Different takes...

'So, what are your hobbies?' 'Please define your timeline'

2011-11-25T08:37:00.000-08:00

I have written few CVs in my life. Very few. Some asked for hobbies to be mentioned. Some did not, thankfully. But of late, I have been faced with, if not bombarded with this instruction: 'Hi. Please introduce yourselves. Mention your name, entity, where you graduated from and your hobbies.' Now I always wonder what hobbies have to do with a basic introduction of oneself,especially at the workplace, but I kept my mouth shut since I do not want any pange before I even begin my corporate life. But then, I keep wondering what I should answer with.

When I was a toddler, I loved to dance. Every time Chitrahaar came on, I would be there in the living room, dancing away to glory and entertaining the entire family.
Then in primary school, it was drawing and rangoli. Sometime between standard IV and VIII, it was playing the harmonium. And badminton in the same time. And quizzing. During junior college, it was watching movies,reading books and eating out. Yes, eating out was a hobby! In the engineering days, I watched a lot of football. Listened to a lot of genres of music. Read a lot of books. In the few months between college and work, I cooked as much as I ever have in life. Still do, but more on a need-to-do basis.

Now, I don't know where my time flies to. Most of the time since I started working has gone into the office and CAT classes. So no movies, some music, and a lot of boredom and restlessness that comes out of not being involved with anything extra-curricular, per se.

So when I decided to write this post, the title just came to me in a jiffy. Because that has been the story of my life. I have always kept moving on to different interests all my life.

The only thing that I have consistently done is talk. I'm not sure if I can answer a 'Whats your hobby' with 'Talking'. But I love to talk. Not yap like some girls do. I can talk to anyone, regardless of age,gender,background. I can go next door and chat up with the kaku's about the kitchen, how the bai's are a nuisance, how we can do better as a society; I can chat with a random ajoba at the bus stop about politics, the municipal corporation and rash drivers. I can talk to my girlfriends about fashion, about hair-fall, and about how girls our age are getting married already! To my guy-friends, I can talk about football, stupid girls, cellphones and whatever. I can give pep talk to anyone. I motivate sad trainee colleagues to have patience and deal with no work. I sympathize with people after their breakups. I discuss career options with cousins. Give me any topic, start off any conversation - and I'll join in. So is talking my first love? I guess yeah. But does that qualify as a hobby? You tell me.

Summing it up, my 'hobbies' have been changing as much as I have, in life. Currently, I think my hobby is ice-cream stick craft, and I've also started with a bit of paper quilling. I'm still not sure about my writing intentions. But yes, I have enjoyed writing the small things that I have written over the past three years.

So yeah, this will probably continue all my life. These changing hobbies. Kind of like my mum, who is an amazing multi-tasker. And I haven't even gone through all her previous diaries in which she has notes about the most unconnected, but useful stuff you may have seen! I never planned on following her footsteps, but I think its just seeped into me. So I think I'm ok. I still think those who have a specific hobby are lucky people, but I think I'm alright too. Those many things also give me many things to talk about ;-)

It is that time again!

2011-11-03T05:27:00.000-07:00

Initially I used to think I was the only person having such thoughts. But now, after many incidental 'Aila! That happens with you too?' ' conversations, I have come to conclude that mostly people get really philosophical during exam days. Questions that otherwise pop into their otherwise busy brains start showing their ugly faces during the days leading up to the exam, and sometimes, even during that time when you're supposed to be writing the exam, are struggling and have finished surreptitiously looking around at what others are doing and feel like getting up and bolting from the exam hall. [Thats a long sentence, na?] Yes, that happens, I have seen it many times. People have that glazed look on their faces, which either means they can't figure out the solution to the sadist questions or they are wondering if they are in the right place after all. Especially the engineering folk these days. All they want is placement guaranteeing a fat paycheck, the less technical the better and then start cribbing about their jobs at every available opportunity. Some even wonder if they would have been better off in Commerce. Bit too late for that.

Anyway! I'm not going to elaborate on those conversations or those questions, we all know them very well. In fact, even though in my recent past, I might have spent considerable time blogging or watching entire Prison Break seasons right before exams and proving to myself how awesome I can be, by doing all this and yet getting a decent grade; I think its time I grew up and finished the post in three short paragraphs and get back to whatever I'm really supposed to be doing at this point of time. What an achievement, indeed! I have finally begun to master self-control!

So yeah, with this unnecessary blog-post which serves no other purpose than to merely increase the number of posts in my blog and ensure at least one post in November, irrespective of how lame and unnecessary it is; I'm going to shut my gob and go do what I'm supposed to at this point of time, Which is make some tea for myself and watch Masterchef Australia's last team challenge.

P.S.: Around the same time next year, I will have a different story to tell. You just watch out for it.

Now,Hibernating.

2011-10-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

I just can't get anything worthwhile on the blog these days. Its not for the lack of thought, definitely not. I'm in the over-thinking mode these days, what with the new job and all. I guess its just one of those periods when the writing doesn't flow. Or maybe its the fact that only 3 of my good friends for the last 4 years are in Pune, and I hardly meet any of them cuz our timings don't match, and the rest in the States and Europe are also busy, so I might just be sad somewhere. Its a turning point for all of us, and we all want to share each other's experiences, but the feeling is one of 'something missing'. No amount of skype/google+ hangout/chat can fill up the void created by 11 of your best friends being away from you.

But I'm not going to go back into the 'Cribs' mode again. All I want to say is that I'm going to take a break from blogging for some time, at least until I feel like writing good stuff again, and not just random videos or Maggi wale posts! I'll hibernate, lie low for some time and come back rejuvenated, whenever that happens. And then perhaps you guys will get to read something moderately good. Till then, have a good time all of you, and stay in touch through the other social media where there's no need of communicating through paragraphs!

Meri wali Maggi

2011-09-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

How many times has it created a craving? How many times has it acted savior? How many times has it turned you back into the kid that slurrps the noodle noisily?

Countless, na?

If ever there was a universally binding food item across India, it is Maggi. [You're not allowed to point to 'universally' and 'in India' and say inappropriate. Hadd!] Its just, you know, moreish.

I must say I am a complete foodie, always was. But of late I've started experimenting with my cooking side too. I have this friend who puts up the most mouth-watering recipes she has tried, in the way of a professional chef or a cook-book, and it definitely inspires me. But nothing ever compares to experimenting with good ol' Maggi. Nothing.

So here's a sneak peek into a few of the tweaks I've tried over the years. I haven't altered much [can you, with maggi?] but its just a few things that make a big difference to the taste.

1. Dash of red chilly powder and black masala
This is pretty basic, and very easy to accomplish. While you're cooking, add some red chilli powder [ho ho, apan tikhat mhanto tyala] and some kala masala. I dont know what you guys may call it, or if its even there with you. But its one kickass masala that my grandmom makes every year and it brings life into every rassa that is ever cooked at home. Also imparts a burnished, roasty kind of flavour too.
But if you dont understand this masala I'm talking about, of which I'm pretty sure, chuck it. Just add the red chilly powder. Tweak it as per your capacity for hot stuff and for sure you'll have a mazedar experience.

2. Egg maggi
Beat some eggs while your maggi is cooking, and add them on top of your maggi just before you take it off the stove or immediately after you've served them. If you add them before you take the maggi off the stove, give them a minute to cook [they do]. Else you could cook them in a separate fry-pan and add that layer onto the maggi. You can add salt to taste, but I prefer them directly on top of the maggi.

3. Cheese maggi
Ah, heaven! You can make it whatever way you want. Add the cheese right at the start, add it sometime in between if you want it to be gooey, add it in the end if you want a separate cheese taste with the maggi flavour. I usually just use one cheese slice per person, because its always available and I'm not a fan of keeping the cheese boxes for a long time in the fridge. I tried this with the pizza cheese that you get in the market, and it tastes decent too. And if you like garlic, well use the garlic cheese. Lovely flavour!

4. Vegetable wali maggi
Well this is one of my least favourite maggi preparations. I do not like fresh vegetables with maggi. Ironically, I love the atta noodles! Heck, whatever. Best veggies to use in a maggi dish - carrot, capsicum, green peas or spring onions. If you want to use normal onions, I suggest you fry them [brown] separately and then use them in your maggi. Add them towards the end if you want crispiness. Dont try using cabbage in maggi. You may think it will taste chinese, but it doesn't and you'll end up pouring tomato ketchup in you maggi.

5. Ketchup? Of course!
Any maggi tastes good if you add ketchup to it. But thats a sad thing to do, kind of insults the noodles.

6. Soya sauce!
Yep. Tastes great. A dash of soya sauce when you add the Tastemaker makes all the difference to the plain maggi and this slightly tangy maggi. Try different combinations with chilly sauce/cheese and you'll end up creating cool new tastes.

7. Sweet corn
Again, very easy to prepare. Makes for a lovely preparation.

8. Chef's special maggi
I did the weirdest tweak today. I did not use the Tastemaker at all. Instead, I used a little turmeric [just a hint], some table salt, generous amount of chilly flakes, and some oregano [from the little packets we get with home delivered pizzas]. What it lacked in colour, it more than made up for by taste. Nicely spicy, with the smell of oregano just making it really tasty and flavorsome.

Tweaks I want to try:
1. Fried maggi :-D Not like the fried noodles they put in Manchow soup, but pan-fried. I think.

2. Non-tastemaker maggi and some wacky sauce that I'll come up with sometime soon.

3. Maggi roll
A far more refined version of the cheap stuff they had come up with in the boat club canteen. Come to think of it, a maggi frankie might work too. Hmm.

4.Maggi balls!

5. Fried maggi dipped in honey and served with vanilla ice-cream, a la Mainland China!

P.S: Do share your own recipes with me, cuz although this post might be titles meri wali maggi, we all know its apni wali maggi, yaar.

Umm, kuch jyada ho gaya. Anyway, cheers!

Brilliant stuff!

2011-09-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

Watch and go crazy! I almost fell off my chair laughing.
Its called 'My Blackberry is not working', in case you want to run a search on the net.

Raoenous - The Greed God of Appetite

2011-08-25T02:23:00.000-07:00

Raoenous (Born Feb 1989) (Greek Raoenous, हिंदी- रावणस, pronounced rav-en-ous) is a Greed god well known for his voracious appetite. Raoenous was born in the congested city of Mumbius Strip on the western coast of the country of Greed. The country of Greed came to be called so, as the rulers and their ministers had become exceedingly greedy, and devoured everything that was meant to be for its people. They had ravaged the country so badly that while they were busy relishing the fruits of their mismanagement, the country was crawling to its death severely lacking vitamin M. Raoenous was born specifically to show the world that one can be greedy without disrupting the vital organs of the country. He specializes in the form of greed that no other ruler dare to touch- appetite. Raoenous is well known for decimating anything edible with his bare hands and is known as the most efficient destroyer of the scourge of the middle class- an over sized food platter. Raoenous is known to have slayed many a hard to finish dishes and his battles with such dishes have now become a part of the folklore.

Personal History:

After spending much of his childhood in Mumbius strip, Raoenous shifted to the city of Puneous- known all over for its bizarre eating habits – to test his appetite and gastric strength, and spread the greed of appetite after he realized that he had no hopes of completely cleansing the plates of Mumbius strip. While initially it was hard for Raoenous to settle in Puneous for talking in an alien language that Puneons could not comprehend, thanks to the efforts and tutoring of the puny citizens of Puneous to make him understand their language, did Raoenous finally settle in. The Puneons also made him realize his goals and set him on the right path. [The only time ever that Raoenous felt vulnerable in his place in Corn-o-Coepia Electronica, the center for vadheev knowledge, he made an attempt to give it up for a place in the revered halls of Mechania, which also bespoke of infinite placement opportunities, only to be turned down by the Wise Goddess of Mechania, who later did find satisfaction in befriending Raoenous]

Raoenous gathered a large group of supporters who helped in several of his battles. Some of them worth taking a note are Chimeras, Dhubus, Madbena, Devious, and Virus just to name a few. In his youth, Raoenous had amorous feelings (a thing, colloquially) for the Greed Goddess of Marks- Marksvize, ever since the two had fought a bloody battle for a place in the higher echelons of the Corn-o-Coepia Electronica. However, the attractions faded away after a few years and resulted in a cordial friendship. Ever since Raoenous got rid of this trifling distraction, he concentrated hard and strong on fulfilling his destiny of destroying foodstuffs singlehandedly.

Raoenous achieved fame all over Puneous for eliminating the arrogance of hotel owners by conquering their skulduggery of making profits on unlimited buffets. Such was the fame of Raoenous that even in the city of Food, Puneous, where the greatest warriors of the Bhukkad tribe- that the conquerors of the Sadashiv Peth foodathon and Chimeras-the God of Vadheevness reside now salutes him for his greedy appetite. Such are the incredible feats of Raoenous that rising from his obscure origins; he was deified by the puny citizens of Puneous as "the Being" and the "Greed God of Appetite". Truly, if there was an X-men origins story, then this was it, for Raoenous earned the right to be called one.

After being deified in Puneous, he moved to the pearly gates of the heaven of greed itself- Texasia. Raoenous left after the fall of the Empire when everyone left Puneous except Madbena. Texasia- where big means huge and jumbo means humungous, [including trivial things such as onions.] was an obvious choice for Raoenous to go to. There were no bounds to Raoenous’ happiness. Finally Raoenous will be able to satisfy his ravenous and insatiable appetite.

Raoenous and his battles against Food.

Skirmishes with Mon-Genes:

Mon-Genes was a mongrel. He cheated the corn-o-Coepia by providing less than satisfactory portions of cake as tribute. The Council of the Great Spark of October 2009 had specifically assigned Mon-Genes to supply a portion of cake. However, most of the time, this did not materialize. Raoenous, now on the Chair for Revenue generation was outraged at the non-subservient nature on Mon-Genes. He was pissed. One day it happened to be the happy birthday of the Greed Goddess of Marks- Marksvize. Raoenous decided to extract revenge on Mon-Genes on the occasion. He requested Mon-Genes send two of his finest creations- Brave warriors of terrifying size- Choco Kak and Pina Kak. The two warriors arrived and had no idea that they were entering an ambush. No sooner than they arrived at the Gymnasia, they were brutally murdered. This did not satisfy Raoenous though. He wanted to show Mon-Genes just how much he hated him for not giving him the revenue. He cut off Choco Kak and Pina Kak limb by limb and stuffed them into his gargantuan mouth, clicking pictures to be sent to Mon-Genes. Mon-Genes got scared, and ever since, Raoenous enjoys a special treatment. He even got his Mastani Kak delivered from there on his happy birthday.

While the battle may not be significant, it sure was the first, where the wrath and appetite of Raoenous was full displayed.

Battle of the Charcoal Pit:

The battle of Charcoal pit was the foundation stone in establishing Raoenous toward deification. It occurred around the time of the Great Spark of October 2009, where Raoenous was a part of the elite knights of the Cores. Bothered by the lack of support shown by the Pit-bull for the Great Spark, the major leaders of the Core Council decided to demolish the high and unconquerable halls of the Charcoal Pit- a unique fortified pit situated on a high hill. Rumors were flying high that its food would test the appetites of many proud Carnivori of the Core Council. When the Core Knights reached the base of the impregnable fortress, they realized that the elevator to the pit was not working. The dysfunctional elevator stopped purposefully as scorched earth policy to slow the advancing army of the Cores only teased Raoenous’ appetite and awakened the fury inside him that made him vanquish any and all forms of food. The Knights had individually destroyed what they were meant to destroy while Raoenous was his second platoon of chicken. But when Lord Bhatius finally entered, Raoenous got his final chance at the third platoon. Long after the other Council members had had their fill and were at the end of their tether, having finished joking and even dozing, Raoenous had a major part of the third chicken platoon and even Lord Bhatius was surprised. That Raoenous had a huge appetite was generally known, what this Battle signified was his own patience and the others' awe at his prowess. Sadly, the Council split soon and never again was such a spectacle beheld by the entire Council.

Battle of Goodluck:

The battle of Goodluck was one of the shining examples of how Raoenous could single handed defeat food. Raoenous, an Argonaut at the time, preparing hard for the Battle of Regatta, after late night training went to the battle ground of Goodluck with his fellow Argonauts. Raoenous was famished after a rigorous training of heaving heavy wooden oars and lifting boats up and down the incline. Well, his fellow Argonauts were hungry for success too. They could not believe their luck when they encountered an abundance of food, and set about outright devastating everything in the way. A lot of Argonauts including Chimeras and Neelius had had enough of food after a while and gave up. So it was all down to Raoenous and Somaglutton to finish off the ever piling food. After a while, when there was no hope, even Somaglutton-the King of Greed of appetite gave up, leaving the almighty Raoenous to finish off the three platoons of Humongous chicken singlehandedly, which he promptly did. Raoenous became known as a warrior of the greed spirits and was considered as an equal to Somaglutton after this victory at Goodluck. Raoenous' fame spread far and wide over corn-o-Coepia and this became a foundation in his rise to greatness.

Combatting 'The Urge':

It was a day of triumph. Squire Makdus and the Lady Abiera had managed their negotiations with the wise University of Puneous successfully, which guaranteed a huge sum to help make the Great Spark of October 2009 a grand success. There was merriment everywhere. But Raoenous would feel content only after a wholesome meal. So he took his troops to attack the Dining halls of Makk Donaldus, where he was possessed by The Urge. The Urge is now a fable travelling across lands, with its imitations being in demand from greats such as Chimeras and Madbena too. The Urge prompted Raoenous to try sweeping off the foamy tops off the magical drink of Kok Flot with his index finger, much as a knight in shining armor would sweep a damsel in distress away from thugs. Only, Raoenous’ first love has always been all that is edible. Ergo, it was only natural that he would be visited by such an urge sometime in his life. It was almost like Imprinting, from the dark and bloody legends of the Twilight Saga. The Urge became so famous, that the other lords tried it to much satisfaction, and Makk Donaldus is also contemplating a promotion campaign using The Urge and his 'I'm lovin' it' slogan beautifully put together.

Hacking the Carrots:

Once, after working late into the night without having dinner, Raoenous and his fellow associates discovered to their horror that they were constantly being tormented by food. Food seemed to enter the minds of each and all, playing mind games which enraged everyone. Raoenous, having low patience in this respect lost his mind, and taking initiative from him, his team followed suit and began a quest to capture, execute, cook and eat food. However, it was nowhere to be found. They searched far and wide- including the unlikeliest places such as the Puneous Iron Beast Station. Finally, they brainstormed about possible locations and came to the conclusion that it was hiding at the royal residence of Goddess Marksvize. Raoenous and his band promptly set off for the heavenly abode. On reaching the place, they found food hiding in the kitchen- Rice, Lentils, Maggi, Bhel, Carrots and what not. However, Onions could not be found no matter how hard they searched. Raoenous, livid at the lack of Onions went on to decapitate the poor carrots, draw and quarter them, and chew on them piece by piece till Onions showed themselves. A large stew of all the food was made, and obviously, the largest Portion was consumed by Raoenous.

This event provided the greatest platform for Raoenous to portray himself as a ruthless leader and the conqueror of the conquerors. Truly, this even led him past Somaglutton to be crowned as the Greed God of appetite.

Other Battles:

Raoenous went on to singlehandedly demolish smaller armies of food all on his own. Small kingdoms such as the Nation of Barbeque were easy pickings for him. To protect themselves from this continuous onslaught, they heaved themselves on the back of the fierce Sayaji to good effect. However, the Subway that connected Raoenous’ residence to corn-o-Coepia suffered a continuous brunt of his fury. Convinced that it was the best meal for the value place, Raoenous kept raiding it virtually every day. In between many feats were held to celebrate and honor Raoenous' love of food, a feat rivalled only by the Lord Kumbhakarna's love of sleep in the mystic lands of Ceylon.Such battles only enhanced an already glittering image of Raoenous.

Doing the Dew:

After hacking down a mountain of food all alone, Raoenous stumbled upon this secret weapon. The weapon gives him the superpowers to digest all. It’s a rare liquid- some say its liquid gold, found in the distant mountains, and can only be collected in early mornings when it is in dew forms. We label the mystery liquid as Mountain Dew. Every warrior, every tyrant, every lord, every emperor - has a weapon. The weapon is their strength, the weapon is their inspiration. For Raoenous, it was his trusted flask of Dew. Dew is to Raoenous what Spinach is to Popeye; the elixir of strength and an appetizer for a massive foodfest. Raoenous, much like the wizened old Alastor Moodius, has his trusted bottle of Dew always in his satchel, and rarely shares it with anyone else for it may give them his superpowers. The other lords often wondered what drew Raoenous to the Dew, since they could not fathom its greatness by themselves. But the real secret lies in an inscription accompanied engraved on the Dew Bottle: “Omnes formidamus. Etiam faucibus siccat. Ipsum timor”

But to Raoenous it only meant “डर सबको लगता है , गला सब का सूखता है . डर के आगे जीत है“

All Hail Raoenous:

It was the festival of Dewaali, celebrated with much pomp and splendour in Puneous. Lady Madbena had arranged a feast for the Core Council and squires, also to celebrate the grand success of the Great Spark of October 2009. Many delicacies were prepared, and the exotic flavours only added to the festive atmosphere. While everyone was waiting for Raoenous to declare the feast open, Raoenous seemed to have had a little bout of nerves. The Council thought it was because he must have felt that his powers and talent may have been imposed upon his contemporaries often, but in reality it was his half-empty flask of Dew which had put him in a sombre mood. The Council, feeling pity, decided that they would give up their portions to the Being, and did offer them indeed. But Raoenous was in a different mood, he posed for a portrait that would indeed prove him worthy of his name, but in the end showed real character when he shared the delicacies with everyone at the table.

Although this article is written to commemorate the many exploits of the Greed God, it would be foolish to the point of being criminal not to mention Raoenous' loyalty, his straightforwardness, his patriotism and his integrity. Always one to adhere to his scruples, no matter what the situation, Raoenous would go to any lengths to ensure that his point reached across. He was, and is, always loyal to his friends and keeps in touch through the advanced communication channels now available at every one's disposal.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Raoenous for his condescension for letting us write this memoir, and also his graciousness for letting us publish it. Finally, we take this opportunity to reiterate, that we do, with all our hearts, always love you, Raoenous. Or as he is lovingly called by his friends, Rao.

Time to read?

2011-08-13T23:33:00.000-07:00

My current waiting list reads something like this:

1. Guns of Navarone - Alistar Maclean
2. Malcolm Gladwell series - The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers
3. The World's Greatest Short Stories
4. Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
5. The Winning Way - Harsha and Anita Bhogle
6. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
7. The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
8. Rashmi Bansal series - Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish; Connect the Dots, I Have a Dream
9. Three Men in a Boat, and Three Men on a Bummel - Jerome K. Jerome
10. How I Taught My Grandmother to Read - Sudha Murthy

Thats a round 15 books. Only bought or acquired within the last 2-3 months.

Very obviously, just going on a buying spree is not the end of it. And while I struggle to find time to even finish Confessions of an Economic Hitman, I have my whole life for the next couple of years looming in front if me - Office, ghar, jevan khan, jhop and thats it??? No time to read? No time to enjoy?? If this is the way with being in a job, then I'm surely going to have to expedite my long term future plans so that they come to fruition about 7 years earlier!

Ad Nostalgia : Post 2

2011-07-25T23:39:00.000-07:00

And this one tops the list of favourite ads, hands down! I used to imitate his 'jalebi?' for a long long time afterwards! :-)

I can't believe how incredibly innocent the ads used to be! And now I see the kacche aam ki xerox copy and wonder what has gone wrong!

Modern Amazons

2011-07-22T01:02:00.000-07:00

Now I don't mean the river, nor do I imply the famous website. [Of course not the website. Who writes blogs about Amazon.com in Pune?!]
I'm going to try and elaborate on my version of today's amazons - "a tall, powerful, aggressive woman",says the dictionary. I don't know about tall, but powerful and aggressive - most definitely. Not to be confused with the Indra Nooyis and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaws and Sonia Gandhis. I'm talking about someone much closer home. The female drivers/riders out on the roads.

If you're above 16, and have ever driven a vehicle in Pune - you will surely empathize with me. [Kids have a tendency to look at things off the road rather than on it, unless its a swanky car/bike. So the age group] Never does a day pass when one is not shaken/stirred/flabbergasted/annoyed/amused by the awesome actions [or the lack of] of these ladies. This concept does not need much of introduction, so I'll cut through the elaborating crap and come right to the point, with the help of a few illustrations.

Case 1.

Fig.1
Fig.2

Figure 1: I'm driving serenely toward my destination, and give the correct indicator to show I shall be turning left soon. Seen in white is me, in a four wheeler. Seen in red, is a lady on a two-wheeler, who apparently wished to turn right, i.e. enter the lane next to mine and head in the opposite direction as me.

So it went until about 2 seconds to turn, when all of a sudden, red lady turns right so sharply that I'm flummoxed and almost verbally assaulting her. (Fig.2) Define 'right' lady! Were you trying to avoid confronting me, or were you trying to show some heroics where you could have ended up in hysterics?

Case 2:

Fig.3
Fig.4

Another day [night,actually]. I wish to park next to the compound wall of a bungalow so I sincerely switch on the left indicator. I notice the new red lady behind me [at considerable distance] in the rear view mirror and foolishly assume that she will acknowledge my directional and behave accordingly. But NO! I am to be thwarted, overtaken, by a member of my own race, in a manner that would drive F1 racers to shame. One second she's there in the mirror, the next - she's zoomed past me from my left, while I'm left gasping for breath and some assurance that it is all real and we're both alive. Well, at least she's alive and I'm not to be jailed for a mistake that wasn't even mine in the first place. Otherwise I would have spent years and years as an undertrial and newspapers would run stories about the callous government and the indefinite delays in providing justice to those who deserve it. And if I'm lucky [ and ugly by that time, with all those years in jail] my picture would be splashed across the front page with a jumble of emotions not entirely comprised of angst, outrage, desperation, pleading, resignation, hopelessness and one single tear glistening in the eyelashes of my left eye.
But there and then I had my moment of spirituality. I knew there is an Almighty, and that he's watching over me. Red lady did not hit me, I did not hit her, I wouldn't end up in jail and all my hopes of making the front page of Pune Mirror were squashed as mercilessly as a red ant is squashed by an innocent 8-year old who's been told that kalya mungya devachya astat ani lal mungya rakshasachya by his friends. [Its true, they do spin such tales as kids, whose grandparents were told such stories when they were kids, and their grandparents and so on..]
After a few choice words which I keep in reserve for such incidents, (after ensuring that my Mum had already gotten over the shock and crossed the street to go where she had to), I tried to relax and involuntarily constructed a scene of me smoking a cigarette trying to calm my nerves in a car which wasn't a white Maruti 800 but something dark and sinister like a shiny black Land Rover or something; and I was wearing kickass Ray-Bans and looked so much hotter.

Err.... moving on..

Case 3.
Fig.5

Fig.6

Its a circle this time. I wish to go around it and accomplish my right turn successfully. But as always, there is a red lady on a two-wheeler behind me conspiring to disturb my mental peace again, and threaten to induce such thoughts as I should not drive around Pune lest I end up being one of the youngest people dying of a cardiac arrest on the road and case studies are initiated in places like TISS or the like probing the possible, plausible and improbable reasons behind the growing number of premature deaths in the smaller minority of ladies in the minority called Sane and Sensible Drivers. Movie Subtitle: We shall overcome lest we are overtaken.

So, the red lady was a smart ass this time. She did not try to overtake wrongly. She got it right as far as the direction and manner of overtaking is concerned. But she got the context completely wrong. Usually ladies may get the context wrong during arguments with their husbands/boyfriends/teachers, but this time it was a genuine (!) mistake on her part. She overtook me while I was turning right, goddammit! And not just an overtaking, but a near U-turn where she did actually scrape the car and I skipped about 6 heartbeats, took my foot off the accelerator for a split second and continued turning; while I did this time hurl abuses within the confines of closed windows and blaring FM. [6 skipped heartbeats are a work of fiction, split second foot off the accelerator is real and continued right turn is good old inertia]

These are but three instances out of the vast ocean of driving sins committed in a male dominated driving world by the more attention-grabbing female sinners [Isn't it always?]
Its part and parcel of everyday life for Punekars. No wonder with all the stress at workplaces and schools and colleges and peer pressures, this stress also adds to the growing number of grey hair and heart attacks and breathlessness and profanity and street fights in the world.

Off the record, I do appeal to the Almighty to give us more amazons, but off the road.

Disclaimer:
The cases described above are real. Any resemblance to any person [living or dead or cursed to die] ,incident or vehicles should be considered perfectly possible, nay, probable and passed on as routine and unchanging reality. Please move on with your life, and your vehicles.

Disclaimer 2:
I am not a misogynist. I am not a tomboy either. Being born a female is indeed a gift and I cherish it. The views expressed in the article are mine and my own only, and I shall never go back on them until I die or all ladies learn to drive [whichever occurs first].

Thats all for now.

Ad Nostalgia: Post 1

2011-07-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

And so my series of favourite ads begins. One of my favourite ads as a kid is posted here. I just couldn't stop laughing when I saw this ad!

Many many many more posts shall follow where I'll just embed one or two of my old favourite ads. :)
I do feel so old, shya.

Food Review: Dario's

2011-07-15T04:26:00.000-07:00

On the 12th of July,2011, I fell in love.
Again. And I swear to God I want to keep falling in such sweet love over and over again.

So I've done the when part. As to where - Lane 1, Koregaon Park, Pune.

And now the fell in love with what part. Yeah, thats right. What, as against the mundane who.
Dario's.

Undoubtedly, the best and only the best Italian food I've had in Pune. And the most interesting part? Its a pure-veg place. Yep. All you ghas-phoos hating bums out there, drag those same sorry little bums to Dario's and try blaming the food for being devoid of meat. But my condition is this, you have to enjoy the food as it is. No building castles in the air which would have similar dishes made with meat. Even my hardcore non-vegetarian friends swear by it. Which is saying something as I do have some of the most hardcore carnivores in my friend circle.

Down to business then.

AMBIENCE/DECOR - 4/5
The place is done up wholly in a rich purple and wood. And sitting outside in the garden/patio area, with peacocks cawing in the trees around you and a really serene environment, the atmosphere for enjoying some truly brilliant food in peace is already set.The abundant foreign presence also makes you feel like you're in Europe.

SERVICE - 3.5/5
Yep. Again, really. The guys out here are eager to please,well-behaved and really attentive. And the food is pretty quick too. So what with the serene atmosphere, flowing conversations and quick food, time spent at dario's is time well spent indeed.

FOOD - 5/5
The menu is extensive, with lots of options in all the sections. They have a good variety of starters,salads and soups.Main course is a limited menu. Risotto is something we kept for trying later. Not so much a fan of rice. But the variety in the pasta and pizza section more than makes up for any lacunae that might otherwise find their way into the scheme of the menu.
We started with Nachos Piccanti, which were delightful. Thin and crispy, and the sauce was a treat to the taste buds.
As for the meal, just being the two of us left few options. Forestale pizza was a lovely dish with mozarella, mushrooms, garlic and onions. I'll go as far as describing the pizza base as a playful thing, if you expect the Pizza Hut style monstrosities, then you shall be pleasantly surprised. The base is hardly there! And its perfectly crispy and dry.
The other dish was from the pasta section.Ravioli San Rosario. Pasta parcels filled with I have no idea what, in a white cheesy sauce and with generous black pepper.
All in all, a sumptuous and enjoyable meal.

KHARCHAPANI -
Its located in Koregaon Park. Its authentic Italian food by real Italians. And its not Burger Barn Cafe. Obviously, the food is not light on the pocket. But a satisfying meal for two [one starter, one pizza, one pasta and no alcohol] should fall in the Rs.800 range.

So thats my Dario's review. www.darios.in/darios/ is where you can find out more if you wish to do a little background before visiting.

P.S: Its a great place for a date, if you're really into the other person and don't mind spending a bomb.
I had an awesome time, since it was a lunch date with one of my best friends and she's got a great taste in food. I'm eternally indebted to her for introducing me to Dario's.

Blogger Stats

2011-07-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

I LIKE the stats section by blogger! Absolutely. Although if you look at it critically, its useless [like most stats figures] but it simply boosts your confidence and motivates you to keep writing!

Although if you have written on something universal and shared images in it, chances are people just stumble upon your blog. But who cares! Increases pageviews :-P

It also creeps me to see that I've had 374 pageviews from South Korea and 118 from Germany. Wha? How? Why? India and USA is at least understandable.

All in all, its saved me the efforts of yet again trying in vain to incorporate a stats widget. Its just annoying how I can't tweak nothing in the Edit HTML section to really customise my blog. Huh.

Anyway, whatever.
Blogger Stats section has my undisputed vote!

Blog, what?

2011-06-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not an expert of the blogosphere. Nor am a legit pundit of any kind who can dish out sermons on the varied what-to-dos and what-not-to-dos in life. But from whatever blogs I have read, or try to keep up with, I certainly have observed this - the content has pretty much shifted from what one wants to write about to what others might want to read about.
[This is pretty much restricted to my limited self exposure to the countless blogs out there] I, opinionated as I always am, feel that blogs, still, should be a form of a personal whiteboard. Where what you write is still very much 'you', and not more about who's who. I agree one can air opinions on current affairs and start debates on contemporary issues. But personally I like a blog that is more the person that writes it than the media publicised current affairs that seem to drive it. Same goes for tweets.

I admit that having an audience is a very nice feeling, and a big boost to self esteem and a huge motivator and all that blah. But personally I'd love to read more of what people have been up to, more of the 'This happened with me' a la Tinkle Digest; rather than regurgitations of the same old [and new] newspaper-ised and TV-ed cud of daily news.

I read a passage recently [in a test paper for all its worth!] that had made some very healthy points on the distinctions between literature of old and electronic commentary [not to be mistaken with new-age literature] of today. Although a lot of creative writing is seen around, how much is really entertaining enough to leave a long lasting impression on the reader's mind? I do love all the faking news and re-told and re-analysed transfer stories and endless debates discussing premiership teams and tennis legends, but really how many of these will any of you remember for a long time?
Take a turn and come to a heart-wrenching poem a friend of yours has written. A blow by blow account of the minimum expense sojourn into the tourist friendly southern country. A completely nonsensical account of a hilarious incident that happened between friends. Yaad rahega na?

That is what I'm talking about. That is what I want to read about. Mind you, I still love the various reviews and discussions, but this is just a personal opinion of an emotional girl who likes to know about the world but cares more about her own little world and puts in more efforts to enrich her own little world.

So to answer my question: Blog, this.

Travelogue: Aurangabad 2011

2011-06-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

I used to crib about having missed out on a lot of 'trips' during my school vacations. But of late, my opinion has been experiencing a gradual transformation. Now I thank my stars [No I will not say anything about Aai and Baba] that the places where I would get to learn a lot were saved until I attained a learnable age. Learnable age is such a misleading term na, everyone associates it with school only.But in my very honest opinion, as we grow older, the assimilated information stays longer in the hippocampus. Also our capacity to assimilate keeps growing. My point of this unnecessary introductory paragraph is that I am very happy I visited Ajanta/Ellora and Daulatabad now, rather than when I was perhaps 6 or 8.

So I had to attend the wedding reception of a friend. Gosh, 22 and married already! Although there were covert plans of tyala koryat ghyaycha etc for getting married so early, we really let the good (free) food work its magic and ended up congratulating the groom and bride and earnestly wishing them the best in their married life. [I am really learning from observation that good food can transform a boy. Keep em hungry they'll be cranky, feed em well [stuff em up really] , wow there's your man! :-P ] Anyhow, so this reception opened a portal to a short stay at Neha's place in A'bad, as they call [read: text] it. And luckily, few of my Mech friends also stayed back and some of Neha's Comp friends also chose the same two days for their sight-seeing trip to A'bad. Nice little group of 9/11 we got here. 9/11 because there were either 9 or 11 yuppies in the group.

It rained heavily on the 25th of May, so the entire city was dark as electricity was cut off due to the rains and it was very very pleasant altogether. And lucky for us, it generated the most blissful weather to go up a fort in leisure.

So there,

[Tip: I wont be describing any of the monuments we visited. None. Just a few pictures that will help revive the memories and the one-off memorable incidents]

Day 1: Daulatabad - Ellora - Bibi ka Maqbara

We started decently early in the morning in one Maruti Suzuki Swift and a kickass Toyota Corolla Altis and made good time. At the bottom, there were the inescapable guidebook vendors and guides themselves, trying to impress upon us the absolute necessity of their services. But a few in the group had good knowledge of the fort and its history, and there were helpful informative plaques everywhere too.

The way up the fort was very pleasant, as I mentioned the weather was blissful. Cloud cover, no 'uun' [I dont know, how do we say 'uun' in English. 'Sunlight' falls short and writing 'the sun was/was not out every' time is tedious]. Again - aso.

So it was beautiful on the way up. We stopped every few metres because there were two Nikons in the yuppie gang.

I'm gonna post a few pictures here, with permission from the photographer who was OK with my using her pics. Well, really we had struck a deal. So.

En route to the Fort

View of the Daultabad [previously known as Devgiri fort]

Bharatmata mandir

All 11 yuppies

Bats! Lots and lots of bats!

What an Ass! :-P Neha really is an ace photographer!

The best part of the trip - feeding Oreos to squirrels!

At the top - near Durga Toph

Ellora - Kailas temple. yes I look tiny!! :-P

The Ramayana in stone. Ellora

Nataraj inside Ellora

Hmm.I've lost th thread of the post, because my broadband was down and its only now that i'm checking my blogger account.

So there! I'll start with an account of day 2 - Ajanta.

I wish I could say that the journey from A'bad to Ajanta was uneventful. It was a 'rock'ing journey indeed.

A decently huge rock hit the windshield of the Swift we were travelling in, and something a la a bullet impression was created on the front. And of course there began the story of fast spreading cracks. It was quite worrisome. But Shakkar being the cool man that he is, calmly drove on and brought us and the Wift back in one piece.

So a few pics from Ajanta:

Outside cave no.19. Very cosy corner to relax during the hot weather

The market at the bus stop

You should have seen the way these guys attacked the innocent bhel-eaters and snatched the snacks away from them!

The famous padmapani painting which is the most famous symbol of Ajanta

Pillar and the groovy lighting

The best pic of the journey :-D

Another famous painting of the lady seen near the top

Cave no.26 - thank God we went there and shrugged the lethargy off

After this memorable journey, we made another memorable venture - into the only theatre showing English movies in English to Hangover 2. Din't like it much though.

I'm gonna say adios here. Cuz there's hardly anything to write and my stomach craves an enjoyable saturday lunch. Until next time then!

Dont darofy simply karofy! Crazy memories!

2011-05-20T00:33:00.000-07:00

Yeah, its probably my last 'vacation', in the sense that we are used to know of it since school. Probably, vacation will have an entirely different meaning now. It will be a break from work. Till now, vacations were synonymous to Diwali or Summer holidays. Yes, even after completing Engineering, the same notion prevails.

So I was thinking how I should spend my time. One option was to go to college and help build the Formula car that they're building. One more option was to have a movie marathon, now that I have a lot of movies on the hard drive. Yet another option was to hang out with friends..err, one is busy with her PL, another is in Munnar, third is in Konkan, fourth has just undergone knee surgery..Damn! Am I the only lukkhi girl out here?
The last option was to try and watch TV. [I'm not in the mood for doing creative stuff yet, and definitely do not want to indulge in constructive stuff. Its my last holiday and I have an entire life to do constructive work]

But then, what is there to watch on TV! I have lost my habit of Star World. I don't watch HIMYM. Cookery shows usually have non-veg to offer, turn off there too. Cartoons are bleeeeeeeaarghh! these days. Channel V is the suckiest music channel on TV, even B4U might be interesting, but thankfullyits not on TataSky. No sports in the afternnon, I cannot bear to watch Pyaar ki ye ek kahani or tarak Mehat ka oooltah chashma..I tried once, but I just cannot bear hindi serials these days. Reality shows are also in the dabba category now. Bottomline - there is nothing interesting to watch on TV! Other than the occasional good movie on the English movie channels.[ Does anyone even watch hindi movie channels?!]

And then I started thinking what I did in my school vacations. And there started a painful journey into reminiscing all the brilliant TV shows of our time. I tell you this kiddie generation is going nowhere with stuff like Hagemaru and Shinchan and Hannah Montana and Shakalaka Boom Boom or Sonpari

I just want to pay a heartfelt tribute in my blog to the serials that I devoured..I've gone crazy simply finding all these on the net..Must be so many more..