Sites, Sounds and Aromas of Bangalore

The hectic schedules of Bombay can be testing on your pressure levels and to get away from the routine, my husband and I decided to park ourselves for a whole week at my sister's in Bangalore. What better way to spend the holidays than to sit back and have no particular agenda. Waking up late, eating warm home cooked meals and soaking in the cool winter breeze of Bangalore...sweet vacations are made of these!!

One must know that in spite of the commercialization, Bangalore still remains slow and laid back compared to Bombay, which is in a way charming. Today is Day 3 of our one week holiday, and we have not seen much of the city as the shopping zones come to life post 11am and peak around 8pm.

The IT boom has given rise to many small eating joints, one of which has come out as the clear winner in the VFM category and that is- Kairali. If you like cuisines from Kerala, then this the place to visit. Located in a lane parallel to Forum Mall at Koramagala, Kairali is a no-frills Mallu joint with only Mallu food as its main offering. Ambiance and presentation could go take a hike and the people there make no bones of not having any. The menu has the basics like gruel with chutney and dry vegetable which is a staple dish in Kerala, appam and chicken curry to parota and grilled greasy chicken. Four of us had a sumptuous meal for Rs.175/- and that is truly value for moolah!

Watch this space for more on Bangalooru....

Issueless Matrimonials

Many may find the matrimonial section of a newspaper highly informative and even helpful considering our nation's preoccupation with marriage as an event or process. Either you want to get married or you are attempting to get someone you know married. The matrimonial section would naturally be one of the oldest and supposedly trusted sources to know who is or isn't tagged.

These are common emotions when one decides to browse through the matrimonial. However, I for one have always read this section of the newspaper with great interest as it never fails to provide a few laughs and always reminds me that there are wierd and desparate people in this world.

Here are some of the funnies from the matrimonial:

• Looking for a tall, fair, slim, beautiful, educated, religious, respect for elders, cool, caring homely girl who will support to carry family forward,good understanding, and who is willing to take care of old parents. Must not be older than 25 years. Good luck searching for that one!!!
• There are some adverts that start with -I am from a swetamber oswal jain family and I am a simple person...Very simple yet very complex, don't you think?!?!
• Now every guy wants a simple, fun loving and down to earth girl. And that is being very specific! I suppose you can find this girl immediately, now that you have laid it down so clearly :)
• Then there are those who have already been through the marriage cycle once- Divorces. I came across this guilty guy who was insistent on proving his innocence and his ad read- 40 year divorced male looking for a fair, slim, beautiful and all that jazz and hold your breathe and never been married girl... still fair enough... However he is quick to add that he was and is blameless in case someone decides to ask him about his marital status. He screams out, " Its all her fault!! I was a babe in the woods!!!"
  
• There are parents who are keen on getting their daughters married and put up adverts that seem to be showcasing their linage more than their daughter. Father is an ex-brigadier from the army and mother is a PhD professor from some top notch college. They are all a part of some elite family in God knows where and their family asset base is a gazillion rupees .... and yes- they have a daughter who needs to get married.
  

Why did Albus Dumbledore have to be gay?

I don't get it...why did the most loved school headmaster have to be gay....I agree that he generally was a happy jolly old man, but gay?!?!? And Ms. Rowling says that there were signs of it throughout her books! I did not see any of them, neither did the countless kids who read them...

Just begun reading the 7th book in the Harry Potter series.... There better be a good enough reason for this twist...

Another point worth mentioning is that the last Harry Potter seems like it was not written by J K Rowling... did not have her signature style and finesse. Some lines almost seem like it was written by a flunkie wannabe writer.... Any Comments from those who have read the book???

The Ugly Fall

Its extremely disconcerting when you have missed a step while climbing stairs or tripped over the road dividers. Mostly one would think of physical harm caused or whether clothes are intact or loss of time (especially for those from Bombay!).

Personally my only concern is the number of eyeballs that I have managed during such an unattractive scene. I have this out of body experience where I can actually visualize my downfall on a busy street and it gives me the jitters. Today was one such day when I made a dash for the Bandra Local and gifted the onlookers a visual treat!! Was trying to skip stairs and the next thing I know I was sprawled on the floor with my stubbed toe! I could actually feel the distance between my eye and the surface of the step shorten within nanoseconds. Just the sheer humiliation of the scene got me to up to my feet in no time. Irony of it all is that, I fled the scene in record time and reached the platform just to miss my train!

Movie review- The Break-Up

Just saw the movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn...movie talks of an average American couple who are living- in and how their domestic issues get out of hand...Both the actors do a decent job and keep the audience occupied...

However the movie ends very abruptly...what I really want to know is whether the scriptwriter intentionally ended the story or had a writers block...

Any budding movie makers have a view on this movie?

Twenty20 Cricket-End of the traditional format as we know it?

The Twenty20 matches are a real treat, with some terrific fielding, tight bowling and batting that is laced with plenty of sixes and boundaries and all of this in under three hours. This new phenomenon seems to suit every viewer and the sponsors are not complaining either. This form is gaining so much popularity, that we even spotted some otherwise reclusive Bollywood wives at the stands.. Hey who does not like some sporting action with filmi masala too!!

In what was the conclusion to the Aussie tour of India, the Indian team clinched the Twenty match in style yesterday and apparently retained their status as world champions in this form of the game. That brings me to the question-Do our boys have the aggression in the regular 50 over matches? Are they physically up to the 50 over matches anymore? Are these victories pure flukes?

Well time will tell, but till then the media will have tonnes of good stuff to talk about Dhoni's Devils!!

Tampered Rickshaw Meters

Mumbaites tend to use public transportation a lot more than people from any other city. Our trains, buses, taxis and auto rickshaws do a decent jobs of getting people from one end of the city to the other.

However over the years I have noticed that auto rides have become expensive. It is common knowledge that auto drivers are tampering the meters so that they tick faster. A rickshaw ride from Khar gymkhana to Bandra Station used to be 1.20-1.30 on the meter about ten years back. One thing I know is that the roads have not expanded, but the same ride now results in the meter reading 1.60-1.80, which strengthens my theory that meters are getting shamelessly tampered with.

The charge for a ride from Khar to Powai on a Sunday morning with minimal traffic would be around Rs.105/- but on one occasion while making the same trip to our Church, we encountered an auto driver who was charging us Rs.140/-.

There is also the theory of MH 02 and MH 03 auto rickshaws where the meter reads differently for the same journey. I have not yet been able to get my brains around it firmly though.

While this is becoming a menace to the regular travelers who have to fight it out everyday, the out of towner will not even know the difference and will be truly taken for a ride.