Another star in the sky.
Another soul in the galaxy.
My memories go back to Billie Jean, We are the world, Heal the world, and Beat It ...........all with Shantam and Sajani. Always with them.
I missed Shantam yesterday. Almost with pain. I missed our Rachaal's and Shantam playing"Speechless" on the piano. For him, as also for me, it was a HUGE favourite. I missed Opu who brought "Speechless" to us. There was a time when Shantam and Opu played the song almost all the time. Midnight "Speechless".......rainy day "Speechless"....... getting Bossie to listen to "Speechless". Endless !!!!!
Speechless...........thats the way you make me feel........
RIP, Jacko.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Non Sense
There's a road in Bangalore. No name-road......goes towards Nagarbhavi. At one point the road rises sharply (to dip sharply again) and from the crest one gets a most panoramic view of the hills behind Nagarbhavi. It's breathtaking, the view.... and I always look forward to it. On the right of this no-name road there is a small lane......distinctive by a tall flag-staff in one corner. For Republic Day and Independence Day etc, I guess. Down that lane lives a young lady. Every time I pass the flagstaff I raise a silent salute to this girl. No reason. Just.
Then comes the breathtaking and the most refreshing view !!!!!
Then, there was this house in GK 2 in New Delhi. Pretty ordinary house. Double storied....2BHK etc, etc. My memories of this house is blurred now. What stand out is the small verandah/balcony with a large shady jamun tree almost screening the verandah. It was like a sanctuary almost....seemed like a tree house. Neelum and Asoke lived in this house in the early '80's. I don't know about them, but I remember this jamun-tree screened verandah.
The house by the graveyard has not much of a verandah. When a storm whistles around the house, and I feel I am on the deck of a ship, I wish we had a proper verandah.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Karan and I
Falling for a guy isn't the smartest thing to do. Especially when he is in a relationship with someone else. And even more specially when you yourself is already in a relationship with your own boyfriend.
That being the established flow of thought, Karan and I, quite conversely thought we were smart enough to swim against the current. The circumstances in which we were brought together were completely ingenuous and master-minded by the two of us.
Karan and I were arch enemies on the stage. The Slater's,The Chak Deb. The Muk-Mem.....we had vied for centre stage since School days (we Schooled in different States), and once we were at a lectern we were ruthless. The Muk-Mem adjudications made us sworn enemies for most of our College days. The good thing about us two debaters was that since we were trying to outwit each other all the time, other more mundane and mortal things which engage two 20 year olds left us cold. The relationship remained on an even keel.
But one December, Karan had been asked to script a play for the local frat College. Karan asked me to direct it, which I did.....with pleasure. Our individual roles extracted the best from each others talent.
As things turned out, the play was a raving success. And the entire cast and crew drank the night away. Karan and I did not rejoice in such inebriated spirit. In fact, I doubt if we rejoiced at all. I was terribly strung up after the hectic practise sessions, and Karan and I shared a glass of tea on the pavement on a white midnight. In the freezing cold. On a December night. Nothing else happened that night except we just toasted each others talents and returned back to the way things were before the play.
However, Karan and I were born strategists. We loved to mastermind. Manipulative techniques were second nature to us. All in fun. All in jest. Never to harm.
The play was not over. There had to be another act.
Both the people Karan and I were involved with had to go out of town. G went on a dance performance. She was an acclaimed Bharatnattyam dancer. My boyfriend S, had to leave town for a Seminar Lecture. His Univ sent him. It brought him credit points. Left to ourselves, once again the stage belonged to Karan and me. So, we decided to act like we were dating each other.
This was damn tricky, to say the least. Karan and G were the darling of the campus. I had unblemished love for S, my childhood sweetheart. But the show must go on and our crafty minds scripted the act.
Walking hand-in-hand on campus (in the late '70's) raised eyebrows heavenwards !!! This made the two of us laugh the happiest laugh, the loudest laugh, the most liberated laugh that we had laughed in a long time.
To celebrate what was turning out to be our second successful play, we went out for dinner. Just the small cast of the two of us. The walk back after dinner was a turning point. Karan and I, without exchanging a word between us, realised that things were turning. We started with no emotional attachment in mind. No physical attraction either. We were only masterminding a play to bring some relief to two very bored people . Yet, we had engineered something we could not handle. We did not wish to handle.
Karan and I conceded that the two of us had a lot more fun swimming with each other in the flirtatious undercurrents rather than the open sea.
So we decided to script and direct our final play. We were to behave like we were NOT interested in each other. Which was the truth anyway. The rest was all acting, remember?
This time too, we managed to enthrall the audience (read the College). We really did not have to act. But at each step, we kept the entertainment (for the audience) factor alive.
Another very successful play.
Karans girlfriend came back, so did my boyfriend. The interlude was over and there was no mention of us in the credits.
What brought about this piece of writing is that Karan's father passed away last week.
RIP, Uncle.
To Karan and G, condolences from S and me.
That being the established flow of thought, Karan and I, quite conversely thought we were smart enough to swim against the current. The circumstances in which we were brought together were completely ingenuous and master-minded by the two of us.
Karan and I were arch enemies on the stage. The Slater's,The Chak Deb. The Muk-Mem.....we had vied for centre stage since School days (we Schooled in different States), and once we were at a lectern we were ruthless. The Muk-Mem adjudications made us sworn enemies for most of our College days. The good thing about us two debaters was that since we were trying to outwit each other all the time, other more mundane and mortal things which engage two 20 year olds left us cold. The relationship remained on an even keel.
But one December, Karan had been asked to script a play for the local frat College. Karan asked me to direct it, which I did.....with pleasure. Our individual roles extracted the best from each others talent.
As things turned out, the play was a raving success. And the entire cast and crew drank the night away. Karan and I did not rejoice in such inebriated spirit. In fact, I doubt if we rejoiced at all. I was terribly strung up after the hectic practise sessions, and Karan and I shared a glass of tea on the pavement on a white midnight. In the freezing cold. On a December night. Nothing else happened that night except we just toasted each others talents and returned back to the way things were before the play.
However, Karan and I were born strategists. We loved to mastermind. Manipulative techniques were second nature to us. All in fun. All in jest. Never to harm.
The play was not over. There had to be another act.
Both the people Karan and I were involved with had to go out of town. G went on a dance performance. She was an acclaimed Bharatnattyam dancer. My boyfriend S, had to leave town for a Seminar Lecture. His Univ sent him. It brought him credit points. Left to ourselves, once again the stage belonged to Karan and me. So, we decided to act like we were dating each other.
This was damn tricky, to say the least. Karan and G were the darling of the campus. I had unblemished love for S, my childhood sweetheart. But the show must go on and our crafty minds scripted the act.
Walking hand-in-hand on campus (in the late '70's) raised eyebrows heavenwards !!! This made the two of us laugh the happiest laugh, the loudest laugh, the most liberated laugh that we had laughed in a long time.
To celebrate what was turning out to be our second successful play, we went out for dinner. Just the small cast of the two of us. The walk back after dinner was a turning point. Karan and I, without exchanging a word between us, realised that things were turning. We started with no emotional attachment in mind. No physical attraction either. We were only masterminding a play to bring some relief to two very bored people . Yet, we had engineered something we could not handle. We did not wish to handle.
Karan and I conceded that the two of us had a lot more fun swimming with each other in the flirtatious undercurrents rather than the open sea.
So we decided to script and direct our final play. We were to behave like we were NOT interested in each other. Which was the truth anyway. The rest was all acting, remember?
This time too, we managed to enthrall the audience (read the College). We really did not have to act. But at each step, we kept the entertainment (for the audience) factor alive.
Another very successful play.
Karans girlfriend came back, so did my boyfriend. The interlude was over and there was no mention of us in the credits.
What brought about this piece of writing is that Karan's father passed away last week.
RIP, Uncle.
To Karan and G, condolences from S and me.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Random Encounters of the Food Kind
Sometimes its worth viewing places, not for the general tourist interest, but for the food/cuisine they provide. Add to that the company and associated memories......calls for a blog.
Be it street-eats or Cordon Bleu, both have brought fun and adventure to me. Most often it is the associated company....school days. univ days, fun days. Nevertheless the search for food (street food more often than gourmet food) has been my pastime.....not my favourite past time, but a long lasting one.
CALCUTTA
My city. Abounds in street food. Best phuchkas in the world. Bombay (paani puris) and Delhi
(gol gappas) dont stand a chance. Phuchkas are best at the Southern Avenue Lakes......Bilash is no longer, but the VPark guys do a good job. Always remember Sajani on these trips.
Kathi Rolls. A Calcutta speciality. Nizam's is the best. However, Nizam does a on and off business because of labour trouble. Their beef rolls used to be the best. (Buria, remember the violent pet kharap?) Dont know now, because have'nt been there for a while. Golden Spoon and Kusum on Park Street are both very good. Crisp parathas, not too oily.
Early morning Chinese Breakfast near Poddar Court/Chattawalla Gali. Heavenly dimsums, piping hot clear soup. Almost ethereal in that early morning mist. All over by 7am.
Chinese food is my all time favourite. NOT the road side chow-chorchori. Tangra is good. The Park even better. My place is Josephine's Eu Chew. Damn Good !!!!! Authentic Chinese.
While on the topic, Liang's Shoe Shop (Annie) on Chowrasta, Darjeeling, used to do good Chinese food on order.......does anybody know what became of it?????
Dacres Lane and Bentinck Street does everything from dal-chawal to Nawabi food and chaat to jalebis. Not my favourite, except the haleem at Asif Mia's near Statesman House. That too, early morning.
Add to this Kwality's (for Indian cuisine) Mocambo and One Step Up and The Hub(for Continental), Peter Cat for a 100buck worth Chelo Kabab (specially with Anirban Roy!!!!). Comics, off Southern Avenue is also my haunt. I have been there with Adarsh a few times, and have always enjoyed the food. Shantam and I had a bi-annual tryst at Jimmy's Kitchen. Not great food(Chinese) but it was priority on the MUST DO list at the end sem breaks. Lemon Chicken always a must. On a similar note Sajani and I would have a meal at a small Jimmy's something on Lindsay Street. With Sajani it has always been WonTon soup. Great food. Great fun.
Paramount sherbet off College Street....Dab Sherbet......brain thanda, lungs thanda.......I would come down with a cough after a Paramount expedetion. Notwithstanding the cough, a must for me. Always. College Street trips with Sajani and Shantam in the Summer Holidays are deeply etched memories. And Paramount always featured.
Ice cream at Kwality's. (with Sanjoy, with two year old Sajani, with Anu......and others) Breakfast with the SXC boys at Flury's at 8am. One would have to keep an eye open for Fr. Joris or Sr. Stella. One of them would always be on the prowl. I think they took turns. Oh, yes,.....the SXC boys were tardy in picking up the tabs !!! Skyroom dinners. Prawn Cocktail and Chicken Tetrazzini. Followed by Burning Alaska !!!! Mostly with Mum and Dad. In our times, the guys who could treat us to a Skyroom dinner (loaded guys) were not the type with whom I would enjoy a Skyroom dinner, and unfortunately the 'our type' guys were perpetually broke. The last night at Firpo's before it closed. Daddy took me there. Introduced me to Asif, the bartender......who gave me a beer (on the house). I was barely 14. I took Shantam to Great Eastern on its last day.....but that's another story. Calcutta with so much to offer could be neverending. Time to move.
DELHI
I have always had fond memories of Delhi. Specially where food is concerened. Top of the list is Karim's. No match anywhere in the world. The food, the ambience et al. Then the Paranthewali Gali. I do not think such an idea exists anywhere else in the world. Later into the night, the better. 11pm to 1 am is a good time. Kanhaiyalal Paranthewale with his signature dish of papad paranthas. Yummy. Khurchan paranthas and gobi paranthas are high on my list. I wonder if the carrot pickle still exists??? I haunted this place with Prakash and Indy. After Prakash passed away, Biju(his wife) and I went 'a visiting' the Gali in 2002. Good fun. Still the same food. Same ambience. Also in North Campus......Mama's Momos. WOW !!! (Somehow the momos in Calcutta are rather wishy-washy). Well past midnight, my friend and I arguing over Aristocrats vs Plebians on the steps of the Library. Raghu kaka providing the tea and buttery alu-parathas. Nothing has ever matched those alu parathas ! Next in Delhi.... Adil's at CP for cold coffee. Neelum and I have visited and revisited AND revisited the place for the last forty years. Wimpy's (also at CP) makes good hash browns. Nirula's at V Vihar for pizzas. I used to travel half way across Delhi to IIT for anda-paratha at Yusuf Sarai. I have never had such parathas ever. And next THE CELLAR....dark, crowded, God knows what you are drinking......never mind what you actually ordered. But, I'd go back there again and again, and yet again. Pity it closed down. It brought up a whole generation. Mostly on rum and Coke. Cant leave out bantas. I wish some one would bring me a few.
Todays' Delhi with shopping malls and food courts and CCDs and what not is too plastic. Well, the money too is plastic, the clientele cosmetic, and associations (read relationships) transient.
BANGALORE
Ahhh!! My Lalbagh days. My beautiful lazy Lalbagh days. Of stolen flowers, stolen ciggies and stolen much more. Add to that Amma's juice (we could usually afford only lime.....grape juice was an extravagance). The best nimbu-paani for me has always been Amma's nimbu-paani. For the long hours we spent at Lalbagh, three glasses of nimbu-paani per head was a must.
Koshy's did a good breakfast. Along with the local journos and the young lawyers, 30 bucks went pretty far in those days. Re-visted Koshy's recently.......good, but not great.
Thindi Beedi, off Khoa-Pio Gali near Vishweshwara Puram is fascinating. Specially in the late evening. Even today a smallish dosa can be had for Rs 15. An entirely local fare found here is gunta ponganalu....small crisply fried idli batter. Very good. The same ponganalu is made by Malti Amma outside ISEC, but not as good as the gali stuff. Hyderabad House opposite the Forum back gate makes good biriyani. I enjoy their fare. Specially with Kartik. Their helplings are huge. I am a small eater. Kartik is a good eater. It makes sense to go with Kartik. @ Kartik, on my next trip to B'lore, biryani for sure !!!
Being a foodie, I enjoy Olive Beach and Palm Fronds. However, lately I have been taking my law school partners there for dinner, and the company being not-too-great (to say the least), much of the charm has been lost. Next time, I think, I'll take them to Nandini's or the Andhra chain shops......I dont much care for the food there anyway. The deadly bores cannot make it worse!!!
The Olive Beach (off Richmond Road) is a really swanky place. Great food, great ambience. My fault I took the law school trio there.
Other places in Bangalore I like enjoy are Casa Picolo (with Adarsh), Casa del Sol, 3QC on Church Street and Rice Bowl(Adarsh again). Also a must is Sunny's (on Vittal Mallya Road) Excellent Italian-Continental food. And their wine is truly divine. Rather exclusive place. Not crowded. I tumbled upon it on a rainy afternoon, and fell in love with the place.
For the very best experience it is always and always Pecos. I love the live music. Loved it then, just as much.Though the student clientele can be a bit rowdy. Love Mojo's too. And the home made (no brand) icecream outside ISEC. Another standout is the Juice Centre and their lemon ginger soda.
MUMBAI
Not really my city. Raju took me around. A pastry shop at Bandra. The most wonderful reshmi tikka at Khau Gali (Mhd Ali Road). I remember we had to wait a while, and it was quite late, but it was well worth the wait. Raju also treated me to a Bhel and Raspberry syrup gola. Cant remember where, but not Chowpatty. While in Mumbai cant miss the Iranian food at Stadium Restaurant(near Churchgate) and top it off with ice cream K. Rustom's. A standard pattern I follow with S and the gang.
OTHER PLACES
London.......Ice cream.....Haagen Dazs. Fish and chips at C Gardens. The soup shop outside LSE (Strand Campus). There is a small tea shop off Tottenham Court Road. Heavenly Earl Grey tea with a wafer thin water cress sandwich. Another sandwich place, an all time favourite of mine is the shop near the post office at Billingsgate. Juicy bully beef sandwiches at 70p. Cant get it better. Odd, but the best machher jhol-bhaat I have ever had (in a shop) has been in London. At a small Bangladeshi joint called Deshi near India House. London has Wagamama's and of course The Gun, Clos Maggiore, Terra and the Balti joints. All good. Some very classy, too. London, like Calcutta can be a neverending story.
Then there is that inn/pub at Exeter, which makes the best Cream Buns in the world.I think it's called The Three Crowns.
Interlaken too has good cream buns. So has Vevey. Austria and Switzerland has confectionary that makes my mouth water. My favourite......Anna's in Zurich. Homemade stuff.
Paris. With Timmy. And good food....and empty pockets......equally empty stomachs!!!!! But really speaking, one can get good food at a very reasonable price anywhere in Paris. A late night dinner at a roadside bistro, followed by a walk in the rain, Gauloises on a bridge over the Seine, can transcend you to another world. Try it. Paris in summer (in the drizzle), in winter (in the chill), and some coffee.
Coffee, any type of bread, a soup at this little place called Frills on the Mon-Marte can be a little expensive, but this is my favourite joint in Paris. Dont ever try the Metro food stalls.
I also love Glennary's at Darjeeling for their cream rolls. Hotdogs and chocolate milk shake at Keventer's (also at Darjeeling). I love the Lopchu pedas of Darjeeling, and the Churpis.
I like Tenga Daal of Assam. Love it, in fact. Best if its home made. There is this rajma-chawal place on a roadside (near a jhora) on the Simla-Manali road. No other rajma-chawal ever tasted better. Though in all verity, I have to admit that the JNU rajma-chawal on Sundays is pretty decent. Cream buns and home made ice cream is yummy in a small shop on the Mall (near Balaji's) at Simla. Mint Street, in Chennai has The Novelty Tea House with mouthwatering pau-bhajis. Parkside's (Pune) too, has good vada-paus. The food in Chennai is altogether too fiery for me to experiment !!
I have omitted many flavours, many experiences. I could have written a whole chapter on Banaras and my foodie experience there. Calcutta has so much more to offer. So has Delhi. I have left Bangalore incomplete. Bangkok and Tokyo untouched.This blog has become far too long. Perhaps too boring to an outsider.
One thing though, in our family to Sajani, Shantam, Johan, Ananda, Adarsh, Anushree, Adi and to several others, my home made dal-bhaat-alu bhaaja has been the favourite coming-home comfort food. Through the last 7 years every sem end meant the house by the graveyard and the standard fare of dal-bhaat-alu bhaaja. No matter what time of the day or night.
Be it street-eats or Cordon Bleu, both have brought fun and adventure to me. Most often it is the associated company....school days. univ days, fun days. Nevertheless the search for food (street food more often than gourmet food) has been my pastime.....not my favourite past time, but a long lasting one.
CALCUTTA
My city. Abounds in street food. Best phuchkas in the world. Bombay (paani puris) and Delhi
(gol gappas) dont stand a chance. Phuchkas are best at the Southern Avenue Lakes......Bilash is no longer, but the VPark guys do a good job. Always remember Sajani on these trips.
Kathi Rolls. A Calcutta speciality. Nizam's is the best. However, Nizam does a on and off business because of labour trouble. Their beef rolls used to be the best. (Buria, remember the violent pet kharap?) Dont know now, because have'nt been there for a while. Golden Spoon and Kusum on Park Street are both very good. Crisp parathas, not too oily.
Early morning Chinese Breakfast near Poddar Court/Chattawalla Gali. Heavenly dimsums, piping hot clear soup. Almost ethereal in that early morning mist. All over by 7am.
Chinese food is my all time favourite. NOT the road side chow-chorchori. Tangra is good. The Park even better. My place is Josephine's Eu Chew. Damn Good !!!!! Authentic Chinese.
While on the topic, Liang's Shoe Shop (Annie) on Chowrasta, Darjeeling, used to do good Chinese food on order.......does anybody know what became of it?????
Dacres Lane and Bentinck Street does everything from dal-chawal to Nawabi food and chaat to jalebis. Not my favourite, except the haleem at Asif Mia's near Statesman House. That too, early morning.
Add to this Kwality's (for Indian cuisine) Mocambo and One Step Up and The Hub(for Continental), Peter Cat for a 100buck worth Chelo Kabab (specially with Anirban Roy!!!!). Comics, off Southern Avenue is also my haunt. I have been there with Adarsh a few times, and have always enjoyed the food. Shantam and I had a bi-annual tryst at Jimmy's Kitchen. Not great food(Chinese) but it was priority on the MUST DO list at the end sem breaks. Lemon Chicken always a must. On a similar note Sajani and I would have a meal at a small Jimmy's something on Lindsay Street. With Sajani it has always been WonTon soup. Great food. Great fun.
Paramount sherbet off College Street....Dab Sherbet......brain thanda, lungs thanda.......I would come down with a cough after a Paramount expedetion. Notwithstanding the cough, a must for me. Always. College Street trips with Sajani and Shantam in the Summer Holidays are deeply etched memories. And Paramount always featured.
Ice cream at Kwality's. (with Sanjoy, with two year old Sajani, with Anu......and others) Breakfast with the SXC boys at Flury's at 8am. One would have to keep an eye open for Fr. Joris or Sr. Stella. One of them would always be on the prowl. I think they took turns. Oh, yes,.....the SXC boys were tardy in picking up the tabs !!! Skyroom dinners. Prawn Cocktail and Chicken Tetrazzini. Followed by Burning Alaska !!!! Mostly with Mum and Dad. In our times, the guys who could treat us to a Skyroom dinner (loaded guys) were not the type with whom I would enjoy a Skyroom dinner, and unfortunately the 'our type' guys were perpetually broke. The last night at Firpo's before it closed. Daddy took me there. Introduced me to Asif, the bartender......who gave me a beer (on the house). I was barely 14. I took Shantam to Great Eastern on its last day.....but that's another story. Calcutta with so much to offer could be neverending. Time to move.
DELHI
I have always had fond memories of Delhi. Specially where food is concerened. Top of the list is Karim's. No match anywhere in the world. The food, the ambience et al. Then the Paranthewali Gali. I do not think such an idea exists anywhere else in the world. Later into the night, the better. 11pm to 1 am is a good time. Kanhaiyalal Paranthewale with his signature dish of papad paranthas. Yummy. Khurchan paranthas and gobi paranthas are high on my list. I wonder if the carrot pickle still exists??? I haunted this place with Prakash and Indy. After Prakash passed away, Biju(his wife) and I went 'a visiting' the Gali in 2002. Good fun. Still the same food. Same ambience. Also in North Campus......Mama's Momos. WOW !!! (Somehow the momos in Calcutta are rather wishy-washy). Well past midnight, my friend and I arguing over Aristocrats vs Plebians on the steps of the Library. Raghu kaka providing the tea and buttery alu-parathas. Nothing has ever matched those alu parathas ! Next in Delhi.... Adil's at CP for cold coffee. Neelum and I have visited and revisited AND revisited the place for the last forty years. Wimpy's (also at CP) makes good hash browns. Nirula's at V Vihar for pizzas. I used to travel half way across Delhi to IIT for anda-paratha at Yusuf Sarai. I have never had such parathas ever. And next THE CELLAR....dark, crowded, God knows what you are drinking......never mind what you actually ordered. But, I'd go back there again and again, and yet again. Pity it closed down. It brought up a whole generation. Mostly on rum and Coke. Cant leave out bantas. I wish some one would bring me a few.
Todays' Delhi with shopping malls and food courts and CCDs and what not is too plastic. Well, the money too is plastic, the clientele cosmetic, and associations (read relationships) transient.
BANGALORE
Ahhh!! My Lalbagh days. My beautiful lazy Lalbagh days. Of stolen flowers, stolen ciggies and stolen much more. Add to that Amma's juice (we could usually afford only lime.....grape juice was an extravagance). The best nimbu-paani for me has always been Amma's nimbu-paani. For the long hours we spent at Lalbagh, three glasses of nimbu-paani per head was a must.
Koshy's did a good breakfast. Along with the local journos and the young lawyers, 30 bucks went pretty far in those days. Re-visted Koshy's recently.......good, but not great.
Thindi Beedi, off Khoa-Pio Gali near Vishweshwara Puram is fascinating. Specially in the late evening. Even today a smallish dosa can be had for Rs 15. An entirely local fare found here is gunta ponganalu....small crisply fried idli batter. Very good. The same ponganalu is made by Malti Amma outside ISEC, but not as good as the gali stuff. Hyderabad House opposite the Forum back gate makes good biriyani. I enjoy their fare. Specially with Kartik. Their helplings are huge. I am a small eater. Kartik is a good eater. It makes sense to go with Kartik. @ Kartik, on my next trip to B'lore, biryani for sure !!!
Being a foodie, I enjoy Olive Beach and Palm Fronds. However, lately I have been taking my law school partners there for dinner, and the company being not-too-great (to say the least), much of the charm has been lost. Next time, I think, I'll take them to Nandini's or the Andhra chain shops......I dont much care for the food there anyway. The deadly bores cannot make it worse!!!
The Olive Beach (off Richmond Road) is a really swanky place. Great food, great ambience. My fault I took the law school trio there.
Other places in Bangalore I like enjoy are Casa Picolo (with Adarsh), Casa del Sol, 3QC on Church Street and Rice Bowl(Adarsh again). Also a must is Sunny's (on Vittal Mallya Road) Excellent Italian-Continental food. And their wine is truly divine. Rather exclusive place. Not crowded. I tumbled upon it on a rainy afternoon, and fell in love with the place.
For the very best experience it is always and always Pecos. I love the live music. Loved it then, just as much.Though the student clientele can be a bit rowdy. Love Mojo's too. And the home made (no brand) icecream outside ISEC. Another standout is the Juice Centre and their lemon ginger soda.
MUMBAI
Not really my city. Raju took me around. A pastry shop at Bandra. The most wonderful reshmi tikka at Khau Gali (Mhd Ali Road). I remember we had to wait a while, and it was quite late, but it was well worth the wait. Raju also treated me to a Bhel and Raspberry syrup gola. Cant remember where, but not Chowpatty. While in Mumbai cant miss the Iranian food at Stadium Restaurant(near Churchgate) and top it off with ice cream K. Rustom's. A standard pattern I follow with S and the gang.
OTHER PLACES
London.......Ice cream.....Haagen Dazs. Fish and chips at C Gardens. The soup shop outside LSE (Strand Campus). There is a small tea shop off Tottenham Court Road. Heavenly Earl Grey tea with a wafer thin water cress sandwich. Another sandwich place, an all time favourite of mine is the shop near the post office at Billingsgate. Juicy bully beef sandwiches at 70p. Cant get it better. Odd, but the best machher jhol-bhaat I have ever had (in a shop) has been in London. At a small Bangladeshi joint called Deshi near India House. London has Wagamama's and of course The Gun, Clos Maggiore, Terra and the Balti joints. All good. Some very classy, too. London, like Calcutta can be a neverending story.
Then there is that inn/pub at Exeter, which makes the best Cream Buns in the world.I think it's called The Three Crowns.
Interlaken too has good cream buns. So has Vevey. Austria and Switzerland has confectionary that makes my mouth water. My favourite......Anna's in Zurich. Homemade stuff.
Paris. With Timmy. And good food....and empty pockets......equally empty stomachs!!!!! But really speaking, one can get good food at a very reasonable price anywhere in Paris. A late night dinner at a roadside bistro, followed by a walk in the rain, Gauloises on a bridge over the Seine, can transcend you to another world. Try it. Paris in summer (in the drizzle), in winter (in the chill), and some coffee.
Coffee, any type of bread, a soup at this little place called Frills on the Mon-Marte can be a little expensive, but this is my favourite joint in Paris. Dont ever try the Metro food stalls.
I also love Glennary's at Darjeeling for their cream rolls. Hotdogs and chocolate milk shake at Keventer's (also at Darjeeling). I love the Lopchu pedas of Darjeeling, and the Churpis.
I like Tenga Daal of Assam. Love it, in fact. Best if its home made. There is this rajma-chawal place on a roadside (near a jhora) on the Simla-Manali road. No other rajma-chawal ever tasted better. Though in all verity, I have to admit that the JNU rajma-chawal on Sundays is pretty decent. Cream buns and home made ice cream is yummy in a small shop on the Mall (near Balaji's) at Simla. Mint Street, in Chennai has The Novelty Tea House with mouthwatering pau-bhajis. Parkside's (Pune) too, has good vada-paus. The food in Chennai is altogether too fiery for me to experiment !!
I have omitted many flavours, many experiences. I could have written a whole chapter on Banaras and my foodie experience there. Calcutta has so much more to offer. So has Delhi. I have left Bangalore incomplete. Bangkok and Tokyo untouched.This blog has become far too long. Perhaps too boring to an outsider.
One thing though, in our family to Sajani, Shantam, Johan, Ananda, Adarsh, Anushree, Adi and to several others, my home made dal-bhaat-alu bhaaja has been the favourite coming-home comfort food. Through the last 7 years every sem end meant the house by the graveyard and the standard fare of dal-bhaat-alu bhaaja. No matter what time of the day or night.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A revelation
Last night someone who is quite close to me said......
a) I always belittle him.
b) I am always criticising him.
c) I am always making fun of him/having fun at his expense.
This was said with a great deal of vengeance, a fair amount of conviction and was the result of pent up anger. A very ugly combination.
However, I in all honesty and after some retrospection cannot agree to these accusations. Moreover I am deeply hurt and pained. I shall withdraw 50 steps and go back into my shell.
A tortoise is a happy animal !!!
PS. Oh yes, the final accusation : I indulge in petty gossiping ! I am mortally hurt.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Roller Coaster Ride
Somebody, the other day, enquired on my well being.. A perfectly innocent, innocuous question. Without much thought I answered " .....there is always a nadir, there is always a zenith, and the interim path is a roller coaster ride......" The poor guy was zapped. Not his fault. His mere "kemon achhen ?" did not call for this.
On reflection, my apologies to him for such a weird and confusing answer, but I think I meant every word of it. No apologies on this front. My thoughts were crystal clear. Too bad that the guy got confused !!!
On reflection, my apologies to him for such a weird and confusing answer, but I think I meant every word of it. No apologies on this front. My thoughts were crystal clear. Too bad that the guy got confused !!!
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