The perils of growing up!!!

You know, I've always thought of myself as someone who is not too rigid about stuff, kinda dont-carish in a way, and someone who is ready for anything impromptu sorts. But in the recent past, I've noticed stuff about myself that is new to me. I was not like that! In fact I ridiculed people who were like that. And now I am one of them! 


I used to be the kind who was ready for any sort of plan at any time, someone who was not bothered about messy stuff, someone who could pull an all-nighter if required, sitting up and talking till dawn breaks out types. Now, not so much! 


I think twice before making some sort of plan with friends wondering if it would upset my daily routine. I hate it when the kitchen is a mess and there are dirty dishes lying in the sink. I can pull an all-nighter to an extent only that I really need atleast 6 hours of sleep after that. I prefer a small crowd of 4-5 people more than the huge gatherings that I used to like. I like spending time at home rather at going out. And worst of all I hate it when my routine or whatever I have planned for the time being gets disrupted. 


And I have no friggin' clue why! What do I attribute this change to? 


Marriage? Getting older? Or as my mom would like to say, She's finally grown up!! Argh!


As much as I try to be light-hearted and in the moment type as I was earlier, its becoming more and more difficult as days go by. 


I crave for stability and some sort of a routine these days! Of course there is a lot of routine stuff that happens! But you know what I mean! 


Ah well... the perils of growing up! Phew!

Do you think.. ??

--> Do you think, the older you become the harder it is to find people of your same wavelength? 


--> Do you think, the older you become relationships that you took for granted once become increasingly complex?


--> Do you think, the older you become the more hard it is for you to change your mindset about certain things?

Cocktails and Dappankoothu!!

My latest fascination is Cocktails and Dappankuthu songs. Yeah Yeah! I know they are worlds apart but don't ask me for any reasons! 


My ipod is full of dappankuthu songs and ever since I tasted the 'Singapore Sling' a couple of weeks back, I have this huge craze to start mixing cocktails.. As soon as I get the chance and money, I am going in for a bartending course, come what may!!


But for starters, how would Jal-Jeera mixed with an equal amount of Vodka poured over crushed ice and decorated with a sprig of mint leaves with salt on the rim of the glass taste?? 

The Twilight Appeal!!

Where oh where was this book all these years? Oh... I can't believe I found it so freakin' late in my life. 


But then now better late than never!! 


Can't wait to watch the second part of the movie. The first part was awesome. I am sure the second is going to be even better. :-)


Next week ... Before that I have to finish the 3rd and the 4th parts of the book..... 


Phew! 


I haven't been hooked onto a series like this since Harry Potter!! 

Our 'Kurbaan' for Kurbaan!!!

We just got back home after watching 'Kurbaan'. We had heard good reviews about it, the trailers looked promising and Saif being one of the actors, I was really keen to watch it. Good idea about the movie watching, you might think! I thought so too until we actually started went to watch it. 


No, this is not about how good the movie is or what the story is or even what kind of a review I am going to give it. I would have been able to give it a good review had I been able to watch it properly with some amount of concentration that I normally pay to a movie. Leave alone concentration, I just could not enjoy the movie. 


Have you ever gone to a movie that looked and sounded promising and entertaining only to have not enjoyed because of the audience reactions? I have! A lot of times! And more often than not, I have put up with it because some time or the other I have done it myself. Screamed for horror movies, laughed out loud for comedies, passed comments for movies that warranted it and in general had a good time at movies - the how and where of all of it taken into consideration. 


How would you rate 'Kurbaan' looking at the trailers? (I am asking this assuming that you've caught one of the trailers!) A movie dealing with a sensitive subject, taken in a dramatic and serious way and subject to a lot of mixed opinions. This is what I felt when I saw/heard about the movie first. But never in my wildest dreams would I have thought about it as a comedy movie like the group behind me that thought it was just that. Or a high-class romantic movie on the lines of 'Notting Hill' that the couple in the seats right next to our friends thought. 


Dear lady and gent who were in the seats next to where my good friends were sitting, I have a few things to point out to you. 


---> Look! I am all for understanding when you have reached the cinema hall late and you have to get to your seats which are situated right in the centre of aisle 'P or Q' or goddamn wherever! What I am not considerate about is the fact that you step on a whole lot of toes (literally!), spill the coke that is kept on the designated holder without even bothering to see where you are placing your leg and then move over without even apologizing for the fact that you did all this! Because woman or man, if I had my way then my cup of coffee would have found a place over your head! I mean it! 


---> Also, this was not a romantic movie. Guaranteed that there were a few romantic steamy scenes, but that does not give you the right or permission to hold your own romance in the midst of people trying to watch a movie on a sensitive issue. 


---> And once more for this to get into your thick head, you stepped on our toes (again literally and figuratively!) when you went out to buy popcorn and then did the same thing again when you came back to your seat. Seriously!! Do you not look where you place your feet? Really!! Next time, I will place the leftover cheese from my nachos combo right under your pointed heels so that you get the POINT!!! Once I can understand, twice I am ok with it but THRICE???  Jeez!!!


Dear group that were sitting right behind us in the theatre, some words of advice to you too.


---> If you are watching a serious movie, you are supposed to be a little serious when you are watching it. Did that make sense? It did to me! What's the meaning when you laugh at the fact that the guy has been shot and is dying or when the bomb has just blasted off half a station into smithereens? To me it does not mean that you make crude PJ's (poor/pathetic jokes) about it to diffuse the tension. 


---> My seat felt like it was on the Titanic, what with the shaking and prodding from behind. Remember, if you have long legs and you can't keep them in one place. try folding them over one another. It helps! It does not help when you stretch and your legs hit the seat in front of you and I scold my husband thinking its him who's doing the seat-shaking. 


---> I understand that you guys are funny and you use humor as a mechanism for diffusing tense moments, but some of us actually came to watch the movie and wanted to grasp the story being told in a totally uncritical way and you telling corny sad-ass jokes such as,


# Do you know why the guy put the cyanide pill in his mouth, its 'coz he wont be able to take it in his hand and put it in his mouth 'coz his hands will be cuffed. 


Duh! Like we did not know that! Who are you anyways, a dropout from the CBI??


# Oh! They are going to blow up the subways. Do you think they are talking about sandwiches? Maybe the bombs will be put in the sandwiches. 


Okie! What was that all about? Really?? I have heard my share of stupid PJs but that one there swept the awards for the worst joke of the century! 


# Pin-drop silence in the theatre when Saif and Kareena kiss! Silence for like almost a minute and a half. And then BHAM! laughter from the back row when they actually kiss! Now what is there to laugh about? Or did he show some technique there that you were not aware of? 


# Laughter and giggles at all the supposedly sad scenes when people get killed, cars are bombed, and every one is in trouble! Seriously, do you guys have a perverted sense of humor? And that's not just it. Classic 'herd-mentality' in action! One guy starts laughing, the rest join in and then 90% of the theatre is laughing for a scene which is filled with chaos and fire and dead people. Phew! 


I have watched my share of bad movies, I have commented on really really bad ones, created a ruckus in the theatre for movies that had something to cheer about, and generally had my share of merriment! But I have always been considerate of the crowd in and around and kept to my limits! 


This kind of behavior not only spoilt the mood for the movie, did not let us enjoy what could potentially have been a good watch, but irritated us to the extent that we kept on cursing the above fellas for making a Saturday evening start off on a sour note. 


Okie why end this on a bad note?!!?!


The movie is pretty good. Nice songs. Good acting and finally Vivek Oberoi in a sensible role. Saif has done a good job as usual. And also Kareena looks a little old. Kirron Kher has done a nice job and the dialogues though a little hard to follow - 'shudh hindi and a bit of urdu' - are very good. 


Aaaahhh!! Now I feel a lot better after venting it out here!! Phew! :D

Food haunts in Hyderabad!!

Do you like street food? You know, like the roadside paani-puri stalls, the hawkers selling samosas, local tea stalls where they give you the tea in dirty tea glasses? Ah! I thought so! I like them too ... They taste really yummy!!!


My exposure to street food began when I moved to Hyderabad for work. The flat that I was staying at earlier with my friends from college was in a lane that was filled with cheap and local food stalls where you get everything ranging from rotis to chicken to the ever-famous hyderabadi dum biriyani. Hyderabad has a lot of places where you can enjoy a great meal at reasonable dirt-cheap prices and the quality of the food will not be compromised upon either. But apart from that, for the street food that I am talking about, when and if you visit Hyderabad, do check out these places! 


I guarantee that you will like it. 


Now this list of places or eateries are not just street food or local delicacies. They are places that serve great FOOD. 


Disclaimer: this post can tend to get a little long.


Paradise's Chicken Biriyani. If you are in Hyderabad and you are a non-vegetarian, it would be a crime to miss this! This place serves the best chicken biriyani in Hyderabad. And take my word for it, it's awesome! If you like spicy food, when you place the order tell them to make it 'double masala'. Mmm.... :D


Just diagonally opposite to Paradise is a small nondescript vegetarian restaurant called 'Shree Dhaba'. The Paranthas here are mind-blowing. Prices are reasonable too. A little further down from Shree Dhaba is a paan shop where you get great paan called Dimmy Paan shop. They have an amazing variety of paans too. 


On the other side of Paradise is a sweet shop called Dadu's. The jalebis here are mouth-wateringly delicious. They make these hot-hot jalebis right in front of you. One of the best things that you can have when its raining. Also, they have amazing kulfis. And their sweets are out of this world. Really! 


Oh! also Paradise-chai. Best to have this early in the morning say around 6:30 sorts when you are on the way back from a journey. They ope at about 5:00 in the morning and the chai-biskoot is just out of this world. The biscuits just melt in your mouth. 


Okie ... If I start writing like this, I am never going to finish this post. So here's a better way. 


The Bengali paani-puri stall near Nalli's in Begumpet. After you fill your palate with those big puris ask the guy to make you masala puris. These are the dry puris and they taste amazing! 


Maharaja Chaat Bandar near the Kaveri water tank on the way to Hitec city near Madhapur. Try out paani-puris and dahi-puri here. Mind-blowing would be an understatement. 


Mirchi Bhajjis with Tamarind sauce spread liberally over them at 'Balaji Mithai Bandar' at Kukatpally shopping street. 


Chicken lollipops and Rumali rotis at Al-fatha Hotel in Karkhana.


Paani-puri, Sev puri at S.R.Nagar junction. Also the mirchi bhajjis with onions and chutney. 


Chicken Tikka Masala at Hunter's Roost - Yatri Nivas near Begumpet. 


Needs Dhaba in the bylane next to Lifestyle building in Begumpet. 


Punjabi Rasoi near Gachibowli junction.


Eat Street in Necklace road. Try the Ohri's stall there.


Breakfast Bundis at KBR Park. The egg dosa and the onion dosa there is out of this world. 


Right opposite to Motorola building in Hitec city is a small gully that leads to a few places that serve food for the office-goers. Try one of these for good telugu meal with pappu, rasam, podi, etc.


Guntur Idli at the Chutneys restaurant.


Try out juices at the Rasranjan Juice Stall in Abids. Try out the strawberry juice there. Its just brilliant. 


And now for the best of the lot. 


There's this place in Koti where they have these breakfast bundis. You get there at like 7:00-7:30 in the morning and start off by ordering a plate of idlis. I am telling you, they are the best in the world! No, not even mom makes idlis like these! I am sorry Amma! The guy gives you about 4 idlis in a plate topped with chutney and podi sprayed liberally. Oh My God! Thinking about it makes my mouth water. If I can manage 2 plates of those idlis, then think about how good they must be! And idli is never one of my favorite dishes. It falls into my sick-man's food category. But this one... Mmmm... you can just keep eating it... 


And once you are done with the idlis, move over to the shop right at the corner of the street and ask for a 'Paneer Dosa'. Let me explain how this guy makes this amazing mind-blowing, out-of-this-world dosa. He puts batter onto a tava greased with oil, spreads a mixture of the idli podi and chilly powder on top of it, puts a big chunk of masala (the ones they use in a masala dosa - aloo, onions etc) on it, evens it, puts a big blob of butter on that, lets the butter melt over the dosa and then grates paneer over it like no one's business until there's like a huge chunk of paneer on it until you ask him to stop. He just keeps grating it. Phew! And then, he rolls over the edges of the dosa and hands it over to you on a plate with 2 types of chutney. 


Okie I cannot write anymore. Just thinking about it makes me feel hungry and craving for the dosa. Phew! 


Anyways, next time I go to Hyderabad, I will make sure to take a video of this. Its worth it.  Trust me! 


Now I gotta go eat something. Writing about all that food has made me hungry! 


Until later!! :)

Dance performances that stand out!!

Oh! I forgot to mention which performances in particular I like, in the last post. 


Here goes! And yeah, these dances are ones that will stay evergreen forever for me! I have my own reasons for liking these performances and they might not be conventional but they are all related to dance. 


--> Shobhana's dance performance in "Manichitrathazhu - Oru Murai Vanthu Parthaya."


--> Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey's final dance performance in "Dirty Dancing - I've had the time of my life!"


--> Hrithik Roshan's dance for the title song of "Dhoom 2"


--> Madhuri's dance for the title song in "Aaja Nachle"


--> Aishwarya Rai's performance in "Bunty Aur Babli - Kajra Re"


--> The scene from "Salangayoli" where Kamal Hassan dances in front of his daughter in different dance forms criticizing a performance she gave!


--> Prabhu Deva's dance in the hall of the house where Nagma stays, showcasing his idea for the Chidambaram Dance Festival, in "Kaadhalan" when he proves a point. 


--> Mohanlal in "Kamaladalam"


--> Revathy in "Devasuram" when she performs in anger. 


--> Revathy in "Punnagai Mannan" when she dances for the entire night to prove that she was passionate about dance.


--> The final dance sequence of "Step Up 2"


--> Shahid Kapur's dance in "Jab We Met - Mauja Hi Mauja"


--> Karisma Kapur's competitive streak in "Dil Toh Pagal Hai - Dance of Envy"


--> Madhuri Dixit in "Dil Toh Pagal Hai" when she dances to Shahrukh's drum beats.


--> All dance sequences in "Singin' in the Rain"


--> The dance party in the lower decks on the "Titanic" with Di Caprio and Kate Winslet.


--> Britney Spears in "Hit me baby one more time!"


--> Ganesh Hegde in "Main Deewana"


--> Abhay Deol and Minnissha Lamba in "Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. - Pyaar Ki Ek Kahani Suno"


Hmmm... These are all that come to mind now and these are the ones that I keep going back and watching on Youtube. 


If you think some more should join this list, feel free to let me know! :-)


Shall keep adding as and when I think of other performances. 

The Western Yodhas and their Brilliant Choreographers. You guys ROCK!!!

There are only very few things that can get me as enthused as a great dance performance. My friends who know me well enough can vouch for this. For me, nothing else is as exciting as a stunning outstanding performance. It fills me up with this kind of excitement that anything else does not come this close. 


There are of course a lot of performances for me that stand out from the rest, both in cinema and in other programmes that I've watched. Whether its any dance programme or dance competition on television, a good performance can leave me filled with high energy for the next couple of hours and an upbeat mood. And some of the dancers who participate are truly mind-blowing. 


There's this dance show on sony television that's being telecast - Dance Premier League or DPL as its known. Six teams. Dance matches. Two big judges. Just another usual dance competition based on the format of the IPL. But there's this one team that truly stands out from the rest - The Western Yodhas. 


Seven guys. One girl. Two Brilliant choreographers. You should see these guys to believe it. 
Oh man! What a group. What a set of dancers. They are the best in the whole competition. Without a doubt. Each one of them. And that includes Vishal who is handicapped. Looking at him no one could say that he cannot hear or speak. Hats off to them. Really! These guys rock!


Here are two videos that will vouch for what I say! Just watch it and they will speak for themselves.


Harshal and Vitthal - choreographers of the Western Yodhas.





And finally the TEAM!!!





Enjoy!! :D


PS: Video courtesy: www.youtube.com

Ok... I finally found a tag. And I did it! :)

You know... for the past 2-3 days I have had this urge to do a tag! I was obsessed to say the least! I browsed through a lot of people's blogs to find out that one tag that I really really HAD to do. 


And then I found this.  :-)


Any surprises that it's related to reading... Lol... I was so thrilled when I saw this! 


So here goes, without much further ado, finally I am doing a tag... yippee! (yes! I get excited at small things!)


Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
I wish I could be all smart and say that, I knew I had a taste for it when I picked up my first book... But nope. 


The answer to this would be I don't know, rather I don't remember how I developed a taste or love or passion for reading. All I know is that ever since I was really young, I have been reading! 

What are some books you read as a child?
Hmm.. When I was a kid I used to read Tinkle, Chandamama, Champak, Gokulam etc. My  great-aunt then gifted me a hard-bound book which contained issues of a magazine called Treasure Chest. I loved that book. It had a whole lot of stories of a range of myriad topics. Then I continued onto Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and some good classics like Jane Eyre, etc. Also read some easy to understand versions of Shakespeare's novels. by the time I finished these, my so-called childhood ended.

What is your favourite genre?
I enjoy books that are hard to put down. A good thrilling page-turner would be my favorite any day over a romance. I like books which have a lot of facts and trivia thrown in and set within the pace of the story. But yeah, mostly I like the mystery genre. 

Do you have a favourite novel?
I have a lot of 'em. I have this weird habit of reading the same books over and over again. I have no problems with that and I never get bored. My all time favorite novel would be 'Godfather' by Mario Puzo. I would have read this book atleast 20 times by now and I still don't get bored.

Where do you usually read?
Mostly in my bedroom, before I am about to sleep. But the place does not really matter. I can read anywhere and everywhere if a book is really that interesting.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Earlier - No. These days - Yes. Some of the books that I have picked up recently were not that interesting and then therefore before I finished them, I started off with another. 


But normally I like to stick onto one book and finish it before I begin another.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
Huh.. Okie.. this one I don't understand! 


I don't normally read a lot of non-fiction unless I HAVE to (read MBA!) or if they have gotten really rave reviews or if its a topic that I am really interested in.

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
All three. When I was in Hyderabad, I used to buy books. Like every month, I would buy atleast 5-6 books. But here, I have joined the library and that is what I am doing currently. but of course if someone I know has a book that I want to read, or one that they recommend I read, I borrow it.

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
Yes Yes Yes!! :) I love collecting books.

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
Will let you know the answer to this one in a decade or so! :P

What are you reading now?
Six Suspects - Vikas Swarup.
Critical - Robin Cook
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
Hmm.. Not really! I just pick up books that catch my interest when I am browsing through the shelves. Unless its an author that I read and enjoyed before and I have to read them again

What books would you like to reread?
Anything. Comics like Archies, Tintin, Asterix. Classics like Jane Eyre, Little Women. Thrillers and Mysteries. 
Actually I don't know why I am making a list. I reread most books that I have read.

Who are your favourite authors?

Okie.. this is going to be one long list...


Enid Blyton. J.K.Rowling. Jeffrey Archer. Sidney Sheldon. David Baldacci. James Patterson. Mary Higgins Clark. Mario Puzo. John Grisham. Chitra Divakarunni Banerjee. Judith Michael. 
Dan Brown. Sophie Kinsella. Ashok Banker. Abhijit Bhaduri. Chetan Bhagat. And many many more. let's just suffice to say I love them all. :-)


I hereby tag Poornima, Soorya, Vaishnavi, Srinidhi,Gasper and anyone else who shares a love for reading and wants to do this. 

Done and Dusted!! :)

Okie it's been a long time since I did something like this. And 'something like this' translates to starting a book and finishing it in a couple of hours. 


So yeah! I did that - Just finished a James Patterson book, 'Fourth of July' in the span of 2.5 hours. Phew! Right, admitted its not a great book, actually its just an okay book, but then I did finish it! :D


I actually like James Patterson's books. But only those that he authors all by himself. None of the co-authoring books and this one that I finished now was a book that was co-authored. 


But his books like 'Kiss the girls' and 'Along came a spider' are all truly good reads!


Check them out sometime!


And as for me... 


I am onto my next book - 'The Six Suspects' - Vikas Swarup. Yes! The same guy who wrote 'Q & A' now known as 'Slumdog Millionaire'. I quite enjoyed reading 'Slumdog Millionaire'. I hope the same can be said for this one too.. :-)

Ritesh Deshmukh - the 'Aladin' debacle!

Why oh why did Ritesh Deshmukh have to go and do a film like 'Aladin' ? He was one actor that I had high hopes for in the industry. Really! Don't believe me?? Watch his comic timing in  movies like 'Masti' and 'Hey Babyyy' and his acting in movies like 'Naach' and 'Bluffmaster'... You'll see what I mean!!!


And then he goes and spoils his own rise to stardom albeit in a small way by doing a movie like this. Why? 


Phew!


PS: Btw, I watched the movie about 2 weeks back. I just recovered from it now to blog about it! Phew!

55 Fiction has me hooked!

Okie, I have been reading about this 55-fiction thing for a long time now on my friends' blogs here and here.


I did not understand it at first, because I thought it was only about the word count. Apparently not! Wikipedia here says there are a whole lot of criteria for this sort of writing style. 


Well, ever since I read about it, I have been wanting to try it. 


And now that I have written one, I don't know if it satisfies all the criteria...


Here's my entry :-


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She placed her hand on mine. I gave a shrug to shake it off.  


Two minutes later, she did it again! I glared.  


Public place, was this the way to behave?  


She took my hand and started playing with the fingers, unmindful.  


I glanced around nervous.  


But, then, well! She was a cute little baby!


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Comments please!!!

Blog Imported as per friends' orders... :-)

Yes!!

My other blog - Odds and Ends...Bits and Pieces.. has been imported here into this one!

Thanks to suggestions from certain friends! :D

Love u guys! 

Do keep reading! And leave suggestions and comments whenever I do something crazy like this! :)

On blogging ...

A friend of mine closed down her blog last week sometime. And she was someone whose blogs I was addicted to. Her writing style apart, she had a great way of connecting with her readers. Hers was one of the blogs that I started reading when I was blog-hopping while I had nothing better to do in office and hers was the blog that I turned to when I needed a pick-me-up or just something to smile about. Of course she does not know that :-) 


So while it did not come across as a complete shock that she was planning to close down her blog, it left me with mixed feelings. I have thought about doing the same thing more often than not... and I have even written about it here and here. But I never really had the courage or the guts to close down my blog! The maximum extent I went to was to stop blogging for a while and then get back to it! 


I find it so frustrating that some people have it so easy! Really! Like they can blog about anything, in whichever way they want, unmindful of who reads it, and they care two hoots about it! I envy those people. I really do! The fact that I am unable to do so, or rather, thanks to the restrictions that I have put up for myself, thinking that the 'other person' would feel hurt while reading it, irritates me even more so! And that's when the idea of an anonymous blog appeals to me! But then I am sure even there I would end up putting myself into a corner telling myself what and how I should write something!


Is this something that most bloggers go through! Jeez! If it is, for me it takes away the whole concept of blogging, in a weird sense of course! But then, not that I am going to stop blogging... If nothing, I can vent out my frustration this way! :-)


Coming back to the point though, it did make my mood take a downward spiral when I read that there were gonna be no more posts on this blog! I just hope she blogs somewhere else - anonymous or otherwise - because like I said earlier, her style of writing is one that appeals to a whole lot of people. And its more so special to me, because, she is a friend I met through the blog world! And I am thankful to blogger for that! :-)

To import or not to import....

Question for the day...


Do I import my posts from the other blog that I have - Odds and Ends...Bits and Pieces here into this one or should I just leave it the way it is...


Help required!!

My cup of 'Kaapi'..!!

Imagine this scene!

Heavy rains lashing outside, you are back from an outing, thoroughly drenched. You get back home and after drying yourself, mix a hot cup of coffee, the way you like it and sit by the window watching the rain pelting down. Your fingers curl around the mug of hot coffee and you draw a sip from it, letting the hotness burn your tongue but at the same time relishing the bitter-sweet taste. :-)

Phew!

I miss home. I miss filter coffee. Sigh!

I have been a coffee addict for as long as I can remember. Of course people who know me now will shake their heads and say there she goes lying on her blog! But no! I swear! I love coffee. But it has to be made in the right way. Then it’s a pleasure to drink.

I was initiated into coffee by my grand mom in Coimbatore. When we were little kids, she used to give me and my cousins something called ‘drop coffee’. This was like the original coffee except the amount of coffee in it is not more than a couple of drops since we kids were not allowed to have that ‘grown-up beverage’. I used to wonder how it would be to drink the coffee that the elders drink – thick, strong with heaps of sugar in it.

Of course, as we grew older, mom stopped giving us the customary children drinks like bournvita, milo, horlicks etc and started mixing coffee for us along with the rest of the household. Filter coffee! Mmm.. She used to mix in just the right amount of the filtered decoction, mix it in with the boiling milk and add sugar liberally. She would then pour it into a tumbler and hand us the ‘Filter kaapi’ teeming with froth. As I grew older, I preferred my coffee to be strong, bitter and with just half a teaspoon of sugar in it. I liked the bitter taste. I still do!

One of my quirks (Yes! I have many that way!) is to strain the coffee because I don’t like the skin that forms on hot milk if you leave it for some time. This oddity as my family termed it stretched to such a great extent that even when we were visiting friends / relatives and they offered us coffee, I would sneak into the kitchen and make sure I got a strained cup of it. But we are digressing here!

When I left for MBA at ASB, I missed the coffee! Of course we used to have coffee served to us there along with the options of milk and tea, but the coffee was nothing like what I was used to.  It was pale and watery and had these little bits of the skin floating about. Yuck! So yours truly switched to tea! The tea was not any better but by comparison it was way higher than coffee.

And then came the time I moved to Hyderabad. I then tried mixing coffee at our flat with the instant coffee that you get these days. Came out terrible if I say so myself! Horrible! And then yet again it was back to tea for me until I left Hyderabad and came back home for my marriage! But I did get to taste the authentic filter kaapi at my brother’s place in Hyderabad where his mom used to make it just the way I liked it. So whenever I missed home I would land there promptly and his mom would serve me with the original filter coffee.

The only other times that I used to have coffee which was quite frequent if I think about it now was when we used to hang out at Café Coffee Day or Barista. In all honesty, I like the coffee (cappuccino as it is called by one of its names and forms) at Barista a lot better than the one served at CCD. The flavor of coffee at Barista was stronger and they comparatively used lesser milk than CCD which was how I was used to drinking it. So Barista scored higher there! I still miss the coffee powder they sold there!

Okie this is turning out to be quite a long post. But I am not done yet!

When I came to Singapore after my marriage, one of the things that I was looking forward to here was Starbucks! Yes! I was waiting to have my first taste of the famous coffee and to see whether it lived up to its name and fame! And yes it did!

Ever since I read about Starbucks during my MBA for one of the case studies, I have been waiting to taste this famous coffee. But no store in India! :-( (That’s one thing I am still pissed about – though I am still loyal to Barista that way!). Coming back to the point or rather my never-ending coffee-ramayan; I found references to Starbucks in a lot of other books that I read, like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ for instance and my feeling of trying it just got stronger. So the feeling was satisfied when I landed in Singapore and the first weekend here my hubby bought me a cup at a Starbucks outlet here. It’s ridiculously expensive and not something I can have every time I want to have coffee out here (I drink tea at home! I don’t take too many chances with instant coffee!)  But it’s still totally worth it.

I love the coffee at Starbucks & Barista. Way to go guys! :-)

And thus ends my post on coffee, kaapi, cappuccino whatever you want to call it…

And I am still missing the homemade ‘filter-kaapi’ at the end of this long post.

Sigh! And double sigh!  

One too many blogs!

Okie… This is the official announcement!!!

Hear! Hear!

This is to let you know that my other blog – or rather one of my other blogs – Knitted Yarn has been closed down.

I have imported the posts here into this blog.

I started that blog in the hope that I would have a lot to write and I can put my creative writing to test. But suffice to say, after 19 posts there, I have been hit by a hard case of a block. I am unable to write anything that can even remotely be called CREATIVE.

So well, I have closed down the blog and from now on whatever creative writing happens will happen here.

And anyways, I think I created one too many blogs as a friend very nicely pointed out today morning when I was chatting with him. I told him I have changed my blog’s template and asked him to check and give his opinion and he was like - WHICH OF YOUR BLOGS DO I CHECK? :P and that my friends was a reality check.

Yes Rat, I am talking about you (and am still waiting for a blog entry from your side as promised!)

So that’s that! End of story.

From now on you guys need to check and leave comments / criticisms here on this blog and my other one on random trivia. :-)

Till later, take care!

Something on another blog!

Okie ... So its just another day.


Nothing much to do, No place to go, No one to meet and I am sick of applying to all the random jobs in the world. 


And then I do what I like to do best when I am online - Reading through others' blogs. Second best in that list is blogging. 


So like I said, I was browsing through blogs and then links from those blogs to some other blogs and sites etc etc and I came across this... 


http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-10-commandments-of-facebook/


Hilarious is an understatement. :-)


Check it out for yourself.

My blog's makeover!! :)

A brand-new template...

Some tweaks...

A few more links...

Lo Presto!! A new look :-)

Blogger's Block... Writers Block.. whatever!

Sometimes it’s like this…

I come out with a whole lot of blog posts, as opposed to my sometimes-too-long-a-silence!

Can’t help it… :-)

You know, each time that I am not blogging, I keep thinking of stuff to blog about…

Like my childhood, or days at college, or funny incidents with friends… times spent travelling etc etc…

A whole plethora of stuff (yeah! I always did used to like big hi-fi sounding words!)!!

I actually draft out sentences in my mind and then take contentment and pride in the fact that I can post it in my blog… and when the time actually comes I find that I am not in the mood for it…

These moods are damn irritating, I tell you… extremely horribly irritating!

Sometimes I feel like doing a particular thing and the next minute whoosh!! It’s gone! I am not in the mood for it anymore.

And sometimes (actually most times!) my blogging falls into that category…

That’s not a good thing right?!?

I mean there’s so much stuff that I want to write about and somehow I never end up writing about it… phew!

But I promise I will try harder to write… actually sit and type down posts… :)

Anyways, here’s to more blogging!

Take care!

Two and a Half years earlier and Right NOW!!! - Personality Changes!!

This was me about two and half years back!!!

This is me now...

Some slight changes to an already existing disordered personality... well it helped me start thinking about who I really am in any case.... So in case you have comments feel free to post... :)

A Tribute to My Blog Friends :-)

You know, it’s actually been a while since I posted anything on my actual blog… you know this one here where I take out my frustrations, give my reviews on movies etc etc…..

But well here I am…and this time I want to write about the people on my blog roll, under the heading “Frequent Reads”…

The whole list that you see there is actually a mixed up bunch of people… some whom I know very well… some whom I have met maybe once or twice and lots of them whom I have never met. One way or the other I got hooked on reading their blogs… actually half of those guys hardly even know that their link is on my blog… or maybe they do, who knows?

But the fact goes that, some of them are my good friends now. And they are actually people whom I never ever expected to meet or be friends with, like Nags for example. :-) She is like a god-send here in Singapore for me. Thank God you are here girl!

And then there’s Rat – Ratheesh, who’s a rather avid commentor (is that even a word!) on my blogs… This guy I never met till now… But come someday I will meet you and your ‘thiruvathira’ gang…

The one’s I have never met include Meenakshi, Bikerdude, Sidin, Jammy, Sayesha, Silence Killed (that’s Sheetal – I met her through Rat’s and Soorya’s blogs!), Jerusha, Krishashok, Interesting Facts and Vikram… Phew! That’s quite some list… but all said and done, I admire these guys’ blogs for various reasons. If I am feeling down or depressed or even angry / frustrated, all I do is just open up one of their blogs and read… it brings an instant change of mood and trust me, some of them are hilarious like Jammy and Sidin for instance. I feel so little when I compare my blogs to the way some of them write theirs … It makes me go WOW!!!

And then there’s Vaishnavi and Srinidhi. They are two of my best friends. And theirs is a friendship that I know that I can pick up from where we left, no questions asked, no answers told. It’s as easy and effortless as it comes. Love them both! :-)

There are also couple of blogs that I have gotten to know through Vaishnavi’s like Aditya’s and Soorya’s blogs. I have met both of them precisely once and I doubt if they remember the time we met! Rahul is yet again another friend with whom I had lost contact but now back on track.. Manu’s and Pradeep’s blogs I came to know through Ashwin (my hubby) as they are his friends and now mine too.

64DC (Shivapratap), Anup, Alma Mater, Glen, Murali, Nikhil, Piya, Poornima, Rajeswari, and Satheesh Sir are all friends from college … and some of their write ups are just amazing… Simply out of this world!

Lokesh, Sanup, and Ninad are colleagues from the company I worked before.

And finally Sandhya – the person who inspired me to blog! I am not kidding! I love reading her blogs… and her blogs were the one that put the thought into my mind that I should start blogging too… so thanks a ton Sandhya...!! I owe you one!

And so here I am …

At my 180th post.

With 4289 visitors as on 24th October 2009 with the clock inching towards 1:30 in the morning.

:-)

That’s my story for now! Till later…. Adios! :-)

PS: Have been wanting to post this for a long time now… was too lazy… so well.. :D

Hello... And yes... I have started another blog...

Yes... I have started another blog...

http://oddsandends-bitsandpieces.blogspot.com/

This one is on random facts, trivia, snippets, things that I find interesting and amusing... basically odds and ends.. bits and pieces of information that I come across while browsing or reading or what I have heard from anywhere...

Back when I was working with Satyam, I had this habit of collecting information on a whole lotta things in word documents... and then I used to use it in conversations or when I was chatting with my friends etc (yeah go on.. call me a show off..! :P) all sorts of stuff for that matter... regarding remples, gods, goddesses, english as a language, origins of phrases, random facts, quotes, wines, logos, animal facts, whatever caught my fancy...

Then it started proving to be quite difficult... I had a whole lot of stuff and it was becoming cumbersome to lug it around in pen drives and hard disks... So the blog!!

And now that I have told you the history and geography of this blog.... please feel free to send across anything that you find interesting and that which catches your fancy... It will be put on the blog... and please feel free to leave your comments :)

Here's to an interactive blogging session....

PS: Obviously, whatever I am going to be posting here will be available on the net somewhere... I promise I will give due credit where its available ... so that no copyright / infringement acts are violated.