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Stew - A Fave Recipie (From Nigella Bites)

2010-05-31T04:30:00.000-07:00

This is a recipie from Nigella's show , "Nigella Bites". I saw this episode late night or early morning one day (Why is it that you come home exhausted at 4 in the morning and only things showing on TV are workout program, satsangs and food programs..) and tried it over the weekend. It was amazingingly simple to make and was lipsmackingly fingerlickin good.

But be warned, though Nigella called it a stew, it was more like a pasta with a slurpy sauce and yummy tender meat. It is comfort food at its best. Ideal for the coming monsoons..

Ingredients : It has been a while since I watched the episode and cooked this dish so I really do not remember the exact amounts. And this is not available on Nigella's website also. So change the amount as per your judegement.

1. Mutton - 1/2 Kg
2. Celery - 3-4 sticks
3. Onion - 2 Medium
4. Tomatoes - 4 Medium
5. Carrots - 2-3 Medium
6. Ginger Garlic paste - 2 -3 tablespoons
7. Red Wine/White wine - 1/2 cup
8. Oregano - for seasoning
9. Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
10 Water, salt and a dash of pepper
11. Pasta (penne or any other short pasta) - 2 handfuls

Serves two.
Prep time - 15 mins
Cooking time - 2 hours

1. Roughly chop onions and celery and make a coarse paste in the blender. Also mix in the ginger garlic paste.
2. Take a big pot and add oil. Put in half of the celery-onion-ginger-garlic paste. Add the meat and put the remaining paste. Let the paste cover the meat.
3. Stir the meat on low flame for 10-15 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes. Nigella recommends canned tomatoes. Add the carrots (cut in large pieces, large enough to be spooned out later)
4. Stir for 5 mins. Add some red wine and oregano, pepper and salt to taste. Stir for another 5 minutes.
5. Add lots and lots of water. The amount of water is dependent on the desired consistency of the dish.
6. Cover the pot and let it simmer for around 1.5 hours on low heat. Make sure there is enough water and the dish does not start burning.
7. Take out the carrots. Add some olive oil and sprinke some freshly ground pepper. These carrots will taste yummy. I think the carrots were my main reason for cooking this dish the first time.
8. There should still be some water left in the pot. Throw in the handfuls of pasta and cover the pot again.
9. Allow pasta to cook.
10. The yummy stew / pasta is ready....

A Leh Interlude

2010-05-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Cellphone pictures from parent's leh visit last week. Click on the picture to enlarge.

McLeod Ganj Visit - A Photo Blog

2010-04-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Started from Chandigarh to McLeod Ganj at around 9 in the morning.It is around 6 hours..

The first glimpse of the Dhauladar range of the Himalayas :

(Note : Click on the pictures to enlarge.)

Other views along the way

Reached McLeod Ganj in the late afternoon...McLeod Ganj is a very small place with a small city square and five roads branching out from the square..

The Tibetan and the Buddhist influence is dominant ...

The first stop was "Norling" a restaurant featured on the TV Show "Highway on my plate". The poster hangs right outside. McLLo is full of small restaurants serving a wide variety of cuisine from Tibetan to Italian to Israeli to French to Korean to Indian and Chinese too.The food is amazing and cheap.

McLLo is most famous for its teas and momos.Recommended momos at Norling : Spinach & Cheese momos for the vegetarian and mutton for the carnivores. The spinach and cheese momos have amazing flavor and simply melt in your mouth..

This is Ginger Honey Lemon tea with ginger slices at the bottom.Another local delicacy is the Tibetan Butter tea with Yak butter. We were not brave enough to try it.

So we walked around after the sumptious tea and worked up a appetite for dinner..Went to "Shangrila" for dinner. This is a vegetarian restaurant run by Monks and all the proceeds go to the monastary. Shangrila is supposedly one of the best restaurants in McLLo but we were kinda disappointed ( I think it was the veg food :-) ) But the local Tibetan bread was yummy and the local dish "Thepka" (Noodles in soup) was allright..

Post dinner we went to "Xcite" one of the few places that serves liquor and is open till late.McLLo is not a party place. The Dalai Lama influence is everywhere. You will find a lot of foreigners introspecting and writing their diaries.

"Xcite" though was a pretty cool (and it was cold too!!) place to hang out..

"Smoking Kills" - Looks like my hubby is amused by that thought.

"God is a DJ" - Love that thought.

And then a few cricketers from the Deccan Chargers and Punjab Kings XI descended upon "XCite". They had been partying next door at "McLLo" one of the oldest restaurants at McLeod with celebrity guests like Pierce Brosnam and Richard Gere.

RP was very cordial.

Irfan was most in demand.

And then it was back to the hotel..

The Dharamshala stadium from the hotel room.The stadium looked good.

Day 2 : In and around the hotel.

Next stop : "St John's Church in the Wilderness". Beautiful church among the trees.Literally in the wilderness.

In and around the church. In the graveyard adjoining the church.

Sufficiently hungry now, we headed to "Jimmy's Italian Kitchen", one of the bigger and better looking eating places there.The whole place was done up in movie posters and they even have Live music sometimes. The menu was amazing. The food ordering ritual is different in McLLo. The waiter hands over the menu and a pencil and paper. You are supposed to write the number of the dish you want and hand back the paper to the waiter.

That was some amazing French Toast with Bacon and a refreshing glass of fresh juice.

Headed out to His Holiness Dalai Lama's Monastary and residence after this hearty brunch. Photography was not permitted inside the temple.

The Buddhist prayer wheels.

Walked around. Checked out the local bazaar. Did some shopping. Went back to the hotel and then headed out to the "Dal Lake" and "Asian Health Resort" hotel in the evening. This is perhaps the best hotel in the region and has nice views from it's terrace restaurant. It also has had a lot of celebrity guests. Ms Preity Zinta was expected the next day and we got a "sneak peek" into the behind the scene working of a celebrity stay.

Old Monk among the hills. Great experience made better..

Village Naddi at the neighbouring hilltop.

It was getting pretty cold at twilight.

Moved in to their bar. A very cozy place. Just perfect for a cold night. Had a very indian himachali dinner there. Saag Chicken and rotis. Good but nothing to rave about.

Day 3

Checked out. Headed again to "Jimmy Kitchen" for breakfast. Walked around a bit and headed back to Chandigarh.

That is waffles and Bananas and Ice Cream. Looks better than it tasted.

On the way back:

The famous Anandpur Sahib Gurudwara on the way back. No we did not go in. Just clicked the picture from the car.

That is our driver.

So that was all. Had a wonderful trip. And if you ever go to McLLo eat, walk, take in the scenic beauty and instrospect. Do not miss the momos. And if you like wine, they have nice apple wine, kiwi wine and strawberry wine.

Last Picture : It is not from the trip but from the day after. Small tubewell at a punjabi pind (village). The water was real cold and tasty.

Simple Cooking - Chicken Curry

2010-01-30T12:01:00.000-08:00

I have never been much of a cook. I like the idea of cooking but cooking, not so much. I used to enjoy the occasional cooking with roommates as a student but the the idea of everyday cooking does not enthuse me much. So my cooking abilities remained limited and I was clueless about cooking chicken. But nowadays I have some time on my hands and wanted to surprise hubby with home cooked chicken.

So google to rescue and I found an amazinging simple recepie that does not ask for any exotic spices and yet the end result is yummy and a rich impressive looking dish. Click
here for the recepie.

I just added a green chilli with the onions to make it more spicy. Also I think you can use your favorite chicken readymade masala, if you have instead of all the mentioned masalas.

New Happenings!!

2010-01-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

One of the new year resolutions is to blog more. There have been a lot of changes in 2009. The most important change has been on the professional front. I have opted for the dial-down option at work and just work 4-5 hours a day. It has made all the difference in the quality of life. This change is now giving me some time to do "other" stuff like exercise, read, relax..

Started this work arrangement in October, went on a vacation to Goa, another vacation to Pune (was more of food tour though),re-decorated the home, spent time with hubby, improved cooking skills and just relaxed at home.

Finally, we are doing it!!

2009-02-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

After four , almost five years of Married life we (hubby & me) are moving out of the house we share with my in-laws. This is something I always wanted to do since the day I got married. But my hubby never bought the idea and since my parents-in-law are so cool and sweet, i never did want to hurt them.

But now we are..And life is all my curtains, carpenters, plumbers , furniture & color right now..And its exciting..

Restaurant Review - Rajdhani

2008-06-02T04:27:00.000-07:00

Name : Rajdhani
Location : 4th Floor, Big Bazaar, Ameerpet
Type of Food : Gujrati/Rajasthani Thali (Veg)
Cost : Reasonable
Ambience : Functional
Service : Warm & Quick
Experience : Great
Contact # : 64593998

Rajdhani is a no-nonsense place that serves only Gujrati/Rajasthani Thalis. The focus is on the quality of food and service. The service is extremely hospitable. It's similar to being some esteemed guests at someone's home rather than being customers in a restaurant.

And did I mention it is extremely quick. Go, grab a chair and it starts.One guy comes with Chutneys and papad and salad. The third guy with the sabzis and the fourth guy with the dals. Then there is Khichdi and Chawal. And of course the sweets. And dare I forget the dollops of ghee (Optional). The food is unlimited. The menu changes everyday.

One word of caution though. Maybe this is not place for you if you like your food real spicy. Nothing is spicy and the Gujrati Dal and Gujrati Kadi is actually sweet.

I have been there twice; once on a weekday and once on a weekend. I wud recommend going for a weekday lunch if you can manage as the service is far better. It is a lil crowded on weekends. And my weekday thali was much better than the weekend thali. The weekday thali had Dal Bati and I am huge fan of Dal Bati.

So give this place a try if you want to sample Gujrati/Rajasthani food or if you are in mood for a quick wholesome khana that tastes a lil like home cooked meal.

Restaurant Review - Punjabi by Nature

2008-05-29T04:50:00.000-07:00

"Punjabi By Nature", a chain from Delhi opened up in Hyderabad 2-3 months back admist quite a lot of hype. And of course being Punjabi by birth and also being Punjabi by nature we were very eager to visit it.

So one Saturday we landed up in front of this place and man was it crowded!! The whole of Hyderabad and its aunt was there, waiting. So we did the sensible thing and went to Ohri's next door. Hyderabad is crazy in this particular way. You can see hordes of people hanging around every new restaurant. I think we Hyderabadis just love to eat out and try out every new place.

Last weekend, we decided that we have given enough time for things to cool down at PBN and we can now try it out. So we again landed up there. The crowd was still there and we waited for 30 mins and finally got a table.

It is a two level restaurant with a pretty good modernish ambience. The stairs to the upper floor are lighted and look pretty good while walking into the place. We were escorted to our table at the upper floor near the good-looking bar. The seating in that particular section is very spacious. And then we were handed the "Liquor" Menu which had only Mocktails.Imagine the horror!! We learned on inquiring that the restaurant has applied for the liquor license but have not received it yet. So we ordered our mocktails which were pretty good and refreshing.

The menu, I felt was pretty limited. We ordered Fish Tikka for appetisers. It was pretty good. Soft and Juicy. For the main course, we ordered what else but "Punjabi Chicken" and 1 Tandoori Roti and 1 Naan. Imagine our surprise, when the waiter told us that 1 tandoori roti will be enough for both of us as their rotis are two feet long!! And no he was not exaggerating. The food, I felt was strictly OK. I was very underwhelmed by the place. Maybe it was because we had heard so much about it from our Delhi friends and had our expectations really high. The food was very very heavy and both of us had upset stomachs the next day. It was not a good feeling.

But I must mention that the service was excellent. The guy who waited on our table was cheerful and had a great attitude.

Food - Not really good. Need to visit again
Ambience - Good
Service - Great

Repeat Visit - Yes ; to give it another chance

If you love punjabi food and want to give this place a try it is on Road # 12, Banjara hills very close to Ohris' but on the opposite side. They do not take reservations on phone.

Restaurant Review - Chhattees (36)

2008-04-21T01:25:00.000-07:00

Discovered this great place this weekend. We were driving around the city looking for swim wear for hubby. Not available at Lifestyle, not at Central, not at any Nike , Reebok or Addidas outlet in Banjara hills. WTF ?? Then remembered a shop at Madhapur with the sign "Swim Wear available for the family". Went there and bought the stuff.

On the way back, impulsively decided to try out the new place called Chattess (36) that has opened up on Road # 36 (where else), Jubilee Hills (It is a little ahead of Barista on the way to Hi-tec city. There are signs there). Went without any expectations and came back with a very pleasant experience.

It is behind a new building that is being constructed. Looks like that a residential house has been converted into a restaurant. Something on the lines of "Southern Spice" but much bigger. It is a pretty big place with lots of options on where to sit. You can sit out on the ground floor, sit out on the terrace on the first floor, sit in a lounge-like area on the ground floor, sit inside on the first floor or the best of all sit in a balcony-like area on the first floor. That is where we sat in the balcony-like area on the first floor. Imagine a BIG balcony-kind space open on two sides, having four set tables with lot of space between them. Imagine the area painted a warm crimson and the two ceiling fans also painted the same color (Yup thats right). Now imaging a beautiful chandelier hanging in the middle. Its pretty nice. Thats what we felt and so we sat down there though the place was not very popular with other people who either wanted to sit inside in the AC or out in the open because of the heat. But it was good for us.

Now comes the important part, the food. They have Indian, Thai and Chinese. Glancing through the appetisers came across "King Crabs" with choice of sauces. Whoa we decided on that as hubby digs crabs. So we ordered the King crabs with Schewan sauce and beer and breezer. I have never eaten crabs before and it was a messy affair but it was yummmy!!

We decided on Dal Ghosht ( Lamb+Lentils) and rotis for the main course which was the most wonderful thing I have eaten in a long time. The lamb was tender and the full of flavor. The gravy had the consistency of a haleem. It was wonderful with plain tandoori rotis.

The best thing was the service. Most of the times, waiters get your two rotis together and dump them on the table and by the time you finish the first one the second one is already cold. And if you ask them to get it after some time, you have to wait and wait. But that day was my lucky day. As soon as I put the last morsel from my first roti in my mouth, the waiter was there with the second hot roti. That was the best part.

We finished the meal with the so-called fresh kiwi ice cream. It did not taste very fresh and was a little bit too sweet for my liking.

I would definitely like to go there again for the food and service.

So here are my ratings :

1. Food - Yummy
2. Ambience - Nice
3. Service - Great

Repeat visit - Yes.

The prices are pretty reasonable when compared to other places like it.

1 Beer (the big bottle of RC) + 1 Breezer + 1 Fresh Lime Soda + King Crabs + Dal Ghosht + 4 Butter rotis = RS 1,100 Approx

Contact # : 64580000; 64590000

Hyderabad Restaurants - Little Italy

2008-04-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

Me and DH (Dear Hubby) love eating out. I think it is that I love eating out. And Since having wasted a considerable amount of money on this activity, I feel almost qualified to give you Silent Melody's eating out guide.

So here it comes in no particular order, the places we frequent:

1. Little Italy

Love this place for its wonderful food. This place is a haven for pizza-lovers and vegetarians. It serves only Vegetarian Italian food, yummy italian food it must be said. The wood - burn thin crust pizzas are amazing. There is a large choice of pizzas to be had. Pastas are good. I did not like the rissotos though.

The ambience is fine. They used to have outside sitting which was great when the weather is good. Hyderabad has a serious lack of eating places where you can sit out, which is something I like I lot. I am not sure if they still have a place to sit out as some major construction was taking place the last time I drove past Little Italy.

They have live music at times which is good. There is a boutique in there which looked pretty expensive. There are wine bottles at display which strangely speaking we never tried.

If you are vegetarian and love Italian food THIS is the place for you. If not but you want to try something new you must visit this place. You can try the Weekend Buffet priced at around Rs 400 as far as I remember. That way you can try all the variety available there and decide if it works for you. The atmosphere for the buffet is great.

The crowd here has lot of firangs. They seem to love this place. Speaking of the crowd reminds me of this incident. Picture a beautiful late evening during the monsoons. Me & DH plan to go to Little Italy and have a pizza. The weather is good, the breeze balmy and we are sitting outside at the candlelit table. Two young guys come and take up the next table and order for Tangdi Chicken or something like that. The waiter informs that this is a vegetarian place and those two guys are shell-shocked. The expression on their faces is like really funny as if they can not believe that an expensive looking place can be vegetarian.

Poem, Not Mine

2008-04-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

Do not know about you guys but I feel like this at times.

The Woman who Worries Herself to Death
by Kathryn Simmonds

She wasn't robbed or raped or made a scapegoat of,
she didn't take ill-fated flights on shaky planes and

no one splashed her house in paint. Kids with hoods
and sovereign rings and hates left her alone. That twinge

she sometimes felt was just a twinge. Her fillings didn't leak.
At office dos she danced and no one laughed.

Her children didn't have disorders, fail exams, take smack.
Her husband didn't love his secretary
or get the sack. But, if you saw her fidgeting
towards the dawn, her breathing playing tricks,
a thousand what ifs snaking in a queue, you'd feel for her,
you'd wish she had something to pin her torment to.

Courtesy: The Guardian

Back Again!!

2008-04-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

I am almost tempted to open a new site and then start all over again and write everyday(At least that is the intention). A blank page, a new start..It is all very tempting but come on how many new starts can a girl have? How many new blog sites should be created before we get a regular one??

So no more, I should continue from here.Life had gotten into an awful mix of lethargy and frustation. Now is the time to snap out. Why now? Because have beeen undergoing a lot of inspirational & rejuvenating corporate trainings lately. Is there such a thing, I hear some people ask. Well well I hear you folks. I was a cynic till last week but just decided to have an open mind for a change and it did make a difference.

SOS!!

2007-08-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

It is 6 AM and I am awake. I mean I have not slept yet. I have been in office and yes have working since noon yesterday. This work is overwhelming. Do I really need to work so much???

Does it help to know that the web is cast around all? That we are not alone in bearing the weight of it all. And that the prison is well populated with our
fellow beings. The commune of shattered dreams. Perhaps it adds a new dimension to our insignificance. Cogs in the wheel of despair.

But how does one explain the beauty ? The obstinate refusal of hope to die away. Of the heart to continue to beat. The sweet seduction of life. Where from did that come from ? Whats our true nature in this merry go round ?

Is it a poem

2007-08-05T12:27:00.001-07:00

This is the first time,
I try and compose a poem
directly onto my blog page.

I am a little old fashioned,
used to pen and paper.
This way seems little strange,
some would say it is better.

I can save, I can delete
go back and edit.
It is a just key here
and just a key there.

This way there are no versions,
just the final poem
which I can easily delete;
Paper is just too hard to tear.

There is no history
of how the poem evolved.
But then those notebooks in the closet know
that history is hard to bear.

So Much and Not So Much!!

2007-07-09T01:07:00.000-07:00

Last post is dated Sep, 2006. Attempting to blog after more than 10 months. Wow is it not the heights of laziness? So what happened, nothing much and yet a lot. I went to US for a onsite project. Was there from Nov, 06 - May, 07 for precisely 6 months.Came back ; have been as they say super-busy in office. Professionally things have been good. Personally the 6 month judai seems to have done wonders to the married life. And yes I have done something which I wanted to do since a long long time; I joined a dance class. A weekend dance class. So these days, I jump and dance on the weekends and spend the rest of the week nursing my aching muscles.

And yeah the six months I was in US, I discovered a very strong patriotic streak in me. I never knew I had it in me. I would not let anyone say anything remotely bad about India. And yeah I went overboard at time but well nostalgia clouds everything you know. Anything Indian was great in pardes. I watched the worst of movies there ; listened to not so good hindi songs and we all talked non stop about food. In retrospection, it was very funny.

Well life goes on.

The Three Incidents

2006-06-09T08:43:00.002-07:00

Incident 1 : The Siachen Guy
----------------------------

Place : Pathankot , a small town two hours from Jammu
Time: Late evening, summer of 1994

Dad and I were in a small STD-XEROX shop photocopying some papers. A man dressed in the army uniform came in asking if the STD phone was free. Pathankot is a army town and you have soldiers all over the place. But there was something about this guy's voice that I looked at him. He looked weary; tired to the bone. He ambled towards the phone and made his call. Dad and I could easily hear the conversation; he was calling up his family after a long time and he had been posted at the Siachen glacier for the last 6 months or so. That conversation gave me goosepimples. There were so much of emotion; happiness and relief.

Incident 2: The Picnic
---------------------

Place : Hyderabad
Time: Late evening, sometime in 2001

I had accompanied dad for a section picnic to a nearby lake. The picnic was fun; the usual games, prizes and the mess food. While coming back, somebody started singing a old popular hindi song. Everyone joined in and it was fun. It went on for another hour or so till we were pretty close to the Air Force station. And suddenly we were tired and thirsty and quiet. And then an uncle started singing "Saare Jahan se accha". Everyone joined in. That performance gave me goose pimples. I had sung this song numerous times at school and heard it countless times. But had never heard it being sung with so much of emotion, so much of pride.

Incident 3: The Train Journey
-----------------------------

Journey: Hyderabad to Delhi
Time : Sometime in the year 2000

This was my first solo train trip. Mom and dad were a little apprehensive at the station giving me all kinds of advices at the last minute. But all their apprehenions vanished once we were inside the train. Mom and dad discovered, to their delight that the entire section was full of Army officers. They were all going to attend a colleague's wedding. The journey was great fun. Lots of great converstaion. I was amazed to find out that most of the officers there came from families steeped in the army way of life. Their dads, grand-dads, great grand-dads had been in the army. They were married to or were about to marry daughters of armymen. Their battalion had served in Kashmir, in Siachen and other areas. One of them had won a "Vir Chakra" for an operation against the militants. They had known fear and had looked at death from close quarters. But yet they were wanted their children to join the army and when they said that they wanted to "serve the country" ; they did actually mean it. I felt so proud of these guys. Where does all this come from?

After a long time!!

2006-06-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last post was dated 25th Jan. Today is 9th of June. It really has been a long time!! I started this site with the very optimistic notion that I will update it every day. LOLz Lolz lolz.

So what have I been doing all this time? Nothing much. I took back my resignation papers and have been buried neck deep in work ever since. Oh the sweet irony of life!! Work has been gruelling and never ending. But it has been fun in its own way. And I added some more books to the list mentioned previously. Read "My ear at his heart" by Hanif Khureishi, "The Argumentative Indian" by Amartya Sen and "A House for Mr. Biswas" by V.S. Naipaul.

"My Ear at his Heart" is an honest story about the writer, his family and particularly about his father's literary ambitions and heart breaking efforts to be a writer. Growing up, I wanted to be a writer. I was a dreamy- eyed, painfully shy kid who was always around books. I was Enid Blyton in my kiddish fantasies.

But now, when I read books like "Beach Boy" or "My Ear at his heart", I realise that I could never have been a writer. These two books are autobographical; they are about growing up and they are about the writer's families. And both the books are honest. I would have never managed the endearing honesty of BB or the brutal honesty of "...at his heart". Hanif Khureishi wonders in his book if he is doing the right thing by writing about his father and his family in this way. But he goes ahead and does it. Would I have the courage? I do not think so.

Picked up "...at his heart" without knowing anything about Hanif or his earlier writings. Hanif's uncle Omar Khureishi is also a kind of celebrity (a famous cricket commentator among other things) and has written two autobiographical novels. Hanif's quotes from his uncle's books a few times and they really seem interesting. On the other hand, his dad's writings do not impress. His dad's writings are all about his personal experiences, the bitteness and a few deep rooted memories and complexes. If I had tried to be a writer, I think I would have churned out something that. How do good writers go beyond their personal experiences, rise above their personal lives and write?

Recent Reads

2006-01-25T02:15:00.000-08:00

Have read a few books and not blogged about it. So let me get started on that. Read since last Book review: Beach Boy (Ardershir Vakil), Never Let me go (Ishiguro), Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri), Lord of the Flies (William Golding), The Kite Runner (Hosseini), Getting there (Manjula Padmanabhan), Shadow Lines (Amitav Ghosh), The Hungry Tide (Amitav Ghosh) and One Night @ call center (Chetan Bhagat).

Bought the Beach Boy , Never Let me go and the Kite Runner together at "Akshara" the neighbourhood bookshop. I love browsing for books at Akshara. It is not one of those shops with rows and rows of neatly classified books and the ever - polite staff ready to help you with just the book you want. It is one of those shops with books strewn all around with no apparent order or scheme. One never knows what book one might just come across and I love this element of surprise. Also, it takes me back to my childhood jaunts in Chandigarh during the annual summer holidays. Dad used to take us to big book stores (They did seem BIG those days) in Chd which sold only books and nothing else. Me and my sisters used to go crazy running around the shop while dad looked around for the books that interested him. But slowly these shops closed down or were renovated and most of them became card galleries/coffee shops/stationery shops with a tiny corner for books. Do we have any exclusive book shops left? I guess not if you do not count the weekend second hand book markets which I think almost every city has but then that is mostly study books/study guides, Mills & Boons and Sidney Sheldons. One of favorite fantasies is wandering into these second hand markets and buying great books at throwaway prices (the logic being that the book sellers do not appreciate that kind of books :-))!! Well that certainly has not happened yet.

Anyways back to that boring weekend evening, I picked up these three books based on comments and reviews by ssm and ano. Loved the Beach Boy and Never Let me go. I think the Beach Boy has the one of the most lovable Protaganist ever, the Young connoisuer of food Mr. Cyrus readymoney. The book is about growing up in an affluent Parsi family in Bombay in late seventies. The best thing about the book is it's honesty. Cyrus is what he is. There are no explanations and no excuses. Ishiguro's book is also growing up but it could not be any different from BB. Loved the style of writing and the theme is kinda unique and a little errie. But the book is heat wrenchingly sad in parts and I fell in love with this girl too. If I could write a book, I would write something like this I think. No, I am not talking about the subject here but the way this book mixes up the past, the present, the thots and everything. And this reminds me of "The Shadow Lines" one of the best books I have ever read. I just can not stop raving about this book.

...to be contd.

Quik Updates

2006-01-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

Have been very lazy (nothing new there :-)) and it has been quite a while I have updated this site. Things are about to change at the professional front with me all poised to take up a new job in Feb, 2006. I put in papers this week and I was very much surprised at the reaction; pleasantly surprised.

I thought resigning is a simple no-fuss job but it was not to be. I was totally not prepared for all the tactics being employed to "retain" me. Cross - Functional oppurtunities were mine to choose; onsite US postings were being promised as were good salary hikes and increased levels of responsibility. It was good; I mean it was good for my ego and right now I have a very bloated sense of my importance for the firm :-). But, of course I know the reality. It is not about me; it is about the "experience". Good economy, booming job markets have led to high attrition rates at most of the firms operating from India and the "vintage" employee is really really valuable. Am very much tempted to cash in on this right now and make some really outrageous demands. Who knows they might just agree to all of them :-) Just Kidding, but this is a good time to chill and enjoy all the attention before I get into the grind at the new place.

Smoky Thots

2005-12-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

Do You Remember?
Once we were young
and very much in love.
Or so we did think.

You and me on your bike,
on near empty roads in the night.
We sped past sleeping houses
me holding you tight.

Splashing thru dirty water in the rain
you whistled old hindi songs;
and I sat behind you
eyes closed, my face lifted up.

Remember, we sat on the roadsides
drinking tea out of small plastic cups.
And sharing that plate of oily noodles
at our favorite chinese stall.

Sometimes when we had a lil spare cash
we went to a "real" restaurant.
We dressed in our best and of course
the table was booked in advance.

And on one such occasion, we met a couple
seemingly everything we were afraid to be.
Dead eyes, grim mouths, that joyless air;
munching the meal in complete silence.

Remember the shudder we had supressed
and how we had seeked each other's hands ?
Looking deeply into each others' eyes
we had known, we had smiled.

Do you remember?
Once we were young
and we were "special".
Or so we did think.

[As we sit at the Smoky Lounge
glazed eyes, frozen smiles;
That joyless air, Drinks in hand
loud music blaring in the background]

The Isolated World of Mine

2005-10-27T04:13:00.000-07:00

I live in my mind,
an isolated space;
Created selectively,
marked clearly,
defended strongly.

I go about my living,
ignoring, dreaming,working.
My isolated space,
lone sane spot in a world gone mad.

But sometimes the walls,
all of them come crumbling down.
Say when I read about the
rape of five year old child.

The pretense is then not so easy,
and the walls just not high enough.
They are there; at my doorstep,
and insanity just below the surface.

But I live on;
Ignore, forget, erase.
And I retreat into that
Isolated world of mine.

Vikram Seth

2005-10-11T01:33:00.000-07:00

From Vikram Chandra to another famous Vikram; Vikram Seth. In my opinion, he is a delight to read and I think he is a genius at creating just the right setting for his characters. I have read two of his books; "A Suitable Boy" and "An Equal Music". These two books could not have been more different. "Suitable Boy" has a huge canvas, a long list of characters and the book is set in the early 60's (as far as I remember) in different cities in India. The story begins with a wedding and ends with another and has everything possible in between. On the other hand, "An Equal Music" is an intimate book about a handful of British musicians set mostly in London. It is a personal story about a love found, lost and found again and it is about music. And I feel Seth has done a great job in both the books.Indian politics in 60's, Hindu Muslim college romance, Zamindari act, concerts in Vienna, the decaying of life in a small British town, Indo-Pak partition, abuse, music, Bach, thumri; Seth paints a real good picture in both the books. Suitable Boy is a real long book but the flow is smooth and characters very realistic. Though the ending is a bit lame, ASB is a good read. And I think as this is more of slice-of-life kind of story, there could not have been a great ending to it anyways. "An Equal Music" has lots of detailed discussions about music and there are a lot of technicalities also in the book; but somehow it does matter much. I mean I know nothing at all about Bach or violins or tunings or scales and I read each and every word in the book and never felt that the writer is getting too technical. Vikram Seth has expressed his thanks to a lot of people including two musicians at the end and that set me thinking about the process of writing. I think it is very difficult to research for a book and I often wonder does it not in a way take away from the creative process.

Some Indian Writing

2005-09-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Grown up on diet of Enid Blytons, Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys with an occasional Chandamama and Twinkle thrown in, I am not exactly proud of my awareness regarding Indian literature contemprory or otherwise. Yeah I have read Rushdie and Ms Roy but then somehow have the feeling that it does not count.

So these days I am on a mission, if u can call it that to read Indian authors. I bought two books by Vikram Chandra; his novel "Red Earth and Pouring Rain" (reviewed in the previous post) and a collection of short stories titled "Love and longing in Bombay".As the name implies, all the stories are set in Bombay. I was not too impressed with the collection somehow except the story "Kama".The protaganist in this story is a gay who is working for a two-member software company that has just sold its first product and is facing a critical issue on it. The characters are realistic and the story touches upon a lot of issues. It is about gay love, about the longings for one's own house in mumbai, communalism in mumbai(can Indian writers' ever escape the hindu-muslim aspect in any of their writings) and about the shadow of the underworld. I liked the way the realtionship between the protaganist and his boss is handled. His boss is a workaholic, smart, beautiful, divorced mother of a child who has let out one room in her house to a bohemian painter.Though her relationship with the painter is not the focus of the story but the writer gives us enuf glimpses into it and makes it seem very real. The protaganist makes fun of the artsy world of painters but is also aware of the strange hold "beauty" has on all of us.Though the writer does not dwell too much into the communalism and the underworld theme but just makes you aware about these two hovering over the story and impacting it in an important way. There was another story I found interesting in parts. It was about a inspector in mumbai(of course) who is trying to solve a murder case. The other stories did not impress much. So, in case you find this book lying somewhere, read the story "kama". Thatz my reco for the day!

Yesterday

2005-09-22T02:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to clean my bedside drawer. It had been a long time I cleaned it and it was becoming nearly impossible to find anything in that. It was the usual stuff I find everytime I clean my purse (fortunately on a monthly basis). ATM slips which I always save and never look at again; movie tickets; bills; medicines never consumed and so on. And I also found one of my scribbling books there; the one I had forgotten about. I scribble a lot; a few lines which might later develop into a poem or some phrase that springs up in my mind. I write a lot of letters; the kind of letters that are never given to the concerned person. I also make a lot of to-do lists and jot down reminders for myself. And I ususally have two three books lying around my house for this purpose. I started fipping through the one I found; and there it was.

There it was; your name and just your name on a clean sheet of paper. I instantly remembered the moment I had written that. It had been a few months back on a long rainy evening. The rain had depressed me and overwhelmed me that day. The restlessness had been too overpowering and I had decided to write a letter for you. I wrote your name and then I could write no more. How do I start a letter addressed to you? And what do I possibly fill up those pages with? And what words can I use? So I had just let it be; your name on a blank sheet of paper...

And yesterday I tore that page.

Red Earth and Pouring Rain - A kinda review

2005-09-07T04:12:00.000-07:00

This really sucks, sucks BIG time. I am not able to post the entire thing in one go and so I had to break it in three parts but this is hopefully the last in the series and it is a Book Review kind of blog.

Back to the title of the post, the book “Red Earth and Pouring Rain" is a celebration of the art of story telling. It has multiple stories interweaved among themselves; multiple people telling their stories and stories within other stories. A monkey, two teachers and Abhay (whoz just returned from his studies in US) are narrating their stories to ward off Yama, the God of death who has come to take the monkey's soul. Yes, it is an implausible premise but leads to some rather good stories. The stories vary from the high school American romance to the experiences of a desi to the story of a Rajput princess to Ramayana to the story of English subjugation of India and to the life of a porn actress. Abhay's stories were my favorite though they dealt with the experiences of a desi in US; a subject that has been done to death and lends itself to a lot of stereotyping. But I liked them because I could relate to them in some way and maybe because they were set in the present time. Dr. Sarthey's story was dark, morbid and good while Tom's(Abhay's American friend) was like one of those "Wonder Year" kind of shows; a not-so-rich geeky/nerdy guy falls for the rich and beautiful temptress and it leads to the inevitable heartbreak and then self-realization but it was a good read nevertheless. I think I need to read the book again because I read it in a hurry, anxious to know where the story leads to and I actually did not stop and savor the reading experience but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes stories.

Red Earth and Pouring Rain (contd.)

2005-09-07T01:16:00.000-07:00

Continued from last post as I was having problems in posting the rest of the blog.

Anyways coming back to what I started with; I picked up Vikram Chandra's "Red Earth and Pouring Rain" along with a collection of his short stories titled "Love and Longing in Mumbai" at a 50% sale at "Odyssey". I was congratulating myself on getting a good bargain but the joy was short lived. All the pages of "REPR" have come out and the book is in tatters. I am reading the book by holding one page at a time though I must say it much easier on my hands this way. Talking about bargains reminds me of this really funny list I read yesterday in the latest edition of Readers' Digest (Sep, 05). It lists that should be but are not a part of the English language. The funniest word in the list, in my opinion was "Boastbuster - a person who when asked to guess how cheaply you bought something or the size of your salary jump gives a figure so extreme that your story falls completely flat". Man, such agony!! I am sure that this has happened to everyone some time or other. Another favorite was "Veriflycation" (Can you guess what it is?).

Red Earth and Pouring Rain

2005-08-30T02:26:00.000-07:00

I have been reading this book by Vikram Chandra for the last week or so. I picked it up in a 50% sale last weekend at "Odyssey" a bookstore cum gift shop cum stationery shop cum cafe which serves some rather nice sandwiches and sizzlers. And the best thing about the cafe is that you can read as you eat. You can pick up a book from a small selection that is displayed and read as much as you want to. In my opinion, nothing beats the good book and coffee combination.

Though this shop has been there since quite some time but I discovered it some weekends back when I was bored and had nothing to do. Hubby was heading towards one of the pubs to catch the F1 action on the big screen with his buddies and I was not very keen on it. So I asked him to drop me at this place. It had rained a little and the weather was great; I ordered for a latte and settled down with a slim volume titled "All about men and women" or something like that. It was a collection of short writings by Indian men and women. It was serious in parts but mostly hilarious; a cheeky statement about the gender equation in urban India. Good weather, good coffee and most importantly a good piece of writing, I could not have asked for anything better. It is amazing the kind of peace I feel when I am engrossed in reading something. In the business of everyday living and going through the motions of living, there are some moments when you think that "Aha!! this IS Life"; reading something good or watching a good movie or even listening to a good song always makes me feel that way.

The following lines from a favorite song come to mind

ye aasaman ye baadal ye raaste ye havaa
har ek chiiz hai apani jagah thikaane pe
kai dino se shikaayat nahin zamaane se

Lines for thot

2005-08-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Source:Unknown

Does it help to know that the web is cast around all ? That we are not alone in bearing the weight of it all. And that the prison is well populated with our fellow beings. The commune of shattered dreams. Perhaps it adds a new dimension to our insignificance. Cogs in the wheel of despair.

But how does one explain the beauty ? The obstinate refusal of hope to die away. Of the heart to continue to beat. The sweet seduction of life. Where from did that come from ? Whats our true nature in this merry go round ?

Goodbyes are so difficult

2005-08-17T02:29:00.000-07:00

I dread that final moment. I spend so many agonizing moments thinking about that one moment when I will say "Goodbye" to a dear friend. But the moment itself is an anti-climax. Things to finish, trains/planes to catch and loose ends to be tied up. There is no time to say anything and it is just a hug and a wave and sometimes not even that.

My Failed Writings and the Excuse Also!!

2005-08-10T05:03:00.000-07:00

So you can see the last post "Attempted Quick Tales"; yeah I know there is no content in that. And that is because I have not be able to write any quick tales. My friends have obliged and their lists are:

DK's list : love, hate, compassion.
Alo's list: sleep,eye-witness, advance
travel,astonish,growth
AJ's list: appreciation, apathy, courage
S's List : palace, joy, distant

5 lists and no story.

It is proving to much more difficult than I anticipated. Moreover, I am running short of time. I am not one of those immensely talented people who can spin a yarn anytime and anywhere. I need to get into the mood for writing. I need to sit with a dreamy expression on my face and a pen and paper in hand and I need to think.Think hard; let my imagination run wild.

This dependence on pen and paper is become a real nuisance in this e-world. Somehow, I just can not bring myself to write anything creative without a pen and paper. I need to chew on my pen; write a few lines, cut them out, write again, edit my words, add a few notes for myself on the margin, change a word and so on. The creative process is complex and the word documents, the wordpads and the notepads fall woefully short of sparking my imagination. I can't chew the mouse, can I? I know I can always change the words on my monitor and edit my sentences but then I lose the history of my work. There is nothing about a Word Document that makes it uniquely mine;not even the handwriting. There is something very cold and impersonal about writing on the system. Nothing beats the feel of a crumpled yellowed piece of paper with random jottings preserved from years ago; would a saved word document on a floppy have the same impact.Never, in my opinion.

Am I just too old-fashioned? Maybe I am!!

Attempted Quick Tales

2005-08-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry, nothing here!!

Quick Tales

2005-08-08T02:44:00.000-07:00

Visit this site for Ammani's delightful quick tales. Short and not usually sweet, they pack in quite a powerful punch.

As a fund raising campaign, she has invited her readers to send her three random words and she will spin a tale out of it. I think it is a great idea. So, I have also invited my friends to mail me three random words and let us see how I fare.

Update: The site is no longer working :-(

Read an Amazing Blog today!!!

2005-08-03T04:03:00.000-07:00

Read this beautiful blog by Kanurite today.

I loved the protaganist, loved the lyrical prose and particularly loved the poem (in italics) used in the post. I have a liking for poetic prose; for the abstract pictures painted by words and for the lyrical prose that flows ooh-so-smoothly. Maybe that is why I liked this piece of writing. And also because I could relate to the protaganist who is kind of confused about what she wants in life.

This post also touches upon the daily rituals we all have. Yeah they are comforting most of the times but at times they make me very frustated and restless. Sometimes we do not want to conform, just do not want to conform. We do not want to get up and read the paper first-thing-in the morning like so many people we know. So we go out for a ride on the bike every morning before dawn and watch the sunrise. But does it not soon become just another mundane habit and do we not become a prisoner of our own desire to be different. A strong consious desire of not wanting to conform more often than not leads to total conformation.

This is somehow like the Hindi film industry where everyone wants to be hatke (different) and wants to make movies which are different from the usual run-of-the-mil. But then a new stereotype of hatke movies has emerged; Ram Gopal Varma's movies being a good example of this genre. Well I am hindi movie buff so more on this trend later.

Cheers!!!

2005-08-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

Today is 2nd August, 2005 and I have created "My Space"; this new blog.

Sulekha was my introduction to the world of blogging around two years back and now I am a part of the wonderful blogging community called Dud Sea Scrawls .

But my blogging experiences till now have been more about belonging to a particular blogging community or group of bloggers. I have always posted after considering the "Reading Worthiness" of my posts and the relevence for the group. I have never had the courage to post "nonsense".

So herez this brand new blog which is simply "My Space". A place for my random inane thots and whatever I feel like writing. Life is passing by and there are many moments I want to hold on to; fleeting impressions I want to capture and thots I want to remember. "My Space" is for all of these and my space is all about "Me".

So, herez to me and my space!! Cheers!!

Herez a sample of my writings.