked 3 km to the office that day. I may seem a little unprofessional here but why didn't the protesters throw stones at our building. That was a prospective holiday for us. Tongue-in-cheek-two.

The bandhs in Kerala are followed quite diligently and that is also one of the reasons that the buses have shutter windows and are not made up of glass. I repeat - I have a strong feeling that Kerala might be having some violent history on this voluntary 100% bandh. Also this week, we were transferred from a hotel which was just three hundred meters away from office to an apartment with no complementary wifi and breakfast and three thousand meters away from office. So this post is brought to you by McDonalds' free thirty minute wifi. Tongue-in-cheek-hat-trick and see you in Kerala diaries - Moonu.

P.S. Check out this video courtesy KAPPA TV for more on Onam.

Kerala Diaries - Onnu

2015-08-30T13:42:00.000+05:30

Two weeks after staying at a hotel with complimentary wifi and breakfast at M.G.Road in Kochi, I learned that every motorized vehicle here is a prospective killer. In these super small lanes, the vehicles go super fast. I have a new phobia now of crossing roads beacuse you never know which vehicle decides to surprise you. Even the government buses; they do not run, they fly. When I first saw a KSRTC bus, I noticed that there are only open windows; no glasses. Later when I boarded the bus to go to Allepey, I got to know that there are shutters inside the windows. There are no glass windows probably because of the heavy rains; the shutter type windows are easy to move up and down and need less maintenance. The big M.G.Road earlier known as the Seventy Feet road is reduced to half its size due to the Metro; "work in progress". But the size of the roads do not matter here — everyone likes to go zooooom.

KSRTC Buses: Source

Unlike Mumbai where people always run —after the trains —after the buses —while going to work—while returning back home —when going for a movie —when not going for a movie; here in Ernakulam, people are full fursat-mey and the vehicles are full ghaai-mey; exactly opposite to Mumbai where people are always running but the vehicles are not; because they are always sttuck in traffic. Talking about these two cities, there is a Marine Drive here in Kochi too; obviously, no match to the ambience and the aura at the Queen's Necklace. The most important highlight for a Mumbaikar on the Kochi Marine drive is the Goli Vada Pav! It had been years that I didnt have a vada pav in these two weeks and when I saw this stall, I couldn't have asked for more.

Just near Marine Drive, there is Broadway —not the theatre; it is a market. A super speciality wholesale market where each shop sells products of one particular trade; spices, paper, pens, toys, carpets, brass items etc. The market is full of hustle-bustle specially because it is the festive season. The spice shops were full of a beautiful mix of smell; elaichi, pepper, cinnamon, curry leaves powder were harmonizing the bad air around.

Broadway: Source

The city closes down too early. After eight or nine o'clock, hardly anything is open. The state festival of Kerala; Onam concluded a couple of days back. As I come back to the hotel, the staff is removing the marigold toran and the other decorations; the fancy lights are still on though. I took the wifi password from the reception —connected the wifi and it was as slow as the city. So, I put on my earphones and listen to some songs; it was the first time I heard hindi for the day; felt like home. See you in Kerala Diaries - Rendu.

On Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox

2015-07-12T02:40:00.000+05:30

They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. They say it right – I agree with them and Mr. Sajan Fernandes too will agree with them. But Mr. Fernandes has nobody who will want to reach his heart through his stomach. He eats alone; travels alone; works alone and stays alone. He unintentionally glances out at his saamne wali khidki every night after eating home delivered food while he smokes a cigarette from his balcony. That family dines together every night with children running here and there; loud discussions and noise all over. There is a small girl who notices Mr. Fernandes and closes windows. Mr. Fernandes’ house is exactly opposite of them – yes literally too.

Meri Ammi hamesha kaha karti thi ke kabhi kabhi galat train bhi sahi jaga pohocha deti hai, says Sheikh who has been newly recruited to replace Mr. Fernandes who Is about to retire in a month. When Mr. Fernandes gets a delicious dabba one fine day, he goes and praises the hotel guy who prepares the dabba for him every day; but that dabba is Ila’s – for her husband.

... and the conversations through the dabba start. The movie is a fusion of two hungry souls; hungry for good food to eat and people to talk their hearts out to.

We all want someone to talk to and share memories otherwise we forget them, Mr. Fernandes writes in one of the letters to Ila. Ila is with her husband and her daughter but her house is as mute as Mr. Fernandes’.

The dabba plays an important role in stuffing two people into his life – Ila and Sheikh. This is very stupid of me but; in this scene where Mr. Fernandes opens his dabba and is reading the letter – barely a line into it, Sheikh comes there and starts asking something – I pause the movie. There I was in front Mr. Fernandes on that table where he had just opened his dabba, so engrossed in that letter that Sheikh was just a third person who had disturbed me as badly as he disturbed Mr. Fernandes.

Mr. Fernandes’ journey through the film goes from being lonely to having happy conversations and happy relations with people around him. As the movie ends, even that little girl in his samne wali khidki does not shut down windows but waves out to him. The movie doesn’t concentrate on material factors like grand sets, exotic location and colourful people everywhere. It ponders over the layers of the most important part of the story - the characters.

On Ram Gopal Verma's Sarkar

2015-06-21T03:11:00.000+05:30

A movie goer’s perception of Ram Gopal Varma is no more like it was a few years back. A decade ago he made Sarkar. I wanted the Govinda Govinda theme to start playing as soon as I said ‘Sarkar’ in the previous sentence. This tune holds up the omnipotence of Sarkar throughout the movie. Theme songs have always worked in favour of the characters. The theme which plays whenever Maaya bhai and his gang emerges out a winner in Shootout At Lokhandwala or the theme tune in Guru which worked wonders to emphasize Gurubhai's control on the situation in those scenes where the tune was used.

RGV is known for crime based movies like Siva, Satya, Shool and Company. He credits Sarkar as a tribute to the classic film - The Godfather. If Mumbai ka king kaun?.. Bhiku Mhatre is the man who lives life to the fullest for himself, Sarkar is people’s man just like Sultan Mirza but not the one who says Dua me yaad rakhna; Sarkar says, Me kisiko sochne se nahi..karne se rokta hu - such is the power of the character in the movie.

As the movie progresses his son Shankar Nagre – or the to be Sarkar gets involved actively into Sarkari business. Vishnu is the bad boy of the Nagre family who stays with the wrong people and misbehaves with his own people. But when things go out of control, there is silence - Sarkar is sitting on his bed and is about to take his pill. He stops when he sees the misty-eyed Shankar enter the room. Shankar then walks towards Sarkar and sits beside him and says, “Maine bhaiya ko maar diya.” It is a powerful movie about great power narrated in a powerful style.

I am nobody to comment whatsoever on Amitabh Bachhan but after seeing a constipated and selfish Bhaskor Banerjee in Piku, when I see the powerful and commanding Subhash Nagre in Sarkar, I am awestruck by the amount of legendness that we have experienced over the past four decades.

Govinda Govinda Govinda Govinda Govinda Govinda Govinda Govinda Govindaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..

What A Pav!

2015-06-14T02:45:00.001+05:30

Source: The Wall Street Journal

You know you are eating a wonderful wada pav when after eating one, you instinctively say, “Oo, ajun ek dya!” This superhit movie called Vada Pav stars two legends in the lead role; the potato and the besan. These two have been a part of many other superhits like the Bread Pakoda and the Batata Bhaji. While the potato is a part of many other scrumptious delicacies like Aloo Chat, Aloo Tikki, Aloo Gobi, Masala Dosa, it is most known for the exquisite desi superhit called Aloo Paratha and the international superhit French Fries. The Besan on the other hand is part of the majority snack items like the Jhunka Bhakar, Pitla, Gol Bhaji, Palak Bhaji, Besan Laddu amongst others.

Though the potato and the besan are the leads, the supporting start cast can definitely not be ignored. The lip-smacking taste that lightens up every taste bud in your mouth, comes from the amalgamation of the variety of Indian spices and the chutney that is served along with the vada pav. Worth a mention is the Ginger-Garlic paste. This star duo gives the potato stuffing, a wonderful twist - a twist that acts as a major differentiator between a good vada pav and a deliciously good vada pav. Not only the vada pav but this duo is the secret ingredient behind many other blockbuster delicacies.

While serving, the pav is rubbed with some chutney and finely chopped onion; the hot vada which is just out of the kadhai is then placed on this well dressed pav. When this heavenly setting goes into your mouth, you cut in through the soft pav into the crisp layer of besan and then you march into the king’s space with the steamy hot potato stuffing and you think you are done – No!, you are not. This was just the bite. When you chew this golden morsel, the chutney, onion, potato stuffing, besan mix together and spread into the entire mouth, pampering the taste buds like never before. "But wait. Oh, Narcissus! You are still not done." Just when all the heroes are melting in your mouth, you chew in a little piece of chilli and surrender to the divine intervention.

The chilli in the climax scene is not raw or cooked but just dipped in hot oil and taken out. Some salt is sprinkled over these hot chillis and they are ready, The chutney with which the vada is served is different across the vada pav stalls. The most common chutney is the lasoon chutney which is made up of groundnuts, garlic and other spices. Some vendors apply a coating of the coconut-coriander chutney before applying the lasoon chutney. The most brilliant chutney that I ever got to have with the vada is the besan chutney which makes Thane's Gajanan Vada Pav famous. Founded in 1978, Divakar Shetty - the founder's son says that nobody can replicate the chutney that they make. They serve their vada pavs on a leaf with the besan chutney and the mirchi thecha.

First made almost five decades ago by a man named Ashok Vaidya, the vada pav has come a long way from being just a sidewalk delicacy to a inseparable part of the Marathi culinary speciality. What an invention! What a Pav!

On Shoojit Sircar's Piku

2015-06-08T01:38:00.000+05:30

Bhaskar or rather Bhaashkor is a constipated old man who feels that there definitely could be something medically wrong with him due to his old age. He makes Piku check his blood pressure whenever he gets angry – Even when he is asked to do normal blood tests; he checks reports for other body functions too, just to be sure.

He brazenly talks about constipation every time, which annoys Piku and often spoils her public image. Piku is not a vaargin; she is sexually and financially independent-as Bhaskar describes her in front of an almost stranger in a party. He reasons Piku not to get married because women who get married and serve husbands are of low IQ.

Rana Chaudhary is the owner of a travel agency who provides permanent cab services to the firm where Piku works. He has his own life problems – his mother, his sister and Piku. Piku often gets late due to Bhaskar’s tantrums and hurries the drivers to speed up, eventually ending up with an accident every second day.

The movie is a road trip from Delhi to Kolkata; from the branches to the roots. Rana takes them on this road trip. Rana gives tips to Bhaskar to tackle constipation; he bonds well with both of them as the trip progresses as the story gradually bonds with the viewers as the movie progresses.

Writer Juhi Chaturvedi and Director Shoojit Sircar had earlier worked together on Vicky Donor. They have portrayed both these otherwise loathsome topics; sperm donation and constipation in a subtle style. Thumbs up to the responsible and thoughtful writing which never makes you say - Yuck!

Advertisements in movies now –a-days are common but the way in which advertisements are embedded in Piku is worth learning. Apart from the main road trip, there are two more rides, both in Kolkata that Sircar takes you for - One with Piku and Rana in the car – Other with Bhaskar on the cycle. Both These trips are filled with beautiful scenes. The film also has delicious close ups of various foodstuffs over lunch which makes the popcorn and pepsi in your hands, a lacklustre.

And since it talks so much about bowel movements and constipation, Piku can literally and aptly be called a motion picture.

On Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet

2015-05-17T18:36:00.000+05:30

An anti-hero and his side kick, a rich and powerful antagonist, a glamorous heroine and a rags to riches story. This is not about the angry young man of the 70s; it is about the new angry young man - Ranbir Kapoor – I am Johnny Balraj, nice to meet you..

The remarkable and vivacious sets recreate Bombay from the 60s and the 70s and make you go for a ride down the lanes of Bombay in style. The amber colour tint to the film brings back the Eastmancolor era. The classic vintage cars, smoking pipes, double decker buses with monkey brand advertisements, almost empty streets and Amit Trivedi’s jazzy music score only add to the detailing required for a period film.

Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet is more than just a typical rags to riches story. The story details on how Bombay was reclaimed from the ocean. The seven islands in Bombay were bought together by the then influential people of Bombay. Jimmy Mistry and Kaizad Khambatta are media kingpins who are rivals. Johnny Balraj is the guy who wants to be a big shot. He is fascinated by watching a finale scene from the movie – The Roaring Twenties just as Kashyap is fascinated by L.A. Quartlet or Quentin Tarantino and world cinema in general. The film’s climax has a slow motion sequence where Johnny enters a room with tommy guns in his hands and there is drum roll in the background.

Karan Johar plays Khambatta and acts himself; quite literally where in one of the scenes he says this to Johnny Balraj over the phone, “Aisa kya hai Rosie ke paas jo mere paas nahi hai..” This is a serious scene though.

Also worth mentioning is that casting director Mukesh Chhabra has casted a child Johnny Balraj who looks exactly how Ranbir Kapoor would have looked like in his childhood.

After losing the Ugly spat with the Censor Board over the disclaimer tag for smoking scenes; this time, Kashyap has put a permanent ‘Smoking Kills’ tag in Bombay Velvet whether his characters are smoking or not. Points level.

An Epicure's Singapore

2015-03-25T23:49:00.000+05:30

Source: Far East Hospitality

Back here in India, while I see all those mouth-watering culinary pictures of the ensemble of food available in Singapore, I can only wait for that magical ticket to Singapore to land in my hands. We all know that there is the Merlion, the Marina Bay Sands Skypark, the Singapore Night Safari, the Universal Studios, the Singapore Flyer and the list can go on for ever. But there is also the Roti Prata, the Oyster Omelette, the Chicken Rice, the Chilli Crab, the Barbecued Stingray and even this list can go on for ever. Singapore is a food haven and all your gastronomic desires will take a deliciously deep breath when you’re in Singapore.

So which is the best out of all the lip-smacking delicacies? The question is, why are you trying to pick just one; pick more and in all conscience you just won’t settle for one when you are kept in the middle of a culinary orchestra. We’ll just try to fit in five of the most fabulous Singaporean delights on your plate.

Roti Prata

Source: Far East Hospitality

A Punjabi might have went to Singapore long time back. He must have ordered - "Paaji Ek Prata laana butter maarke!" And when he did not get it, he would have got into the kitchen and made it himself - "Ise kehte e ji prata!" And the Prata reached Singapore with the accent and the taste. Now for the serious part, this Indian delicacy has found lovers in Singapore too. A Paratha (as it is called in India) has many variants to it but one thing is common in all of them - the taste and the love with which it is made. Love-ly!

Chicken Rice

Source: Steamy Kitchen

Any recipe with chicken in it is already a winner. Okay, that first line is a hyperbole (coming from a chicken lover) but this one is extra special when it comes to the pampering that the ingredients get before being served. First the chicken is boiled and the same water is then used to cook rice. The water that is used to boil the chicken is flavoured with ginger and spring onion. The rice is served with ginger and chilli sauce which makes it a yummy treat to the soul. Classic!

Oyester Omelette

Source: Sethlui

Onions, coriander leaves, beaten eggs and oyster. Looks simple but is one of the most favourite Singaporean delicacies. Oysters are otherwise eaten raw and so the oysters are very minimally cooked in the oyster omelette. Best served with chilli sauce and garnished with coriander leaves. Perfect!

Chilli Crab

Source: Dishmaps

A true sea food lover loves the crab. After all that work to break the shell carefully and mess up your hands, glugging down the juicy meat is a heavenly experience. The crab is covered with a wonderful gravy which is primarily made up of chilli and tomato. Such an exquisite picture of the crab above. So scrumptiously garnished and beautifully captured. Heavenly!

BBQ Stingray

Source: Hungry Go Where

Barbecued after coating the stingray in a paste and covered in a banana leaf. Now for the details of the deliciousness involved in making this amazing recipe - the paste is made up of ginger paste, grounded dry chillies, garlic paste, shrimp paste and onions; this paste is then sauteed in oil with tamarind water and coconut cream. Imagine the amount of flavours activating each and every taste bud in your mouth after gulping down a mouthful of the stingray. Served hot with lemon sprinkled over the fish. Awesomness!

The Maxwell Food Centre

Source: YourSingapore

So your plate is now full with the Singaporean fab five dishes but I am sure the soul is not. There is more to Singapore; a place called The Maxwell Food Centre. This place is home to a variety of wonderful delicacies including the above mentioned recipes. So a trip to Singapore should always include a supper at The Max. The thought of Maxwell food centre has prompted me to include two more Singaporean wonders.

Satay

Source: Healthxchange

Kebabs! Chicken marinated and grilled and served with peanut sauce. Kebab lovers landing in Singapore will surely enjoy the name and the taste.

Curry Puff And Teh Tarik

Source: Far East Hospitality

This petite wonder is filled with a curry paste made up of spicy chicken and potato. Serve it with your favourite dippng sauce and accompany with Teh Tarik. Teh Tarik is a frothy mix of condensed milk, black tea and sugar. This sweet liquid goes well with the spicy puff. A favourite breakfast combo.

I am sure this post must smelling irresistibly delicious by now. If someone around you asks where's that wonderful smell coming from, do not hesitate; give them the link!

I did a short video on the topic too just to make the post, a little more delicious.

and after all this

P.S. This post is written for the #FarMoreSingapore contest Sponsored by Far East Hospitality on Indiblogger.

Being #Together

2015-03-23T21:11:00.001+05:30

Main aur meri tanhai

Aksar ye batein karte hain

Tum hoti to kaisa hota

tum yeh kehti, tum woh kehti

Tum is baat pe hairan hoti

tum us baat pe kitni hasti

tum hoti to aisa hota, tum hoti to waisa hota

Main aur meri tanhai, aksar yeh baten karte hain

These famous lines by the famous Javed Akhtar portrayed on screen by the one and only Amitabh Bachchan expresses that even in his loneliness he is thinking of her; what she would have done if she was with him; if they would have been together. Togetherness brings in so much hopefulness to us. I always look forward to be with people that I love.

At school, I had many friends. I made quick friends. Did we even need someone to be a friend to talk to in school? I would absolutely talk to anybody and everybody. Being together had a completely different meaning in school. I do not remember what we talked about when we were children. Even today, when I see children walking in groups and going together to schools babbling continuously, I wonder what they talk about. I have a little desire to secretly listen to small children talking to each other someday.

In college too, I had many friends but there was this one special friend from the same school with whom I spent a lot of time. We stayed far from college almost at a same place; most of the time we would be, travelling together. We never talked sensible things; for that matter not even discussed what problems we had in our studies since we both had quite a struggle when it came to studies. We discussed stupid things and time would just fly. There was a lot of travelling involved from home to college but we never felt a second of that 100 minute travel. Obviously in the summers, we felt each and every second of that travel filled with sweat but otherwise those 100 minutes would just be matter of seconds.

We parted ways due to work. Meeting each other went on becoming harder with increasing work pressures on both of us at our respective workplaces. At any given time, one of us would have some work due to which we never met. One day, I was going back home from work and there we meet eventually in a crowded local train. It was not decided. It was such a positive evening for us. We were dressed professional and looked smarter than we used to in college but one thing that did not change was that we still discussed stupid things. That meet was a stress buster cum motivator for both of us. We were such fools to be not meeting for so many days. We ate dinner together that night. Time went so fast, we didn't even realize that it was late and we should be heading back home now. I dropped her home. We decided to meet regularly and we kept that promise. We always look forward to meet because that is what keeps us going.

P.S This post is a part of #Together activity by Housing.

Change to #StartANewLife

2015-03-10T22:57:00.000+05:30

Change is inevitable. Change is for good. There are many situations in life where you sit, think and decide. You adapt to something very different than your existing routine. Risks are important to do good and live better. These risks are nothing but changes to #StartANewLife.

A big decision in my life came when I decided to buy a home. I was not sure but I had to make this purchase sometime in life. It was just that I had not decided what time. The increasing retail rates were the obvious reason that convinced me to buy a home immediately. Buying a home is an interesting task that can get boring if you overdo it. Many of my friends have already booked a home a home. The common mistake that everyone makes is looking at too many homes. They all had seen so many homes that they were spoilt for choice and in the end the negotiation would be – konsa bhi le le, bohot ho gaya. Even I came upon this situation because the investment Is so much that we spontaneously go on looking if there is still a better choice.

There were many factors while buying ‘that’ home; location, carpet area, rate, availability of daily needs, doctors, schools were some of them. Getting a home that had all the amenities was tough. On top of these factors, each of my family members had different priorities to make the job even tougher. Finalizing on any one of the house amidst increasing rates and decreasing carpet areas is so annoying that I had given up on the idea of buying a house. That’s when my father told me that the rates are going to be increasing for ever - If you want to buy a home, you should act now. So we went ahead to see some more homes and decided on one. This was a big decision especially when you do not have a salary to back up your decision. The EMIs were eating up half of my salary. The entire lifestyle changed. Even my family was affected by this decision. I was pound foolish till then and now this change had made e penny wise.

But this change brought a sense of security to me. This investment was like a backup for me; an ever increasing asset. Any change that brings goodwill and that takes you forward in your life is good. Now, when I look back I feel good about the decision. I feel good about the entire process involved right from the nourishing the idea of buying a home to calculating EMIs and then finally booking one. It is only when you change for good that you #StartANewLife.

P.S: This is written as a part of #StartANewLife activity by Housing.

How IT All Started

2015-03-09T02:37:00.000+05:30

Source: Mashable

Often thinking positive and thinking forward can solve a mighty portion of glitches in your life. When nothing is going your way, you still have to continue working towards that hope which drives you from failure to failure.

Dreams are relative. When I was in school, I thought getting an engineering degree was enough to rest for the rest of my life. In college, there was a new task other than studying – getting placed. There would typically be four rounds; aptitude test, group discussion, technical interview and personal interview. For these four rounds there would be four hundred students from different branches of engineering because even if you select any branch for those four years, you end up coding software programs for the rest of your life. Nobody knows the reason for this spectacular phenomena because the day somebody cracks the reason, we will not have fresh electronics engineers thinking – “Why did we study diodes, transmitters and semi-conductors for four Julian years?”

Getting placed - Season 1. After four years of fun, now was the time to go to the cyber café and search answers for frequently asked interview questions. The companies would typically start coming in for placements during the seventh semester and continue till the eighth semester and post that for some time. The initial few interviews were a mix of excitement and anxiety. As interviewers kept on rejecting, the excitement part was gone. Every time, someone amongst our group would also get placed, so the number of us going together for the interview was continuously reducing. The final year results were still not out but since our friends were getting placed the only thing on our mind that time was to get placed as soon as possible.

Finally I get placed. A Pune based company offered me a profile in Image Processing; something which I learnt as a subject in seventh semester. Two of us from our college were placed. Both of us were from Mumbai. We started looking out for houses on rent places to eat in Pune. We were finally relaxed that the next time a company comes for placement; it would just be a backup company for us. But all our discussions, facebook status updates and dreams went in vain when we both got a call from the HR saying that the client had reduced the required number of candidates, so we were rejected.

Getting placed - Season 2. The routine started again. The university results were out. A couple of rejections later, I was sitting in front of an HR on a Sunday after clearing the technical interview earlier that day and the aptitude test on the day before. I had a positive feeling throughout those interview rounds. I was happy that day. Somewhere down my mind, I knew that I had cracked the interview and even if I was rejected, I was happy that I did well. On my way back I was so exhilarated that I enjoyed every second of that huge 100 minute travel. I got the offer letter on Wednesday and the joining date was the Monday in the next week. ..and this is how I got into IT.

P.S. This post is part of the Indiblogger HappyHours Look Up Stories Campaign by Housing and Indiblogger.

Karma And Me

2014-12-27T21:58:00.000+05:30

Running away from truth is probably an easy way but not the farthest. The easy way also has that feeling of guilt that crushes you from the inside. Your conscience nudges you constantly that you did something which is not quite right. On a lighter note, Akshay Kumar quotes in the movie Entertainment that ‘Truth hurts because it has a point!’ Pun intended in that line!

Circumstances force us to lie. These circumstances are mostly avoidable beforehand but when we do not do that, we lie. Talking of experiencing circumstances makes me remember a circumstance which forced me to lie. It was a fast paced evening just as any other day in Mumbai; full of people with no time in hand running haphazardly. I and my friend Amey arrive at Thane railway station. There was a huge queue for tickets. We were short of two things; tickets and time. To save time we skipped tickets. We were so unaware that after 30 minutes at Bandra railway station, even the ticket collector will skip all others to check us to save time. That’s Karma.

Back to the present time at Thane railway station; after skipping the tickets we decided to skip stations by catching a fast train. We boarded the train with a thousand other men who were out of time and ready to run when their station arrives. We somehow made our way into the rush. This was the first time we gave a thought to the point that India's rising population needs to be controlled. With every passing station my urge to look at my watch increased. Though I knew roughly the time around which we would reach Bandra for the music concert. It was free for anyone with a college id. The moment I remembered ‘college id’, the urge to check my college id in the left pocket of my jeans outdid the urge to check the time. The inquisitiveness was killing me.

Finally after 30 minutes, I checked the time and the id; both were there. “Ticket”, said the TC in a husky voice while I had completely forgotten that we had skipped the tickets earlier. We were bewildered at the coincidence of circumstance. Deep in our minds we both had this question jolting us, “How did he know?”

The actor within us didn’t take time to come out. I didn’t have any wallet; only some money in my shirt pocket. I said that we had taken the tickets but our wallets got stolen while boarding the train. The TC started to check us for the wallets when Amey realized that he had bought his wallet. He interfered and said, “Only his wallet got stolen.” We mumbled and the TC caught us. We accepted our mistake and told him the truth. The TC left us after an oral beating. We ran for the concert relieved that we were not fined.

P.S. This post is written for Kinley Happy Hours by Indiblogger and Kinley.

Raftaarzaade

2014-12-14T12:14:00.000+05:30

Print Ad 'Key' for Road Safety in Brazil

In the first Global Status Report on Road Safety (2009), the World Health Organization (WHO) identified road accidents as the “biggest killers” across the world, which will assume an endemic proposition by 2030. It also recognized that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world. In their second edition, The Global status report on road safety (2013) confirmed that road traffic injuries remain an important public health problem despite progress in a number of countries including India. About 1.24 million people die each year on the world's roads. Each year nearly 400 000 people under 25 die on the world’s roads – on average more than 1000 a day. The report estimates that more than 231000 people are killed in road traffic crashes in India every year. These are solid statistics which shout out to us to think seriously about a topic which is otherwise neglected - Road Safety.

The below pie chart elaborates the deaths on road according to the user category. It is clearly seen that 2-3 wheeler riders and pedestrians form a shocking 46% of the total deaths. A heterogeneous mix of vehicles on the roads of a developing country like India where high speed vehicles share the road with vulnerable users might be a reason for it.

It’s not that nothing is being done for road safety in India;

THE BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES GLOBAL ROAD SAFETY PROGRAMME

India is one of the countries included in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Road Safety Programme which is being conducted over five years (2010-2014) by a consortium of international partners together with national governments and local organizations. The focus of the project is on promoting motorcycle helmets and reducing drink–driving. The project is being implemented in; Hyderbad, Cyberabad and Visakhapatnam. Source: WHO

ACCIDENT RESPONSE AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CELL, MADHYA PRADESH

This system integrates emergency response with Intelligent Transportation Systems for the benefit of public. The operational systems use data warehousing and analytics to identify the nearest facilities with the required support functions. Along with the dispatch and real-time navigation of emergency response vehicles such as ambulances, cranes, etc, and using camera based video surveillance of traffic flow, the system works with complete operational intelligence making automated decisions and advises. Victims therefore can always count on fast help and support. Source: ArriveSAFE

NISSAN SAFETY DRIVING FORUM

With a motto Safety begins with me, Nissan simulates road safety in their forums. The simulations include a 360 degree turn over which highlights the use of seat belts. Started as an annual activity in 2012, The Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., conducts the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) in India as part of its safety driving promotion. Under its Blue Citizenship CSR umbrella, NSDF by Nissan works to build awareness of safe driving in India. NSDF encourages drivers and passengers to wear seatbelts, and participants learn through interactive activities the importance of wearing seatbelts. Source: Nissan

THE ROAD TRANSPORT AND SAFETY BILL, 2014

The government had also proposed a new Road Safety bill a couple of months ago. The bill proposes a fine of Rs. 5 lakh per vehicle as well as imprisonment for faulty manufacturing design, besides cancellation of licences for rash and negligent driving according to the Times Of India. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has come up with Draft Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014. Once it is approved and becomes an Act, the current Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, will be replaced by the new Road Safety Bill.

As a popular Tyre company advertises, ‘Streets are filled with idiots!’ On road, no matter how safe you drive, you cannot ascertain your safety because you never know when and where a drunk driver hits you. The government declares that steps are being taken to ensure road safety but the extent to which the safety norms are implemented are to be measured. Not just making laws but ensuring their strict implementation is what I think will make the roads safer to travel on. A panel should be formed which would monitor, evaluate and advise possible improvements and developments throughout the nation.

The following points should be considered on precedence,

INFRASTRUCTURE

Roads should be built to be safe. Workshops should be conducted in order to educate and ensure road safety while building new infrastructure. Research should be done on how roads are being built in other nations who have successfully implemented a road safety infrastructure. Reviews should be done to identify errors in construction. The errors should be corrected so as the design is compatible with the road safety norms. Good quality materials should be used to produce durable and pothole-free roads. Proper footpaths, zebra crossings should be made for the pedestrians to be safe. Road blocks, Indicators, signals also form a very important part in infrastructure.

IMPLEMENTATION

Rules should be made charge the culprits heavily. Drink driving is not only harmful to the driver but also lethal to other people using the road. Breath analyzers should be used to detect the drunkards. A strict implementation will definitely reduce the negligence amongst people. Road safety weeks and seminars should be organised to spread awareness amongst people to wear a helmet and follow other traffic rules. The rules enforcers are often spotted without a helmet which gives the public an excuse to escape from wearing a helmet. People should be educated that they are being forced to wear a helmet for themselves and not the government. Licenses should be given after proper examination of the candidate.

ADS AND MARKETING VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

The government should work with the media to spread awareness amongst the people to drive safe on road. Media is a powerful tool which the government can use to educate people. Social media can used to popularise basic traffic rules amongst youngsters who will in turn share them with their friends.

IMBIBING DISCIPLINE

Finally, even if you design a perfect rule book and build magnificent roads, it is the people who have to be disciplined on road. Every driver should drive with a sense of responsibly towards other on the road. You can charge a huge fine and even put the culprit in jail but what about the ones who suffer?

It's up to you to take an oath to be a responsible citizen who protects and abides by the rules laid down by the government. Below are some more stats to take Road Safety seriously this day and ever after.

For more statistics scan the following QR Code,

P.S. This blog post has been written to win the Nissan Safety Driving Safety forum organised by Indiblogger and Nissan.