A very satisfying day, indeed!

This post is dedicated to all my friends who stayed in Bangalore at some point of time and contributed to the special memories of my favourite city.

Last Saturday saw us gallivanting in Bangalore, like the good ol' days. First stop, as always was India Coffee House on M G Road. But before we could get there, we had to brave Bangalore's Saturday afternoon traffic rush. Fortunately, the Gods were kind to us and we spent only a little over an hour to reach M G Road from Whitefield, which, considering all things, wasn't too bad.

India Coffee house has been an absolute favourite right from my early days in Bangalore. Situated bang on M G Road, it still holds it's own admist the Barisstas and Cafe Coffee Days that have cropped up in the last few years. I still remember my firsr visit to ICH. It was a Saturday in the year 1998, and I was fast asleep in a tiny Cambridge Layout flat, when an incessant knocking at 8:30 AM woke me up with a jolt. With eyes still closed I opened the door to find Siddharth. Now don't get me wrong. Siddhu's a dear friend and I am always pleased to see him, but on a saturday at 8:30 AM..uh huh! To say I didn't welcome him would be putting it too mildly. Anyways, he said that we were all (I had 2 room mates then - Sandhya and Sonam) to go to a real good place for breakfast. I protested against the earliness of the hour and what followed next was paens about that special place where you get the world's best scrambled eggs. Thinking it would be easier to just go along with the plan, rather than argue, or worse, be left behind, I agreed. We left for M G Road in an auto. In those days, the ride would take about 5 to 10 minutes. As I entered the celebrated doors of ICH, two things caught my attention - the large mirrors on one side of the wall and really old posters campaigning for Indian Coffee. The place had an old world charm, meaning, it's furniture looked like it was from the 1950s. Siddhu placed the order, since he knew what was good there, and in time, I came to know that EVERYTHING was very yummy there. One bite into into the "scrambled egg on toast", and I was hooked for life.
Back to 2008, the scrambled eggs still taste divine. Also divine are the dosas, the chutney (we always ask for extra helpings of this special chutney which makes us go weak in the knees), the finger chips, the tomato minced omelette, the vegetable cutlet and last but surely not the least, the coffee. The only other coffee that comes close to the one served in ICH is the one my Dad makes.

After having satisfied our stomachs, we headed for the Premier bookshop. I took a short detour to Bombay Stores and our wallets turned predictable lighter. Next stop was the Strand bookshop, another old favourite. Some years back, there was a south Indian fast food joint just beside the Strand Book shop, called Kadambam. Sadly, it's no longer there. Strand looked like it hadn't changed much. After spending a good hour or so browsing through old favourites and a brief chat with Vidya Virkar, we set off for Commercial Street. Some shopping and loafing around followed. By then it was around 5:30 PM and it was the time when the cooks at K C Das start frying the yummy loochis. Needless to say, Ferose wouldn't have missed this chance for anything. His love for anything Bengali is legendery.

The last stop was Cambridge Layout. I was hankering after a particular road side stall that serves the softest idlis this side of town. It was not in it's usual place, but after searching for a while we found it, as usual, crowded with customers. Among the patrons were the usual suspects : auto drivers, a few office goers, a couple of college students and people like us, who will go to any lengths for that perfect idli! And all for Rs 7 a plate. Heaven indeed!!

Dusk was setting in, and the traffic was getting worse. It was time for the us to head to Madhu's place, where a party of old friends meeting us. I cannot think of a better ending of such a satisfying day in Bangalore.

Before I sign off, here's what I am listening to these days: Bryan Adams' latest alum "11", the soundtrack of "Tashan" and "Jannat", and "Journey" by Fuzon.

ramblings....

I am sitting in the lobby of Taj Palace in Delhi. Ferose is attending the India Today Conclave 2008. I just tagged along for the pure excitement of getting out of home. The last 3 days have been terribly boring since I have been pretty much stuck at home (and that will be the status quo until I get my car). This conference that continues for another 2 days has lotsa biggies giving keynotes/sessions: Al Gore, Farouq Abdullah, Arun Poorie, Aamir Khan, Shekhar Kapoor, Preity Zinta (part of the youth forum), L K Advani, etc etc.....hmmm...so much gyan, and in so many forms. Ferose is one lucky guy.

I have about an hour to kill and fortunately for me, Ferose has left his laptop with me. The last couple of weeks saw me getting entertained in all possible modes. Last Wednesday, we watched the play "Bikhre Bimb", that was part of the Mahindra Theatre Festival. It was directed by Girish Karnad and had only one actor, Arundhati Nag. The play was in Hindi, and I marvelled at Nag's command over the language. Although Hindi is our national language, rarely do I use, or hear anybody else using words like "sahanshilata", "vivek", "akasmat". The play took me back to school days. Those were the days when the only lessons I enjoyed taking were languages. Luckily. most of my language teachers were really good. Reading prose, untangling poetry were such interesting ways to pass time. English text books were divided into prose, poetry and non-detail, the last one always had the most interesting stories. Hindi text books were divided into Parag (prose) and Swati (poetry). I prefered Hindi Poetry to English, because there were much more patriotic and india-based poems written in Hindi. My all time favourite one is "Jhansi Ki Rani" by Subhadrakumari Chauhan...khoob ladi mardani, woh toh jhansi wali rani thi. (I read somewhere that Sushmita Sen is making a film on Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi). The other one that I remember is "Satpuda ke ghane jungle" by Bhavani Prasad Sharma. Among English poems, I only remember a small poem, "Beauty" and I don't remember who wrote it...perhaps Robert Browning.

I have been watching an awful lot of television of late. I generally avoid daily soaps and stick to movies. But I have started watching a weekly soap on NDTV Imagine, called "Radha Ki Betiyan kuch kar dikhaengi". The reason I like it is because it is very similar to "Banegi Apni Baat", one of the earliest serials that was aired after the onslaught of Zee TV in India. I am talking early 90's. This one (also) has 3 sisters living life with a fair amount of struggle. There is one good guy, and one cocky one in the college. The eldest sister is on the lookout of a job. But the icing on the cake is Apoorva Agnihotri who plays a doctor and has an important part. I am a bit frustrated that the serial airs only once a week, so I am usually watching all the reruns until the next episode comes.

Movies: We watched a couple of films last week, but the most interesting one was "Black & White". Firstly I couldn't believe it was a Subhash Ghai film, what with Kisna and Yaadein having flopped big time. The story of "Black & White" revolves around a terrorist from Afganistan who comes to Delhi to blow up the red fort. The terrorist is played by newcomer Anubhav Sinha. He has a mind boggling screen presense, not to mention a voice to die for. So the Ranbirs and Neils better watch out. The music of the film deserves a special mention. Sukhwinder Singh's melodies gel well with the mood of the film. "Jogi Aaya" and "Mian Chala" are breezy tracks that enhance the film. I had also watched "Jodha Akbar" earlier and loved it. Hrithik was awesome and Aishwarya wasn't too bad either. Both looked great. A R Rahman's music was good, though I expected it to be great. "Khwaja Mera Khwaja" & "In Lamhon Ke Daman mein" are my favourites. BTW, did anyone notice that among the fakirs (or sufis) who sing the Khwaja number, there were triplets? I mean the bearded guy and the two clean-shaven guys behind him, looked the same. So either hey were triplets, or it was some SFX effects by Ashutosh Gowarikar!!

Books: I am re-reading Agatha Christie's "Partner in Crime". I also finished reading Khaled Housseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns". That guy has almost made me cry each time I read his books. This book is based on two women caught in a god-forsaken situation and the unlikely bond that they form in the face of adversity. I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks he/she has had a raw deal in life. The story is depressing, but with a positive ending. It had me thanking my stars for every comfort that I have.

Aah, I have nothing more to say since my stomach has started to rumble....hope Ferose treats me to a good dinner after he is back.

P.S. He DID treat me to a good dinner at "Masala Art" in the Taj. It was sumptuous meal of Lasuni Palak and Garlic Naan.

It's never too late...

It's been several days since I've been wanting to update my blog. But I just didn't have anything that I could put into words. So I am doing the next best thing - I dug up some forgotten pieces of writing from the past and will update the blog with them. These writings are a bit strange, because they were written by a younger me, me minus important milestones like marriage, living abroad. Some of them were written even before I read my first Harry Potter, before I discovered the fascinating Khaled Houssaini through "The Kite Runner". When I read them today, they sound terribly dated . But it's never to late share a blast from the past, is it?

Hey Ram - A Review (Written on 20/04/2000)

Raghupati Raghava Rajaram, Patita Pavan Sitaram" are the starting verses of the title song of the latest venture by Kamal Haasan. "Hey Ram" also happen to be the last two words spoken by the Father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, before his death. And if you are the kind who cannot sit in one place for more than 2 hours, then, Hey Ram!! This movie is definitely not for you!!! But if movies like "1947 Earth", "Bombay" or books like "Lajja" and "Train to Pakistan" get your adrenaline pumping , then this definitely is your cup of tea.

So here’s another story of a protagonist against the backdrop of partition and the ensuing communal holocaust. Saket Ram (played by Kamal Haasan) is a Tamilian archeologist in Calcutta and Aparna (Rani Mukherji) is his Bengali wife. Amjad Ali Khan (Shakrukh Khan) is his good friend who believes in a secular India. With communal riots in the background, Saket Ram's life comes to an abrupt stop when Aparna gets brutally raped and murdered by a gang of Muslims. As a repartee he kills the offenders, and others who come in his path of vengeance. But that does not drive away the haunting grief, and the guilt of having murdered another human being. Disgusted and depressed he returns to Madras where his folks promptly get him married to a girl of their choice.

Enter Mythili (played by Vasundhara), a coy, pretty, girl, whose lively exuberance and sensuality, succeed in entrapping Saket, but only for a while. A year after the tragedy, he revisits Calcutta, only to be tortured by the cries of his late wife and hallucinations of the people he had killed. Saket Ram realizes his calling is elsewhere and in true ascetic style takes "Sanyaas" from worldly pleasures. His mission in life remains to kill Gandhi (Naseeruddin Shah) whom he believes to be the worst offender and holds him responsible of all crimes taking place in the name of religion.

But as fate would have it, he again meets his friend Amjad Khan who, despite all the hatred around, still believes that religious harmony is possible. History says Nathuram Godse assassinated Gandhi. What happened in the interim, did Saket Ram have a change of heart? Did Amjad Khan help him see the truth that he was searching for so long? Did Gandhi, through the sheer strength of his persona, influence Saket to give up the fight and embrace non-violence? For all the answers, do watch "Hey Ram".
Even Though Rani Mukherji appears just for a few minutes in the film, one remembers her long after the film has ended as the pretty Aparna, clad in crisp, white, Bengal Cotton Sarees, sans the make up, quoting Bengali poetry! New comer Vasundhara doesn’t have much to do except look pretty and innocent and she looks the part. Shahrukh Khan has a sartorial role, and gives a fine performance. But an actor of his caliber could have been given much more footage to the advantage of the film. Naseeruddin Shah looks uncannily identical to Gandhi and even manages to talk and gesticulate exactly like him. But the spirit of the film lies in Kamal Haasan's character. While all the other characters keep flitting in and out of the story, Kamal's is the main role, and his performance deserves applause. Technically the film is brilliant and brings out the best of the 1940s era, including the costumes and settings. Music by Maestro Illayaraja is soothing and situational. In short, a film worth seeing and not to be missed.

Goodbye Germany

With each pasisng day, the date when I say goodbye to Germany (hopefully not forever) comes closer. Just wanted to put down a few things that endeared me to this lovely country...things I am sure I will miss...

- The trains, buses and trams...

- May 1st, when all Germans go biking. I did too, this year.

- I can leave office at 4:00 PM and nobody bats an eyelid.

- and in less than 30 minutes, I am home.

- Neuer (New) Wine in the month of September

- The unpredictable April weather :-) One day I was wearing a Tee and it snowed.

- I can decide on a Friday night if I wanna breakfast in, say, Austria, on the following Sunday.

- Taking a stroll on the riverside in Heidelberg on Sunday evenings

- and having 'Koffee und Kuchen' in true local tradition

- The fun of visiting the shops even after closing time, thanks to the well lit shop windows.

- The ease of life, in general.

I can go on and on, but that's only going to depress me further, so now a days I have started thinking of what I can look forward to when I am back in India.

- Food, food and more food. Wanna visit all the restaurents in GGN/Delhi, especially street food vendors!

- Escape from Taliban (In my dictionary, Taliban is the synonym for dusting, cleaning, mopping, swabbing, during, cleaning,...the list goes on), thanks to bais...how I missed them.

- FDFS (for slow starters, First Day First Show). Can't wait to watch Saawariya and Om Shanti Om on the big screen amidts crowds that bajao seetis and udao ticket shreds in the air for item numbers or Hero/Heroine entry scene.

- Shopping in Delhi/Gurgaon....lots to discover. For instance, wanna make a trip to Chandni Chowk as soon as I get there.

- Travel in and around India - Rajashthan, Agra, Mussourie, Leh, Singapore,....

- and finally, the feeling of being in one's own country is something that can't be described in mere words.

Namastey London!

Is it a city? Is it a film? No..its.....dubyaman!!!!! :-)
Its corny, but please let me laugh at my own PJ. Laughs are really hard to come by these days. Especially when Vipul Shah sets out to make an entertainer that doesn't entertain at all. 'Namaste London' is one long story about how an Indian guy woes back his anglisized wife. And long it is, especially in the post interval sections. The first half is OK thanks to some sequences, like when Katrina Kaif goes groom-shopping in India. She meets a Rabbi Shergill-wannabe, a character from some K-serial, and some others. If the film is barely tolerable, it's because of Akshay Kumar, Rishi Kapoor and the actress who plays his wife (a real find). Of course, it helps that the leading lady is easy on the eyes, and one doesn't mind her accented hindi because it's 'in character'. Noone knows what Upen Patel is doing in the film. Himesh Reshamiya's music jars. 'Rafta Rafta' is the only song that works, largely due to the green Punjab background and Katrina's vibrant salwaar kameezes. Did someone mention London? Yes, a lot of the film is shot in London, but I didn't take any particular notice.

Talking of which, I had a fantastic time this Easter because I was visiting London, again. Everytime I am here, I am amazed at how much there is still to discover in the city and also the nearby places. Some highlights of the trip:
1) Visited Shakespeare's birthplace - Stratford Upon Avon.
Year ago, when I was in school, I had received the book 'Tales from Shakespeare' by Charles & Mary Lamb as a prize for winning some competition. I read this book several times over the next few years until I left for college. I don't remember what happened of that copy, but visiting Shakespeare's house in Stratford brought back all those stories. That book has been my only access to Shakespeare's work, because I don't think I can ever read the original works. Luckily enough, I found a copy of the same book in the souvenior shop. One of my favourite stories is 'A midsummer night's dream'. I have seen the film (not that great) and more recently a marathi play 'Jangal Mein Mangal' at Ranga Shankara in Bangalore, that was based on this. This Shakespeare story is the perfect amalgamation of love, comedy and fantasy.

2) Villages in the Cotswolds region - Chipping Campden , Bourton on the Water
The name Chipping Campden reminded me of 'Chipping Cleghorn', the village where the murder takes place in Agatha Chrsitie's 'The Murder is announced'. Campden is a pretty village with an old world charm. Bourton on the water, also known as the Venice of Cotswolds, has a canal and some delightful pubs and 'Tea Inns'. The drive in the Cotswold region was really soothing. On the way we clicked several pictures in a DDLJ style 'sarson ka khet'. Spring, truly, is the best of seasons.

3)Cambridge- This is the second university town I've been to (the first one was Oxford). If ever there was a town where I'd have wanted to study, its Cambridge. It would have taken me many years to graduate, since I would have done little studying in so pretty a place. It was thrilling to actually stand in front of prestigious college buildings like The Trinity College, after having heard/read about them. The town was full of tourists like us. The day was sunny and several people where 'punting'. We spent a lazy half hour in one of the green lawns watching the blue skies, and centuries old buidings.

4) Window shopping at Harrods
5) And finally, the food ....
Sumptous Bangladeshi cuisine in 'Cinnamon Tree' at Bracknell
Wholesome snacks at 'Chennai Dosa' at Wembley - Mini Idlis, Dosas, Vadas and filter coffee...in short, heaven!
Fish and Chicken Kebabs at Lahore Kabab House at East End(I didn't eat them, but everybody else wore a satiated smile on their faces that spelt bliss)
Dim Sum at Ping Pong near Bond Street (doesn't that rhyme?)

What I really missed watching was a play/musical at Leicester Square. But there's always , and will definitely be a next time in London.

A 'punt' is a flat-bottomed boat which does not have a keel, and is propelled by means of a long pole. Punts were introduced as pleasure craft in Edwardian times, since then punting has become one of the most popular ways to see the famous bridges and colleges along the River Cam.

In Nice

Me: Hey there! Im going to Nice this weekend
Pal (who loves cracking PJs): How Nice is that!
Me: Grrrrrr.....!

It was our third anniversary (it feels a lot longer than threeyears, I'll have you know), and we decided to do something special. The South of France was always somewhere we always wanted to go. So off we flew to Nice using our miles (the only thing that comes handy from travelling so much for work!) for a short get-away.

Riviera, the word has so many memories. When I was younger, I used to watch the soap "Riviera". I don't remember much about it, story-wise, but distinctly remember the title song, those rocky cliffs, the blue sea, and the expensive mansions overlooking the mediterranean. That was the picture I had in mind when I landed in Nice. And I wasn't disappointed.

One of the first things we did after we landed in Nice was to take a bus ride on the Promenade Des Anglais. Its is a 6 to 7 kms long stretch of road along side the sea, lined with palm trees. The prettiest promenade I have ever seen. Our first destination after a quick check-in into the hotel was Monaco, an hour away on the bus.

Think Monac0, think the rich and the famous. The central attraction is the Casino Monte Carlo. Flanked by Cafe De Paris on one side and Hotel De Paris on the other, its an attractive building. In the front are the casino gardens and behind, one can walk towards the sea and have a look at the famous french riviera.

After spending money in the slot machines and in the cafe (one cappucino + one cake costed 17 Euros!), we were done with Monte Carlo! I longed to be in a place where I could afford to buy dinner without having to sell body parts.

The next day we went to stroll on the Promenade. The seaside is made of a pebble beach. The weather was perfect - sunny and bright. We reluctantly dragged ourselves away from it to take a bus to Grasse, a small town famous for its perfumeries. We visited the Fragonard perfumerie, and didn't need to see the process of perfum making, thanks to the film "Perfume". Unfortunately, I really couldn't enjoy the perfume shop too much because I can't smell things too well. But Ferose had no such problem. He even bought me a perfume and some eu du colognes.

The same evening we also visited Cannes. We didn't really have to do much except see the festival hall (from outside) and snack on some crepes. The seaside was lovely, but it was all dark.

Our last day in the south of France saw us exploring more of Nice. We visited the museum of Marc Chagal, and the old part of Nice. We even walked a long distance to see the museum of Matisse, but unfortunately it was closed for rennovation.

All in all, it was a really good trip. Nice is really a lovely place. I wish I get a chance to visit it again. SAP France has an office in Nice, so perhaps on a business trip.

From Bangalore to the Back Waters

Disclaimer: I'm currently suffering from a condition known as post-India-trip-depression and I am liable to write whatever comes to my mind. If you are looking for a coherent (and excellant) write up, try www.arvindswarup.com, but if you still want to read ahead, then I have warned you adequately.

I returned from India 2 days ago. I feel terrible. I miss my family, I miss the comfort of home where every single need of mine was taken care of (by someone else!), I miss the food, the faaantastic, droolworthy concoctions made at home or in restaurents, even at times on the street.

And I miss television.

I never thought I'd admit it, but I'm really curious to know what challanges are faced by Saloni from 'Saat Phere'. Has that thick headed husband of hers (Nahar??) developed some brains or is he still naively listening to that snake, Neel? And what about that poor woman who got batterred by her husband in 'Betiyaan'? Last I saw, she was visiting the same husband in prison, probably even taking gajar ka halwa for him. After all, she is a true sati-savitri. Yes, I totally got hooked on to Indian television there. Not just the K serials, but also the new channels. The amount of footage Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai got in the last 3 weeks, prior to the release of Guru was, frankly, not funny. Has Mani Rathnam totally lost it? From when has he had to resort to such publicity stunts to sell his films. The only other soul who got the same amount of TV screen time was that murderer from Noida. And for very good reason too.

Bangalore's traffic is worse, the roads are all jumbled up. Although I've lived in the city for 8 years, I still had to ask for directions because all the familiar routes had changed after the introduction of one-ways. Airport road is bad. The new fly over has made life only marginally easy, and I am convinced nothing can improve it further. CMH Road, which earlier used to be a quieter road, with just enough restaurents and shops to pass a pleasant evening, is now as busy as M G Road.

Watching movies in Bangalore hasn't changed much in the last one year. It still takes atleast an hour to reach any movie hall worth its name. One still has to go much earlier to book the tickets because Bangaloreans have nothing else to do but watch movies on any given day. I watched Don at PVR and Dhoom2 at Innovative. Don was really good (SRK rocks!!), and Dhoom2 was tolerable only because of Hrithik. By the time Aishwarya spoke her first dialoge in the film 'I am hot', I was gagging. Really, what has got into her. First Umrao Jaan, and now this? Her acting in Dhoom makes one appreciate her earlier films, its THAT bad. Abhishek wearing flowery shirts and dacing with the incredibly hot Bipasha didn't impress me AT ALL. He should steer clear of anything Hrithik. Thankfully for both of them, today's release, Guru has gained some positive reviews. I am looking forward to watching it now.


4 days into my vacation, I flew to Cochin. The lush greenery of Kerala was in sharp contrast to the crazy city that Bangalore has become. So were the hills at 'Motta Kunj' (loosely translated, it means egg mountains!) and Ayyampara. It was so peaceful to sit on the hilltop at Ayyampara, just waiting for the sun to set. I captured quite a few pictures. The only othertime I saw such a beautiful sunset was on Andaman & Nicobar (I forget the name of the island)






The boat ride on Kumarakom Lake was divine. Everytime I saw a house boat, I promised myself that the next trip to Kerala would involve travelling or living on one. This trip brought me closer to Kerala than all my earlier trips. It was five days of fresh air, greenery and nothing to do but eat and relax. A perfect vacation!

Now it's back to the grind (not the old Channel V program where women wearing less clothes gyrated to songs at swimming pools or on the beach). The first shock (and a rude one at that) is when you eat your first meal at work. Man, I would have to eat this till my next trip to India, which is far away. Then when you switch on the TV, you realize you'll have to watch some DVD because there is no Aaj Tak or NDTV to entertain you. I actually miss watching that Noida killer on TV. And the worst of all is the layers of clothing one has to wear before going out. Actually its not that bad this winter, it hasn't even snowed, but coming from India, it is still a big change in weather. This is the grind I am talking about.

I am too depressed to proceed any further.