chaigate-cafe'

CAKE experiments!!

2011-09-20T04:12:00.000-07:00

I have been on a cake making trip.

It's not surprising.I have bottled in seasons & seasons of Top chef, Masterchef Australia & Top chef "just desserts" & Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and so a volcanic outburst of the culinary inspiration would have to have made it way out sometime.

I feel like I have donned a "Nigella Lawson" spirit in the way i drop chunks of butter & litres of cream into the mixing bowl without the slightest trace of guilt. I feel the butter in the pores of my skin....seriously!!

However, i have made over half a dozen cakes & a few attempts at cookies in my trusty rusty old baking oven.Its as or probably older than me & looks like a dated UFO model with a glass top.However, it's been a good sidekick & understands my cake making urges at 2 in the morning & sort of grumbles but never gives up.

So far,I tired a peanut butter cake, about 2 chocolate cakes & 1 fudgy chocolate cake with a chocolate butter frosting, a chocolate cake with a chocolate cream & biscuit frosting, choco- chip cookies & as i write this, i have 3 egg yolks stocked away to try a custard.

The pictures are from the latest cake I made for my uncles 65th birthday & it was a good evening full of family fun & housie.

2011-08-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago, i went away to Malaysia for a couple of days.

I woke up to a skyscraper view & a gorgeous breakfast of very many things.

After the first 2 days of trying to try everything, i returned to eating Toast & cereal.

I did manage to eat assorted dim sums, supremely yummy waffles with blueberry compote & whipped cream, some Malaysian savouy snacks etc over the days i spent at the hotel.

Malaysia is a really pleasing place.Everybody in KL seemed to speak English. The landscape though filled with giant glass structures still keeps its green intact.slick retail spaces with great discounts, great for fashion, food & interior inspiration! whats not to like?

The country side is charming. houses on stilts & ladies in conversation.Chinese temples every couple of kms. Beautiful roads & hill sides of green.

I did reject a lot of foods based on the smells & quite a few things were stinky but i did try some new things like, cats eye juice (the fruit looks like a cats eye & hence the name).It's light & tastes like a cross between a mild fruit & tea. There was the hot pink dragon fruit juice which had a peppered look because of its crushed seeds.I tried some local Malaysian fast foods joints & food at a charming riverside restaurant at Selangor. Oyster with eggs, lamb meatballs, prawns in hot oil, fish stew, the real Nasi Goreng with satay chicken & tons of chocolates :)

B Flat Bar !

2011-04-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a fun evening.

first there a was a little bit of a frantic hunt for a birthday gift. I tried to put myself into pri's beautiful flats (& sometimes big heels) and think of what i would like to give myself. I thought for a long time & looked at everything with a "is this a good enough gift?!!" eye but then i was too distracted....by the clothes at M&S, the new collection at Forever new and the lovely smells of Body shop. (No one else I know can make papaya smell so divine)

SIGH:) Shooopping!

well, finally we had the gifts in hand and made a mad dash to the party venue.....not without making a quick pit stop at KFC.

we chomped our hearts out & glugged bottles of water.It was a slow motion moment, i tell you.crispy fried chicken with melting cheese & warm bread. This heap of carbs is so sinfully delicious...its hard to look away.(I can almost hear my Gym instructor shrieking into my ear)

Bflat is on 100 ft road, HAL.

It has a nice lounge setting.A bar, running the length of the place, a small performance area which features upcoming artists & bands or doubles up as the screen area for the never ending cricket dramas in India. I have been there on more than one occasion but haven't really gone past 2 drinks or a kakori kabab at max.However, you'll need some solid daylight & some non alcoholic beverages to see the cracks in the wall and the missing doorknobs (if there are any).

so pri's birthday gathering was a good way to get to know it better.

Like any party scene, the drinks were pouring in......glasses being cleared & replaced in quick succession....food that disappeared fast enough & lots of hugs & voices in the air. we had everything from the innocent sounding mango bloom to the very spicy bloody Mary.

The starters were in good portions.The pork sweet & chewy.The beef spicy & the chicken favourful & light enough to have even some vegetarians dig into it.

The main course was forgettable.The chicken was very bland.very uni-dimensional in flavour & the rice didn't contribute much either.The Long island ice tea despite being pretty & potent didn't grab too many marks.

maybe a couple of drinks later.....it doesn't even matter......

Plans were made, accusations were thrown around,trips to the loo happened, glasses were clinked & forks were strewn around like soldiers in a battered battlefield, bye s were said & hugs exchanged.......what a lovely way of living it up right in the middle of the week!

ICE & SPICE

2011-04-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

Events and other fun things to do in Bangalore are scarce.

There is always the option of going out to catch a bite or the winner option of a "house party" but much else is not a regular option for Bangalore.

So after dissecting all the online forums and Time-Out Bangalore in an attempt to land myself onto an interesting Friday "welcome the weekend" celebration, the only thing R & i did find was a play.

So we reached the venue only to realize it was a kid's event and most of the audience was a parent to one of the performers.we quickly found our way out & drove half way across the city.

All the while brainstorming and throwing our options in the air.

After juggling around a bit with the possibilities, we grudgingly settled on Ice &Spice.

The place is on St.marks road nestled between a Kebab place & A wine shop.Both the kebab place & the wine shop are so bursting with the florescent light of a million tube lights that the yellow lit ice & spice with a small as small can be cafe set up is charming.the black interiors and the Quiet graphics of the board is comforting.

The desserts are marvelous and we sampled some on R's birthday when we dug into a delish cake coated with an almost burnt brown shade of chocolate.

We stepped in only to savour some cool AC atmosphere but we didn't realize that the cacophony of the 15 yr olds out with their monthly pocket money were bringing down the roof with their decibel levels.I now know that saying "My ex" is mandatory every 4 sentences & that a certain Aman likes his women to dominate him"(or something like that! )

I ordered a pasta Arrabiata.It was tangy & creamy.Served in a wide white dish with 2 slices of garlic bread. I am very delighted when i see the waiters walk up to me with geneous portions and it certain makes me feels like i'm in a hospitable place....but the warm sticky summer feeling, the noise & the heavy pasta was just the mix of things to make me feel like running out of the place.

R ordered a chicken gravy with some rice.The gravy again was thick & creamy and very white.

High on fat..low on flavour!

However, the place is perfect for a quick bite and the portions are abundant & the staff friendly.

The prices very pleasing and the place is alright.If you can brave through the teeny-bopper crowd, you have yourself a nice time!

CAFE FRESCO'S

2011-03-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

It was a day set aside to enlighten ourselves about art and us, enthusiastic art geeks decided to pay our respects to the only decent Art museum in Bangalore, National Gallery Of Modern Art.

The NGMA is now in what was previously known as the Manikyavelu Mansion. A palatial house restored to its former glory . ....huge trees line the drive way and green lawns play silent spectators to the people who come here.

Vast lawn space with a water body and a very modern treatment to convert it into a museum.The steel, chrome and concrete blend perfectly with the white and do not create any disturbing visual noises. The amalgamation is as artistic as the contents inside the space.

We spent a good 4 hours pouring over canvases and frames, squinting our eyes trying to understand the art and the artist. Standing awestruck in front of some and wandering listlessly in front of a few others.

But once we were done soaking up the paintings and sharing our 2 cents worth....we decided to calm our complaining stomachs with some much needed grub.It was way past 3 and we made a quick dash to CAFE FRESCO's at Hatworks boulevard.

The place is set in what looks like a colonial looking house but its hard to really see the space in totality and describe it when you are that hungry and the desserts on display didn't make it any better.

We ordered versions of sandwiches which was served with a sumptuous portion of fat fries.

I ordered a Greek style sandwich filled with greens and roast chicken.....and i tried (but failed miserably at) not eating the fries.

I love the two seaters in the place.Small and cozy with tables and seats like picnic/outdoor furniture made of wooden slats. Perfect for a date and dessert. The extended area has very forgettable furniture ... seems like it was added as an after thought but the food is good and the portions are one of the best in Bangalore which always makes the place a delight to visit.

The kitchen would look better covered or a little more busy.With the open kitchen looking empty, it's not really a crowd pleaser.....me thinks.

The desserts will require another post. and I promise that one IS coming.There's New York cheese cake, blue berry cheese cake and a bunch of really gorgeous looking chocolate puddings and some very "south of north america homely" type pies. definitely worth some blog space.

TOSCANO'S

2011-02-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

Another long sunday lunch amidst chattering mums melting over their baby daughters and Bangaloreans in their cargo shorts and aviator glasses at TOSCANO's.

Working in a city and trying to make it to wherever on the career map requires sacrificing the sun and so to make up for what i had lost, i picked Toscano's for a late-ish (by my standards) sunday brunch.The sun was out...and so were the clouds and there was an occasional breeze for company and sort of made it a perfect day to spend over a table full of yummy goodness after a packed workweek.

Toscano's is at the foodcourt in UB city mall, a very upmarket place in Bangalore housing all the designer brands and has almost become like one of those tourist destinations that one visits when they come to a city....though what could possibly be so exciting about 4 floors of glass and ridiculously overpriced clothes is something that totally escapes me.

Toscano's has a very cozy space with a high ceiling and lots of natural light and has quite a few things going for it including the desserts which looked "OH my god! so awesome"

The food is good and fairly priced.I"m sure it comes up a lot on people list when they think of where to head towards for a nice meal.

I had a very lush looking salad with walnuts and pears and the most awesome slab of goat cheese......that i savored to the last bit. R had a chicken breast stuffed with spinach and cheese.A safe choice but always a winner.you couldn't go wrong with meat and potatoes! (though he eyed my plate longingly) .I swear he looked betrayed that my meal looked more appeatising than his. And i must not forget to mention the ice tea...which is so easy and available everywhere but is so wrong so many times.Here, it was nice and chilled and tangy and sweet in the right amounts. almost perfect.

The Airiness and laziness of the place, so perfect for a weekend was what was most inviting and it sort of made the fact that i had to put up with a slightly loud band playing wrong music and slight pretentiousness in the atmosphere.

I have made my preference for such places fairly evident in many of many previous posts but i wish Bangalore had more such places.........

The GOOD FOOD picture directory

2010-10-28T05:19:00.001-07:00

GADBAD summers!

2010-10-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

There are so many posts waiting to be written.

I start writing them in my head, sketch the piece out with words on a spare sheet and finally scratch it all out and jump to dream about the next thing to do!

and hence a lot of posts die a premature death!

Its not always a good thing to say this and make oneself seem like an insatiable glutton....but yes i have eaten a lot of different things over the time that i have been missing on the blog :)

idlis wrapped in leaves with chutney at "janapadaa loka" on the way to mysore, this perfectly golden brown circular (almost geometrically precise circle) chicken steak at "the only place". salmon salad at toscanoes at the UB city mall.....but something that i ate a long time ago and i still remember and have photographic evidence of is the gadbad.

gadbad (in hindi) actually means a mess...and maybe thats why this sundae is called that.Its a uniqely mangalorean favourite available at pabba's but made famous by ideals ice cream.

So its a huge dollop of sunny yellow pineapple ice ream which melts into the layers of cut fruit and raspberry jelly and cashew nuts that is filed into a long glass....oh and did i tell you about the vanilla icecream and very very strawberry ice cream that forms the foundation to this deluxe sugar extravaganza....and please ! lets not forget that no sundae is ever complete without a wholesome and generous toasted nut garnish!

many (OMG...Im melting) hot summers were spent in mangalore at Ideals. sitting with only my head above the table and my hands wringing themselves over the laminated table tops...looking and eyeing and salivating at every passing tray and surrounding table till my gadbad would arrive....:)

Vicky's la terrazza

2010-05-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Mondays to fridays are a blur.

Time races and drags you, puffy- eyed, sleepy head and cranky you and dumps you right in time at friday before you can comprehend the blizzard of the week that you survived.

seriously...T.G.I.F

Long peaceful sundays is one of the many mercies that god has granted upon bangalore and one such sunday i spent at Vicky's La terrazza.

sitting on the 2nd floor of ARD complex, its this quiet open place done in blue and white.

The food is great and prices apt and service friendly enough.

It's perfect for weekday dinners and a nice place for long weekend catching up with the girlfriends.

The food...though I cannot summon the right adjectives to describe the meal i had two weeks ago....was definatly memorable enough for me to give it a thumbs up.

and of course i have the visual documentation for you to make your opinion.

bon appe'tit then??

SUNDAY LUNCHES!!

2010-05-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

i reunited with my folks after a fairly long gap of about 8 years.

i spent the last couple of years in hostel rooms, dormitories ,paying guest accomadations, rented aparments,a mortifying youth hostel, homes of relatives and friends..you name it.

I have survived on meagre buns and feasted on awesome-ly cheap chinese............so reuniting with my dramatic extended family was just another challenge.

whoever knows my family knows that family lunches in our household can be more than just entertaining.well, im not talking elaborate 12 course meals served in the finest china man can buy and served with intoxicating quantities of Dom Pérignon...or the type where shah rukh would come jive to entertain us tulu folks........our gathering where were people would talk a lot,laugh wholeheartedly, sleep on the floor, talk about philosohy,life,death,women, movies and family gods in quick sucession.

my mum like most of her cousins and aunts was born to be a good hostess.she loves feeding people...she would fed my dad more medicines when he last had his bout of flu.she would be upset if she cant empty the contents of the fridge onto the table...her knees have slowed her down but she can still feed you like a pro. she will feed you till you cry or die!

ask DT(and dont tell my mum!)

This sunday was another one of those gathering.

some uncles, aunts,a couple of hannah montana loving kids,cousins, me and food!

the party started early and ended only by late monday afternoon,.

any south indian will tell you that puris mean business and it marks an event. so there was puri.chicken curry with a good measure of yummy potatoes thrown in for the vegetarians, mutton fish-plump,white and bonless, but only till we slapped some cornflour and rice powder on it and shallow fried it till it turned golden brown and smelt like heaven.

the mums however thought that it was bland and flavourless to their refined seaside palatte which had gorged for years on sea fish everyday for a measly annual fee of a rupee.

Then of course,there was the biryani...the brown green biryani with a forest full of mint and corriander....amply moist and still dry...accompanied by the superstars of the spice trade...high on masala....with a good shower of ghee and garnished with clumps of brown fried onions ....

shockingly yummy!

The food disappears soon enough and we bring out the ice cream...fat scoops sitting uneasily in small bowls....

you could be on a diet, you could have a cold, you could be bursting at the seams and rushing to the loo, you could hate ice cream but you still got to eat it:)

since the crowd was pretty much fifty plus, we handed them a broken blood pressure checking device (a working one would be a total bummer!)

and were the oldies entertained or what!!!

VADA-PAV

2010-04-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

you have a small wallet....you have a craving for something very buttery /spicy/you want something to make sense with your thick cold coffee or you want another reason to go to "japan electronics" store on CG road,Ahmedabad....then the reason comes in the form of a squashed, toasted, generously buttered bread bun (pav) stuffed with a potato cutlet and served on a steel plate that has a poster red and a olive / sap green pudina chutney on one side of it.

There was always a crowd at this particular spot at municipal market in ahmedabad where locals and outsiders like us would regularly flock to eat vadapav.

while i introduce to you this little gujju/bambaiyya marvel...i should tell you that ahmedabad is a food city.you will find people in love with their food and it shows. on them and around them.there are all sorts of indigenous delicasies available on the side of the road, on streets, at junctions, in shops, in air conditioned showroom set ups, in restaraunts, in the night life etc.you have desi pizzas, hybrid varieties of burgers with imli chutney or proffessional looking "golas" (ice candies) with flavours that vary from raspberry to khata aam and choclate eclair.

when i first went to ahmedabad ...the vadapav was a mere 6 bucks and in the last vada pav i had there...the rate has rocketed to a 20. It was still cheap and watching those big hairy hands slather those pavs with ginormous bricks of butter was not beautiful but fascinating none the less.

It always ended with a thick cold coffee.or a chocolate shake.the kind that would almost never make it way up the straw and would choke you.......but it was the perfect comfort food.

Perfect for when u have come on a solitary shopping missison or a birthday treat where orders would fly back and forth over hours .......

The memory of good food evokes the taste in my palate again:)

HOT CHOCOLATE FUDGE

2010-04-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

Outside my window, the sun bounces off the neighbouring white walls...its still and as I peer outside to see if its only me being cooked to medium rare since 9 in the morning...i realise that the rest of the world is also being deprived of breeze......the leaves have been cursed to a still silence and the sun is a scorching ball of gold......

so in the middle of all that...my mind latches onto the thought of a hot choclate fudge...its a weekly regular and was wondering how i had gone for so long without it and i quickly moved on to dreaming about it...it was decided ....i pick it up on the way back home from one of my more favourite ice cream places...corner house.......lounge in front of the telly...watch some trashy show.........enjoy the ice cream and if all goes according to plan...pass out on the couch itself without mums background score!

between 2 and five, the craving for HCF hit a high and while i was browisng through food picures to satiate my lust...it struck me that i had never bothered to write about one of my classic favourites........

hot choclate fudge is a classic.Its medicinal value has proved precious in curing everything from mood swings to pre menstrual tantrums to heart aches and body pains.I cannot believe that the answer to all my life's questions comes in a cheap looking plastic glass filled with 2 scoops of white not so sugary sweet vanilla ice cream topped with goey....fudgy.....will coagulate in 10 minutes sort of a choclate sauce and yes the groundnuts......make them all the more glorious.

i have walked miles for hot choc fudge with an achy knee in the middle (well not so middle ...but lets make this a little dramtaic shall we?) of the night .........

i have read and re read the menu at corner house every time.....convincing myself to try something new but alas...i have always been loyal and i have scarped the last bit off the glass, wiped the rim clean, had goosebumps and prayed for such a wonderful gift to mankind almost everytime i have eaten it.

yes, chocolate is my poison and i suppose declaring it at this point comes as no surprise to anybody.

I wanted to take a picture...but it was so tempting....it vanished before i could blink!....

hence picture courtesy goes to Flickr.com.

Pondicherry

2010-01-14T23:09:00.000-08:00

2009 was a good year, a full year.

There were many trips to places. Pondicherry.mysore.hampi.gokarna.goa.mangalore.ahmedabad.surendranagar....and pondicherry again!! there was the start and end of my first job.

there was lots of food and dramarama in aiyyorama land!

i only realised all this when i seated myself on the warm toasty rocks at the pondicherry promenade while eating very very bland chana chat on the last day of 2009.

Pondicherry , second time over was very very different from my first trip there.The first trip was when the accordian in my head was playing the beautiful background score while i cycled past quaint looking houses, policemen dressed in white and old building washed in white........

The second trip was a lot of walking(in squares) arounds blocks in the french quarter of pondicherry, looking for internet cafes, asking for directions, waiting for long lengths of time for a weak ice tea to show up etc.......

well..there was all that, deep introspection and then dinner!

And the more important one of them all was dinner.

Pondicherry is like any medium sized tamil town with a lot of political posters and burly black men in lungis.Its crwoded and shows signs of their trip towards development...but then theres also the much talked about french quarter of pondicherry with its heritage buildings and streets with one too many hoardings.

there was a lot of food and inevitable chilling out as a by product of the extremly "laid back bordering on lazy" service.

we did many rounds of the ice tea/lemon soda/coffee routine but none turned out to be too good to be true. charmingly lit up little houses with nice music tempted us in.promises of wood fired pizzas with genrous meat toppings lured us in.the craving of good sea food and fancy sounding french names made us want to try these places out but we were served weak ice teas, bland pasta and sandwiches with missing fillings.

an overpriced menu with very average food and dissapointing service.

there was a time during the trip when 3 out of 5 of us in the group had to make trips to the kitchen since our requests were going compltly unnoticed by the staff.....but all said and done...i wouldnt want to take away from the slightly watery but quite delicious caramel custard and very robust looking prawns with mashed potatoes meal that my friend ordered....also the sea breeze did more than just make me super happy.

the little quite beach away from paradise beach was pure joy and reminded me why i keep going back to little beach towns for vacations.

And yes of course, there was some spirit and some more spirit to keep us hiccuping into the wee hours of the freshly arrived 2010.There were friends, there was humour (in the form of a half gujju /half english entertainment unit), there was music and there were also the pondicherry-ites who sped and skid on their bikes yelling like crazy maniacs into the beautiful blue mooned night of 2010. (well, everyone has their way of saying hello to the new year i suppose!)

Next on the list should definatly be something a little more adventureous.....(i dont mean bungee jumping of rafting.....i still have a weak heart!) but yes...2010 is about change.....:) so cheers to that!

10 X TEN!

2009-07-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

we have always discussed the lack of art in the public sphere and always wanted more art and installations in public places, more people to enjoy it and we personally wanted to indulge in it.

We thought this would make an interesting project for the community to participate in.

So join in / Sign up and lets make some interesting drawings:)

when you get bored - 4

2009-06-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

The hand puppet was taking a little more time to make...so i decided to make the man -woman pair of finger puppets.

This one is called - carla and her un photographed partner is called alberto .My camera died before he could be photographed and anyway crala was the prettier one :)

when you are bored-3

2009-06-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

This one is a gift from a friend of mine.he was back from portugal and couldnt stop raving about the place and this pretty french girl called aenise'.

This was the first hand puppet i got and we decided to name her aenise'.......:)

when you get bored -2

2009-06-26T10:33:00.001-07:00

This one is from a long time ago.

she's an actual stuffed doll with button details and a bun at the back of her head and all.she's super classy;) and her name is gangu ben!

when you get bored -1

2009-06-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is Saraswati-cause Oshto the tailor who made her gave her very bengali sleepy...irrespective of my begging him not to.

Life in the indutrial estate-Oshto and the embroidery machine!

2009-06-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

You take a piece of paper (possibly, one that is dirty and lying on the ground) and grab a pencil....you draw wobbly lines and add details...you make the person come alive with some colour and you try to capture detail irrespective of the lack of technical drawing...you tell yourself midway..."oh i need to change my style"..."I have done stuff like this before......new new!!"

...And then you finish it.....look hard and smile.....(u like this piece).......oh shit**...(i ought to kill my darlings and not fall in every little crap of paper i doodle on.....) but then .......you still go on and upload it :)

P.S: Ostho, the tailor is called Ostho cause he is the eighth child to his parents and they decided to name him "eight" in bengali to keep it simple.

Magazine cover illustration

2009-06-05T23:51:00.000-07:00

Recurring food cravings

2009-05-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

walnut meringue at herbs and spices
lasuni prawn and tandoori aloo at barbeque nation
bombay toast at koshys :)
kori gasi (chicken curry) and roti at my house
my mums green biryani
oh! hyderabad house's (aromatic, flavour rises in your mouth) biryani
hot choclate fudge junior at corner house
moca boca (yes it does sound like a bengali gali) -amazing choclate drink at boca grande
kababs at nizamuddin
gadbad from pabbas' mangalore
dal makhni from dal roti (the only veg place i eat from)
the dominos pizza with XXtra meat toping that i ate when i was in class 11.
cold pizza square pizza with XXtra meat topping at ishans house, new delhi
aneeths ghar ka bana hua awesome expresso coffee
rashmi's mums brownies
(damn!!! i need to go and try some more adventureous stuff at.........anjappar for all i care / they apparently serve turkey and veal...sorry im still a novice whn it comes to adventureous food tasting)
the masala dosa outside my office at bommsandra-rs 12 /- only!!!
jackfruit fritters at my sisters in laws house
boiled moong and cabbage from my masi's house in kerala
spicy aloo curry from my hostel refectory (hostel mess)
Phad thai noodles
museli / dry fruits/curd and fresh fruits - eaten at aneeths house, my house, gokarna, all over
hash brownies and cold cuts with toasted bread and cheese!
This one partciluar pasta at sheeba in abad ( i dont remember the name any more)
candied cherries from the stoe room in my house
plastic ice candy off the streets back in 92' (my mum was at home trying to make a healthier version in a desperate attempt from consuming those life threateningly yummy ice candy thingies)
lots more need to go onto this one list............:)

Kuch Bhi series!

2009-05-27T02:34:00.000-07:00

Looks like i need to start a blog dedicated to illustration. I am missing my food writing / drawing/eating quite a bit. i am waiting to go back to it and i will soon enough with a vengence......just wait till i find the batteries for my camera:)

Till then i am posting these illustrations for those who have not been able to see them on neil's facebook project.

A brief: "Kuch Bhi" a small red heart on a bright yellow ground...this serves as canvas and one is allowed to do just about everything...anything!! and i did just that..went beserk all along the way and ended up with some of these.

food and fabric!

2009-05-24T21:46:00.000-07:00

food/textiles and illustration :it cant get better than this.

food for inspiration !!!(as seen in the world of interiors / may issue)

Bottled peace

2009-05-16T03:07:00.000-07:00

I had an idea and it lived quite long in my head.

I finally decided to try my hand at some very primitive level photoshop understanding and execute this digital illustration called "Bottled peace".

I would love feedback especially on this one. Its one of my first trials in a new technique for me and i have bound my hands from adding way too many elements in the frame like i usually do.

I am all about the clutter:) but for this once "less is more" was my constraint.

The madhubani murder chronicles.........

2009-05-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

I have the cover illustration.........Anyone interested in writing the stories???

2009-05-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Evelyn!

cruel witch duck woman from duck tales.

2009-04-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

crayon on handmade paper

please forgive the pciture quality, this was what i could manage without a scanner and irritating lighting.hope it serves the purpose

one of those illustartions that took a life of its ow and grew by itself without my knowing :)

mourn the mangalore attack!!

2009-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

what is this sri ram sena?
When did this moral brigade mushroom and become such a parasite to our society?
My mind is full of unanswered questions.
What right do these goons have that they lead themselves to believe that they have some superior indepth understanding of our culture to allow themselves such a demonstration of violence?
Im shocked, upset and I feel violated with the sheer presence of such people and thoughts.
Im growing towards indifference because despite every right that my country says it gives me, some stupid people who think they are "thekedaars" of this right dispense this freedom to us in the manner they desire.
After spending the 60th republic day in such shameful mourning, I don't know whether I should make the mistake of a being a hopeful fool in a country where people walk into public places and bomb it, ill treat women, stab men without the slightest fear of a higher authority or possible consequences(moral or judicial).
We talk of our resilient spirits …but im sorry the uncanny frequency of such accidents is corroding my faith, my thinking and my ability to believe in the ideals of my country.
I saw footage of this girl whose hair was being pulled and head was being rocked from side to side, another was being slapped, someone was stripped, many were humiliated and molested.
What is going on inside the heads of these people who perform such indecencies so freely in the name of tradition and culture??
Hinduism is meant to be a way of life and an assimilative one at that. Who ever gave them the right to distort a tolerant religion to make it so imposing?

Do they do this because they think they have the right to treat women they way they do?
These young girls will be doctors, engineers, capable citizens and shall contribute to the society in many more constructive ways than these illiterate guardians of a vague cause shall ever do.
This is what suprises me, the dormant violence that is in an essentially peaceful country.
Every day such incidents will happen and suddenly it will blow up in our faces and probably leave us disfigured for life.
Next we know, and people will be stoning women on the street for wearing heels or jeans which they might perceive as a symbol of moral degeneration.
Will we wait wait till then to voice our opinion or will we still let the silence engulf our fears because that's the safer roué to exit.
Why is no action being taken? There seems to be a state of anarchy and lawlessness. We are a regressive society with little respect for women, other human beings, with religious intolerance and mind numbing prejudices and we still manage to publish glossy cover pages hailing ourselves as "India shining" and "the next best thing".
Why will I not be pessimistic? and why should I have any faith on the democracy or government when it proves itself incompetent and unworthy at every testing ground?
It is very unfortunate that our response to this madness is indifference.
I do not write this because I have some bigger understanding of the way these things fuction, but I as a woman on the streets fear my own safety and I am writing this because im praying while I hold on to the last sliver of hope I have in my heart and yearn for it to be a great nation.

2009-01-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

The choice was between Koshy’s and herbs and spices.

Immediately my memory darted to this time when had had lunch with a couple of friends. And then it was gourmet as I had gotten with something called walnut meringue. Well, Its still as fancy as it can get for me since I spend 6 out of 7 days in an industrial estate in bommasandra feeding my guts with spicy toast topped with oily onion something and supper straang kaapi or more often the sugary sweet milky Indian favourite- tea.

The memory of the taste teased me yet again into shamelessly jumping at the opportunity of going back to herbs and spices!

So come Sunday and I wore my Sunday best and waited by the road full of afternoon sun hoping that the knight in shining santro wouldn’t be too late.
P arrived and I hurriedly jumped into the car and a few quicks turns later we were at herbs and spices. No board, no announcing of arrival and there it was hidden away and yet crowded. Damn! yet another treasure trove discovered and looted before I had set foot!!!

A moment of panic and with the gentle aromas in the air and the sun filled central courtyard. All was forgiven .

I hate it when people talk to me when im studying my menu…cause I get very distracted and i feel im being diverted from the actual agenda…and thus I politly, whenever I can, ask my lunch mate to shut up and figure what they’d like to eat too!

P is predictale and so he picked what I almost expected him to…the beef stake!

I went for the fish with my new sea food fetish and I figured chicken makes for ordinary meat (don’t really talk me into foie gras and the likes…im going to be desi for long…..and I had to remind myself and stop P before he wolfed down his meal.so there was a temporaray interruption in the meal and the necessary documentation was done .
Thus the pictures of the half eaten fish and beef.

The fish was nice and packed .white and layered.shiny skin creased together at points giving in to the heat it had been grilled over. Thin, slimy skin tasting like mellow fire. Breaking softly layer by layer. And whenever I felt it was getting too bland for my palatte, I doused it with a (lemongrass??) sauce that accompanied it.
Contact P for more about his steak of well done beef and yummy green herbed potatoes!

Dessert was the difficult part…the meringue came in without much debate but then there is the usual chocolate fav…which I just had to have…and in this moment of massive confusion, I did what I should do…take both…yipppeeee…
Some choices in life are actually easy and I wish I cud do that with everything!!!

Also, lunch was paid for and I was dropped back. Almost felt like a date but only that it was with P and there were no flowers.

barbeque nation 100 ft road

2009-01-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

BARBEQUE NATION BLISS*

Family lunches can be fun for some…..when you know there are fun loving uncles and humourous aunties, promiscuos cousins with a million tales and little kids you can bully.
I haven’t been on too many family lunches but whenever I have been on one, I have returned exhausted. Theres way too much drama, emotion and action coupled with plenty of laughs and lots of food for one unprepared person to handle!

So first lunch of the new year was with family. “Errr…….!!!!” Would have been my initial response but
The silver lining here was the choice of venue.
BARBEQUE NATION!
Considering most of my meals and outings happen in budget places almost everywhere….i was more than just excited to have lunch at the barbeque nation with lill green papers coasters which said “the world on a grill”
CLAP CLAP
So menu for lunch would be :
3 extremly dramatic and one moderately dramatic woman….coupled with a bunch of chilled out, I don’t care, rational and logical types and that my friends…….makes a new year lunch meal more interesting that “lasuni jhinga” on a skewer.
So we seated ourselves comfortably after the round of hugs and handshakes and new year greetings!!! we dived right into the menus……..(atleast me and Kay did !!!)
So there was the rum and gin for the men, wine for the ladies and fruit punch for the kids and ice tea for me…..(yes, I sit sit at the childrens table!!)
I loved barbeque nation, concept and food since I got introduced and treated to it by a big time small friend of mine. I love the unlimited starters on skewers, brush with which u can butter up ur meat chunks and sauces you can savour it with….i love the fact that u can fill urself up to the brim with starters and jump right to dessert with a little biriyani in between.
The starters were endless and the best…….tandoori aloos…yes! Lasuni prawns …yes! Chiken tikka, kheema kabab, mutton seekh kabab, fish peppered tikka, babycorn grill, bring it on babay!
And it keep it coming!!!!

Me and kay had to take breaks and sip our respective fruit punches and ice teas to not lose focus. There were a couple of breaks and re considerations but I guess we had to stop once the waiters started ignoring us…it was probably time for main course!!

The main course usually takes back seat at barbeque nation. I skipped past the butter chicken and alloo panneer blah and some white nonsense and some jeera rice to get to some picked baby mangoes….”hmmm…inter-essting! And we move on to adraki fish…eiww??maybe …and crab meat ahh-a!
This time…I let my adventurous self take over and ventured into the sea food section and walked back with a couple of crab legs. The rest of my excited family gave me running instructions on how to break into and make most of the crab legs. We are coastal people and my fish eating skills have always made my mum frown but here I had indeed redeemed myself in the choice of food I made and I had temporarily made her forget all that and my dirty shoes for the time I looked victorious with my crab leg. (here, I must mention that I imagined the crab meat to be very different in taste but it was similar to the salty fish meat off a bang(d)a

Desserts were confused. My sister had three helpings of the gauteux just to figure out the flavour…and my nephew polished off all his little spoons and bowls of dessert only to dismiss everything off as average. I made a gaudy choice out of nostalgia and heaped my dessert bowl with fruit and ice cream and topped it off with an obnoxious amount of strawberry jelly and green coloured gooey jelly!!!!
And there I was again…..in mangalore…..just a little above the table with my qutub minar of a sundae glass with strawberry and vanilla ice cream and custard embracing me…..keeping me away from the harsh realties of homewok (then ) and the boss man (now)

And ofcourse, if I did miss the masala on the grill …it was generously contributed by the family !
Lots of general emotion and discussions kept being passed around the table along with a super cute but cranky lill nephew and some cars to keep him happy!

Coffee and conversation / courtesy: Barista!

2008-10-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Barista requires a review and an emotional one according to me.

I generously award it 4 stars cause it has tugged my heartstrings...with memroies that were rays of sunshine in dark delhi days and also with occasional extra helping of choclate sauce in my regular cafe' mochas and smiles that assured recognition.
I have been a fan of coffe since the day i walked past the shop selling freshly grounded cofee powder..my nose still sniffs around when im in the same area hoping to catch a whiff of that familiar headiness.
Although i must say at this point that Barista was one of the places i detested before full blown consumerism took me by arm and all.. * I now greedily lap up the offerings with no shame!!*
Barista, greenpark/new delhi was one of the more discreet cofee shops, blocked out of view by the delhi metro constructions..and it was inside where i waited amidst many other regulars who knew my frequency of vists and schedules as well as i knewtheirs.....i waited amidst Mr.X/beady eyed watched people from the corner of his eye while he pretended to read or the grizzly bear look alike who seemed like he had given up everything for a life of chess...and the shortcropped hair / pretty girl who everyone turned to look at atleast once when she enetered.
We usually went about our business real quick...entered..after we served our little waiting period, which we both did by turn, we would go order our regulars, dilly dally and pull weird faces around the counter while we decided what muffin we would gorge on(it turned out to be blueberry each time)......and would go and proceed to the important matters of the week such as work, bitching about bosses/ clients/ relationships / life / auto drivers (for R ) / bus rides( i lived a meagre life in comparison to R who lived in delhi and made me believe that she was in Manhattan).

What i liked best was that hey would replace the order if we fussed about it even and it probably helped that we were regulars and R had quite a smile!

I also like thier chicken chettinad sandwiches which are nice and spicy and fresh and recently discovered in bangalore, their smoked chichken sandwiches which is a meat extravangaza for a snack food *yummeh* I loved that they had a small section outside with tables and umbrellas and the otherwise unlikely Barista paraphernelia which made me feel a little less like i was sitting in a small coffe shop of a proabbaly large chain!!

Me and R loved it all 3 times a week we frequented it! and they loved it that i proabbly lavishly spent a huge part of my small stipend on them 3 times a week for a long long time!

namma ooru bangalooru.....

2008-09-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

It has been seven months since something went up on my blog!! the urge to write has been killing especially when i have a heated argument with a goon of an auto guy or some irritating something else. and i dont know who to vent to...these things bring out the dormant anger in me.

Have temporarily shifted base to bangalore to try life ......i start my day with waking at an ungodly hour where i curse till my brain goes numb and then i rush to be greeted by the south indian rice "item" for breakfast.........so i have had all forms of pongal, puliyogare,chow chow bath,bisi bele bath, lemon rice, curd rice, tomato rice, sambhar rice, ...its a rice fest and i dont like it!!! NOT any more......then comes "raghu" the killer driver....rumour goes that he previously was an ambulance driver...the question rmains if he drove dead people around or if his driving killed them..i woudl love to pick the latter cause i ahve sat and reviewed my life in 3 second span sesions every time he decides to pull a turn or turn a trick on his unsuspecting co traveller.

I head to office and head out dreaming about a future...i did the same thing two years ago...Dreaming about the future is a disgusied form of self torture...my theories on that and many things else will be revealed in a book i will write on another vacation in some sunny beach place or some pleasant hilly place..(you see what im doing here...write, vacation, sunny beach....dreaming!!!) somewhere in between i battle laziness, disillusionment, and more rice meals and watery sambhars before i step out at 5 when the office shuts. Its a six day routine with little space for anything else...much of what i want or itend to do in bangalore remains...and i keep dreaming.......about the future!!

Piece of Bombay!

2008-05-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

A quick sketch done between escaping a bunch of sleazy eve teasers and taking a cab to VT to meet a friend.

The upper half of my body is constantly craning outside the cab window between colaba and mahalxmi trying to soak in the amazing architecture and glimpses of peoples homes. A pista green living room with huge chandeliers, a clinical tubelight lit room with metal accessories, empty balconies, bunk like rooms in blue that are scattered along the sides of the road, theres lots to see if you have the time in a fast- fast paced Bombay.

Tropical sunset!!!!

2008-04-28T12:20:00.002-07:00

Tall and tanned, young and lovely, would she qualify for the girl from Ipanema?

Im biased cause i made it but i think she really looks like a tropical sunset (im sorry if that sounds like a cheesy drink in a gross beach bar!)

Im usually super lazy and dont really venture into messy mediums like paint or watercolours.This one came after a long break and a craving to get back to the medium.

The green eyes and brown skin combination is what i saw on a beautiful little baby a few months ago and couldnt help but wonder what gorgeous young thing the baby would turn into!!

WOrkk it!!!

2008-04-28T12:20:00.001-07:00

There is no way i could live with myself after eating all that food i love and not doing anything to work it off. So there are my morning gym sessions and my evening walks which cut down (on calories) and on the guilt i might have when i binge on a goey fudge cake with ice cream at the next opportunity i allow myself.
So after drenching myself in sweat and becoming disgustingly out of breath , i reach home and realise that my last tyre is as loyal, faithful and clingy as the the pet i never had. Its here to stay...dammit!

Dinner TIme alreAdy?!?

2008-04-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

My style of cooking comes under the broad categorisation of "cook and go" style. I cook with the ingredients i have and usually cook up something which does not take me longer than 10 minutes to make and 20 to finish.(some say im a slow eater.) so today was macaroni with red cabbage(the cross section of the red cabbage is freakingly pretty and a possible textile inspiration for the starved:)) and beans, mashed potatoes with a generous cheese dose and dried tomatoes. The scorching heat in our tropical country comes to one good use..........it can dry tomatoes up in less than a day! thats a shocker...isnt it? if it werent for Rs 20 for a kilo of tomatoes, my kitchen cupboard would have a nice tin full of sun dried yummies for use the whole year through!!!
Serving suggestion: best served with full control over the remote and a good show on the telly! *bliss*

Breakfast at nammOz

2008-04-23T11:45:00.001-07:00

This one just could not go undocumented.It called out to me which is why this mundane, boring and so done sort of everyday breakfast gets its 15 seconds of fame on my blog.

On most days, I end up waking up right in time for lunch... so afer nibbling on my mum's evident displeasure at my bad waking habits...i proceed shamelesly towards the lunch counter:) and so in the last 4 weks i have been home....there has rarely been breakfast.

so last night after "Top chef" on AXN and "Hell's kitchen" on Travel and Living and a lot of critical thinking about important matters..:)...I figured...sleep wasnt on its way today..so i sat up tossing and turning thinking about how the morning breakfast ougth to be. Chilli& cheese toast (which i never had enough of when i was at NID) , a full omlette and hot coffee. yummmm!

My mum's friend sent us over a packet of freshly ground coffee powder from her estate in Chikmangalur and we finally had something that was authentic and as close to gourmet as we possibly could be!My dad woke up to the very very unlikely sight of his daughter cooking up a wholesome breakfast even before he went for his morning walk.

Once the cooking was done, there was momentary figthing off the urge to gobble down a lovely brown toast with a catastrophic amount of cheese melting away seductively on it.....and then there was also me shooing away a very interested crow with one hand and trying to be photographically perfect with a camera in the other hand!

Being nowhere.......doing nothing!

2008-04-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

When i was 14 , i thought people made too much of a fuss about being a teenager and the trials and tribualations of it and all that. I sneerd at it back then but realised by 22 that like most things in my life, the reality of confusion and all that it encompases was runnning late but did a mighty good job when it finally did catch up! Im hoping weak bones and grey hair will also bring along some peace to me.If you wake up at a different place and at a different time , would you wake up as a different person?...Edward Norton thinks to himseelf in Fight Club.....and honestly havent u thought of the same thing(maybe in different words) at some point! 70% of my life lies ahead of me and i cant help thinking"what if i dont get to where i want to get to?"im full of questions and maybe of the wrong kind! Things that should interest me dont and confusion and me have a history together! Life is really happening in spurts and it pretty much is in transit lounge stage where u sit around waiting for your flight to come around!The problem with independence is that it becomes its own monster and takes over the person in you that once in a while wants to cuddle up to her mum and whine her heart about it or cry so much that it would flood the planet!
catching strange thoughts that buzz around like irritating flies around my head. Rambling is an art and I do it so well. well, the point of this is that.........(like someone said ..) pointless stories are my thing!!

Men in BLack!!

2008-04-22T04:11:00.001-07:00

It was my first ever attendance at a fashion week and so i was appropriatly excited!

Maybe im very new to the field to even give my opinion on it.... and maybe those who have been dedicated to it will snub me at my uninformed remark but i really was quite disappointed with the "fashion" i saw. The fashion I saw on the ramps, in the stalls and even on the people was far from from I was hoping it would be! (that doesnt go to say anything about my sense of dressing...we can discuss that another time)..... but from the regular fodder i fed myself on fashion TV and a couple of Vogue's and a lot of people with good attitude and oodles of style left me quite disillusioned post the fashion week. The one inspiring trio i saw were dressed in ..... an "Oh so regular" Black suit but looked so charming with their grey hair and geeky glasses and lost faces that i just thought they were pretty much made my day.

P.S: This doesnt go to say i didnt enjoy the fashion week cause i did and i learnt and saw and observed and feasted my eyes out on some gorgeous clothes, celebrities and models. so all is eventually "Yayyy!!"

Ink ILLustration!

2008-04-15T01:14:00.002-07:00

Me is currently home, hogging and happy!!! on a particularly good day after a good sunday meal post starter, main course and 2 servings of dessert, i felt like i was a stuffed turkey on her way into the oven again! Was trying to get my metabolism to treat me with some sympathy after i had done the damage! In my balcony that overlooks the road.....On a surprisingly cool evening in an unbelievably hot Vijaywada!

Bombay fed me well!

2008-04-15T01:14:00.001-07:00

Food is such an attraction when i am travelling. It keeps me looking forward to something I have been missing for long.I cant wait for the "Cutless" (cutlets) on the train journey to wherever..."Zinger burger wth extra mayo" when im in a place where i cant get to a KFC corner.......masala dosa when im in bangalore...or "Malai rabri" at Gwalia's in Ahmedabad....OMG...the list keeps growing endlessly in my head!!!(no wonder i never lose weight!)
I was in Bombay for a fortnight last month and i was rubbing my hands in glee just thinking of all the marvellous food i could hog once i was there. I had prepared countless mental lists to remind me of the places I had wanted to go eat at again. I have spent very little time at Colaba or Bombay for that matter but my food memories of the place are very fond!I was salivating at the very thought of all these places.
I spent a Sunday with a dear friend at Colaba and i just reconfirmed after spending a good sunday with her that ...two foodies is way better than one!
So at soul fry casa, goan chicken curry, rice and some yummy pina colada's later along with some long due conversation I achieved my long waited craving for a good wholesome lunch!(Rice is the ultimate meal maker for a deprived south Indian u see!)
We were stuffed and sleepy but i dont think the state lasted for long.A few seconds later, a guilty suggestion was made to head towards "Theobroma's" and feast on some food for the gods!
So I had my love for a long time-chocolate!!..and walked out with an aphrodiasiac overdose...
Another new entry to my existing list was an Irani in colaba with sparkling clean mirrors.The food was good too but since i had stuffed myself with cookies and cocktails the entire evening (as unlikely and gross a combination as that is ... I was on a mission....and wasnt willing to let go of the freebies that were a part of it!:) so post all the junk, my stomach wasnt willing to accomadate the excellent prawn curry, reshmi kabab and caramel pudding. I instantly knew was going to regret missing out on something taht looked so awesomely delicious!.
My face lights up like a neon billboard when it comes in contact with good food!
So Bombay this time was was a lot of good fun, learning, FOOD, biryani from luckys, famous bombay sandwiches stuffed and piled with tons of veggies, cheese, sev and unlikely things that you would never want to see in your sandwich but full faith in your sandwich wala makes u a happy person post the brown toast!, pork curry, chicken curry goan style, yummy cookie man biscuits and peanuts that i practically made meals out of for several days in a row, yucky chicken liver patte' that my head cajoled me into trying.My taste buds revolted in disgust!, chocolate and coffee from everywhere, good musical evenings with friends, dinner by the beach, a crazy taxi ride all over town and all that, black tea and pure magic biscuits.........:)

Doggy peee !!!

2008-03-05T22:23:00.001-08:00

I have a friend who goes by the name Mandakini. (loyal reader of my blog, colleague in coming up with sidey cheesy promo concepts, dancing partner in drunken parties and telepathic companion who excels in matching my bullshit quotient). She wants a dog..and real bad...she found many cute ones, all which she almost wanted to take home but couldnt. I made this illustartion a long time ago..long before she said she found her dream dog.......but i have a feeling she will like this illustartion and see the humour and support the technique. This one is dedicated to her dream dog......which i would like to probably call "snoop dogg!" but i think she has other stubborn plans!

Shu che Shocolatery???

2008-03-05T22:23:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine, non fussy eater types took me to a place close his side side of town and far way from my surrounding,auto budget area and taste.

So there we were at shocolatery....fancy as ahmedabad can get .....high heeled pumps walked in with suprisingly well fit trousers, english speaking, unlike amdavad amdavadis..(sorry for being so blatantly politically incorrect here...)

The place looked nice...good upholestry.....interesting details assigned to the cutlery and a fairly pleasing menu.

I ordered a Penne Pasta in a hot Italian tomato base and my friend ordered a salad..( yes...it suprised me too.I have been out with too many guy friends who tear their chicken apart and stuff their faces with kababs for me to take this sweet smiled boy as a voluntary vegetarian!)

I felt cheated about having to eat pasta that seemed like it was made by a tikka chef with bacha hua butter chicken gravy..and the only thing exotic or remotely exotic in the salad was olives...

Hard to want to shell out cash to eat something that u know ur khansama(cook) can cook better!

To wash out the aftertaste of this incredibly plain meal....we ordered a chocolate mousse going by the name of the restaraunt.....we ate a few spoonfulss, exchanged twisted expressions and complained about the lack of the alchoholy flavour.

The only good thing about (swanky) restaraunts in Ahmedbad is that you can eat a decent meal with dessert and all and still not feel ripped.Its a matter of great significance if your monthly income is coming from your dad's unwilling wallet!!

The drive back around the city and back to the institute...playing Rolling Stones on full boom volume and singing loud enough to scare the other motorists off the road was the best part of the evening!(like they say....save the best for the last!)

All in all....AVERAGE......is the verdict! I rest my case!

Amar rahe Amardeep hamara!!

2008-03-03T23:12:00.000-08:00

Amardeep is this 9 tabled restaraunt which is situated at a 10 minute walk away from my institute, (NID).Amardeep has never been some place we have gone because we were craving for the food or the ambience or a quiet dinner or whatever.It has recieved a lot of "taken for granted" attitude from us ..since we go there with the selfish aim of just eating a full mean meal from starter to dessert at Rs 25/-..(u dont get a lot of that even in the third world anymore i guess..:))
I thik they feed us with this overwhelming maternl instinct...much like u never appreciate home food enough but u still eat a lot and u dont really give ur mum credit for it!!!
we went yesterday, a pack of 10 ravenous "US"!!!
"bhaiyya.......10 thali"
"bhaiyya...mujhe sukha roti..mera wala butter lagana....mere ko chaas..mujhe dahi.....kheer hain kya.....sabji kya hain..aur do sabzi..papad milega...thoda cheeni la do..daal bahut meetha hain etc etc etc etc." the list of instructions and requests is endless ......the food is fine...fills u up.....u walk out with bursting seams and burping friends.....
The people are nice.There is always a friendly smile and a very delightful crew who cater to the numerous calls and demands with the traditonal trademark rajasthani hospitality.

i'd like to thank.........

2008-02-03T03:20:00.000-08:00

The problem with life is that there is no background music..and its probably because we dont live life motion picture style..but id like to believe, now looking back at the times i have lived through in my short life, have been ..well..cinematic...the people you meet, the places you go to, the trips that you take, the things you do make so much of you. The place where i was born and where i belong are far apart. I have never lived in a place for more than 4 years at one stretch. My memories go far beyond the pictures i have captured.My photo stock has cropped up only after i earned myself a digital camera .....but the years before that have countless memories in technicolour but a limited handful on photopaper. The pictures here are only a quarter of the last four years.

Reminscing is what i do best nowadays...(which is why i need a job quickly) and thinking about the life i have had the pleasure of knowing makes me want to thank everyone. Annu akka for the "bugori" picking sessions, govind anna for spoiling me with the chocolates, sweety for teaching me to ride the cycle, sachin for playing domino with me, arun for being my chela, jaya aunty for teaching me how it feels to draw..........the list is simply endless. Im glad i got to play on the streets back in the days when traffic was not such a scare, lick mud out of curioisty, run in the afternoon sun feeling like i was right out of ruskin bonds imagination.......i go back to the places i grew up often in an attempt to feel the same way again..but that is impossible and the realisation only occurs after having taking the troubling of trying to live the moment again.

on a wild "chicken" chase!

2008-02-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

I'd love to have a small bistro some day, something with wooden floors......and lots of cosy corners with knick knacks that tell stories and entertain, lots of coffee and chocolate...(its a heady combination and one of my favourites)...but till then i just hope i keep bumping into places like this.

well, the northeastern friend with a fascination for fried eats was working its head overtime with where to find the next deep fried platter of chicken and in the quest for the same, we reached nizamuddin.I have been there, on more than one occassion to eat the famous kababs that i can almost smell till my house on a day when my head can crave nothing but food! The rumali rotis around here can disappear at double speed before u realise that todays feast will show up on tomorrows weighing scale...and i can hardly concentrate on the conversation when the food is divine..........so nizamuddin becomes a favourite haunt for more than one reasons...its in close proximity to my residence which in a city as huge as delhi is of great consequence, the food here is great and the air around here is mystic enough to make alladin leave baghdad.The place is cramped and swarming with people......men in their long white kurtas and chequered lungis, kohl eyed look into you like they are divulging a secret into your ear,the women peeping from within their burkhas huddle with their children with a faint sense of fear. Walking through the bylanes, i felt like i was looking for lost tresure with no map in hand,walked the bylanes absorbing every sound and memorising each board so as to find my way back from this contorted mess...the dimly lit inns, strange looking beggars with long capes crying out into the night, a dilapilated haveli that looked like it had seen better times and beautiful young maidens and a small graveyard sitting pretty right next to a mechanics shop!!!I really had to pinch myself if i had crossed over from reality to the fantastical just because my imagination and excitement were working overtime!I felt like someone was walking me through a story.Amidst all this was a boy, squatting near a tandoor and making hot bread under a yellow bulb.He had quite some space to himself in a place as cramped as nizamuddin.I just had to take a picture and i was grinning with glee. well, these sort of things do that to me!

culinaire calling!!

2008-01-07T02:17:00.000-08:00

2008-01-07T01:13:00.000-08:00

Cosy corners that envelope you in freezing delhi winters is all one can want. The multiple layers of blanket and a soft yellow light filtering in through a textured shade is something i cant give up in lieu of a solid bribe as well. Usually dinners in winters are more like picking up a sub or sandwich or a greasy burger and running off to a more shelterd place with less noise intrusion where i can ctachup with my strange friends about the mixed up lives we lead amidst cranky bosses and confusing desicion making.Saturday demands social activity.....and after eliminating fancy ,expensive places that we on most occasions are unable to afford despite our pooled resources.

i gave up arguing about a place my friend recommended (though she insisted on calling it a dhaabba) when i saw myself bordering between being difficult and whiney.....i slapped myself straight and agreed to go.....(im so glad i did and im so glad she persuaded us into going there....)

the place is called "culinaire".....im so surprised a place right on the main street ...a few steps away from swanky m block market in GK II can be so sweetly inviting with no airs about itself unlike most things and people in that area seem to blanket themselves with.

i was almost immediatly charmed with the small green rice lights that hung around the trees...so unaware that christmas was a good 20 days ago.The people inside the kitchen were working away furiously while i read all the items on the menu board that was mounted above the kitchen window. coming back to the freaking winter cold wave......all hands at the table rushed to warm themselves around the little angeethi with coals on each table.we were occupied fighting for warm room around the angeethis till the food arrived and all eager eyes and hungry tummies shifted attention.

Culinaire serves thai,chinese and lebanese food sans the msg which was watermarked in super big font across the menu. we ordered some green curry, red curry and rice with some crsipy lamb with sesame seeds on the request of one of our north eastern friends with an obsession for crispy eats. The food was sweet and spicy at the right points and the portions were satisfactory as well.The crsipy was succesful in shutting up our friend and the others ,as much as we vehemently deny it were diggin into the crispy lamb just as much. The bill was adequately small and light on my already stripped wallet.i left walking on a little cloud...just because i love such quaint small spaces and would like to own one like it one day and it was like i was in a different place and town. it left me with a silly smile that made the others think i had been back from a quick trip from loony land...but whateva!!!!

2007-11-09T05:26:00.000-08:00

Orphan children we are living in lost worlds carring unknown baggage and crossing mysetrious places with noticable surprise on our naive faces. What are we really looking for ? The search of a universal thruth or permanency bothers us to no end...groping for a concrete piece of something........such a load of shyte ...you might say...woman get a hold of yourself....but the wonder is just always ever increasing........what makes you happy...even if it is momentarily so...i think the pursuit of a perpetual state of happiness is quite a high goal to set for yourself.......

So what makes you happy?

A box of soft centred chocolates or un expected compliment or just a lovely conversation.

All three work for me but i am biased towards a good conversation anytime.I love a heated or a heart to heart talk,argument,discussion or fight....i think it makes things more real.

I have always wished and waited for a mind blowing conversation with a co-passenger on the train or a flight that would change my perspective or pull up the curtain to expose a new window to the world.......alas....the best i have had so far is " Have you watchedthe film, Humtum??" or "so Bangalore is famous for cashews is it?"...and i think the twisted mouth expression discourages them from trying say anything for the next couple of hours or maybe the rest of the journey. I had another one of those awesome conversations I was talking about last night at a friends house. opinions and answers and doubts and musings were flying back and forth and by the end of a good two hours ,we realised there was more than just the food that was spicy.There was one plate,four hands and definately more than twelve topics. Religion and politics made good accompaniments for the fish. A little family, friends, films, best drinks and travel destinations, hot women(unfortunatly the other 3 dinner mates were all men and so no one really was willing to drool over a Johnny Depp!!!!) .

It was a normal evening by every logical way of reasoning but.......... it actually wasn't!!!

delhi post comes again!

2007-11-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

Delhi bus rides have brought out the worst in me..
looks like this is a subject of constant intrigue to me.....
.i feel so disgusted after a bus ride that i have to sketch the memory out in order to express myself.

2007-08-05T03:10:00.000-07:00

Delhi Diaries. bus.....stop!
being on the inside of the bus gives you this feeling of calm coz once you have stepped aboard a blue line bus in delhi,you have to give up on all hopes,ambitions and dreams.They are taken over by the driver and his elaborate crew who play with lives like juggling balls.You have to have a sense of humour to appreciate a bus ride here.(or severe lack of fianancial resources).
I always found it funny that the apprentice who looked like a little rodent with the most menacing look was called "muskaan".....i cracked up everytime he was addressed.
But if you do look beyond the horror and danger of it...you can reach any part of delhi in minimum fare.Im all for good public trasport...(though this one doesnt fall in that catergory!)

delhi diaries...people post!

2007-08-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

people people everywhere but a soul to talk to!

Its surprising that we live in such a populated country and make such high demands of personal space.its good that mental and emotional space has no physical proportions or we would be at war perpetually.

I realised how i keep such a grim face every morning on my way to work.......i would hate that i would have to return someones smile.I keep my hands crossed and look like im having my worst day ever.I snap at poeple who ask me for directions and cut short all conversations to the minimum.I walk like i have so many places to go and so much to do. I keep quiet at work so that i dont give away too much about myself. I come back home and am too tired to make conversation.my day passes without me even smiling and weeks pass before i realise what i have been upto.
We seem to be so on guard all the time, skeptical of everyone around us, wary of making conversation and so full of temper and impatience all the time.
I stood, a mute audience to a scene where an angry driver pulled over and upturned a mango cart ......the reason was stupid and no one volunteered help.neither did i. It made me wonder the estranged lives we lead and the respect we pay to other people around us. I am not saying "be a doormat" but why be so critical all the time....why be so cold..???............It makes me question the person i want to be and the values i want to keep with me. My parents never articulated the upbringing they gave me in words but it certainly wasnt geared to turn out to what this city was moulding me into.
A woman outside a trial room coaxed me into a conversation and it took me 5 mintues to return her warmth. when an unknown person smiles at you, offers you a perfectly clean favour or just changes your day with a bright conversation...our faith gets reinforced in all the things we get disillusioned about.
i love the feeling...and the woman (whose name i dont know) outside the trial room got me hooked to this and has made me an advocate of it.n I only wish i would be more open so as to practise it.

2007-05-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

2007-05-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

2007-05-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

me aur meri tanhai!

2007-05-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

I saw a poster by VOICEBOX requesting articles ….it didn’t say anything about the topic I chose to write but what the poster communicated to me was different. It said : “draw an article” …..well…..now looking back at it I don’t know I the poster was successful or not but it got me to think about something.
In the first six months of foundation…life is literally hell…you have no clue where you are or what you are doing and you surprise your self each day at your new found sadness which reasons itself as homesickness ,anxiety , stress ,the incapability to cope or sheer lack of skill. I suffered the lack of skill syndrome. I shuddered the thought of holding a pencil…it would mean to draw and eventually be humiliated in a class of 58 where everyone seemed to be blessed with the most jaw dropping drawing skills…….it was a constant battle to be confident and keep up the appearance of it and dive deep in to search for it everytime it took a beating………somewhere along the line…I gave up being bothered by it……I couldn’t care less….well….i couldn’t draw and so I wont…..
I detested sitting infront of leaves that didn’t seem to communicate to me, forget inspiring me to document them on a creamy white catridge sheet. I realized at the end of a drawing session that all my trees looked the same and all my heads were round. It was a dysfunction and sometimes when u cant cure it ……u live with it!!!!! So I was……until “mujhe mila HOW magazine ka ek anmol article…it changed my life forever…”
I’m sorry this has to sound like such a self help moment but the one HOW magazine that I accidently picked up featured this article by someone I don’t know who spoke about drawing…..and it was interesting…….the writer spoke about how drawing enriches our lives and how it gifts us the eye of observation and so makes insignificant moments more precious……..at the end of it all was hunky dory , made good read, kept me company on a hot summer afternoon when I was close to stapling my eyelids to my eyebrows lest I fall asleep…but nothing more ………
It took me the chai gate and the severe lack of company that drove me to draw my first bit…..it was uninhibited, it had no sense of proportion, no sense of direction, it didn’t posses squat of line quality but it was honest…it was exciting and was gripping,.almost like a thriller novel……just no murder involved here……
I started to draw more and more…..on vacations I went to, in restaraunts I visited, in parties I attended, in bbc gathering….i got condemned for being anti social and not providing my bunch with the entertainment from my incesssent chatter ……
Now looking back at it…I love that I started doodling again………this was how I had passed through my 10 years at school through ugly and morose chem. and math classes…this was what kept me awake and alive and frankly it offers you the world ……u can draw whatever want……….courtesans, old ladies that you watch when u return on the bus, witches that fly or places you have never seen…its fantastical and its beyond the real and boring…..I’m sorry if sound so gung ho about it but it’s a world I have recently discovered and thus my excitement is justified. It gives you the power of expression without imposing the rules of proportion and technicalities of fine artistic tastes and expectations. Its like the poor mans soul which rebels against the wealthy and the privileged. You have voice that speaks more than one language….it teaches you that one doesn’t have to be know the rules to play the game…. The beauty which lies in the flaws…in the fact that it stemmed from the not knowing how to draw………its probably not as romantic as I picture it to be….. but it has made life more visually appealing. Amen to that.

2007-04-12T05:06:00.000-07:00

i am back at home and without a chai gate i feel highly out of place.the thing about identity is , i think its very relative.i never feel a crisis when i am on familiar ground. i feel supremly lost when i feel i dont have a map of something in my head.i feel unsafe and intimidated by unknown alleyways and endless roads. im not saying anyhting new..its just that i relaised this recently.i think we are really not as wise as the 23 that we think we may be. its times like that you feel like you want to look over your shoulder and see daddy behind you.its only when u do turn over ,you see the unknown slimy guy with a bad conscience following you. being a designer doesnt help in anyways...after being told that an analysis is a part of you job, i feel nervous when i dont have a roadmap in my head....which brings me to where i am right now...."bombay".the city is big, crowded,filthy but yet in so many ways endearing.you never know where the road stops and where the footpath starts and people and garbage spill over all over amidst smoke,dust and grime. the sound of me may make people see red...but i guess this is every newcomers reaction to the city. the ones who have lived here for years together will never let you say these things.apprently this place makes dreams come true.well...all that siad and agreed upon,we still have to consider the capacity of the city and we are way past the capacity.we are burdening the city more and more.and just becoz u have money is no solution to the problme.u have money and so the water tankers keep refilling the tank and you never get to know shortage of water and experience a powercut does not mean bombay is ready to take it on...you are probably treading on other people's toes to enjoy what you are. no no,i dont want to feel guilty or induce guilt in anyone..its only what one thinks when i see all the numerous designer shops and fancy eateries in every nook and corner.its something that bothers me evrytime when i drink my regulars at a mocha or eat my favourite at a churchillz or something...the fact of the matter...are we giving the problem its due attention.

chai gate par kya hota hai?

2007-02-03T13:50:00.000-08:00

so what is this chai gate cafe?where is it and is it any good?
well...i dedicate the name of this blog to the chai gate...as the name suggests a place near a gate where chai is the only item on the menu......you could ask for bhajjiya or biscuit depending on the mood of the chai boy and the availability of the item....but what so interesting in a cup of tea...
well lots....it takes a lot for a coffee addict to switch loyalty.....i still smile when i smell coffee....it reminds me of my childhood and walking past coffee stores ,the air around which was heavy with the smell of good coffee powder which was "the" ingredient in every south indian kitchen.
.........so coming back to tea....my love was inculcated...an appreciation was built and it happened only because of the events that occured at the chai gate. a heated argument which lead to a very constructive activity or a depressing conversation or a hearty laugh......or general chilling out.....the tea always flowed...it was like there were barrels of tea hidden away from view with the attendent serving us refills even before we could see the bottom of the cup........
there have been times when i have seen the shadows change as i sit agaisnt the fence and look at the crowds fill up the place ....its like watching a movie...and the movie changes each time.....sometimes its a classic, sometimes fnny,dramatic once in a while and peaceful most of the times.so basically.......i dedicate my blog to the chai gate that has given me so many interesting moments .....and hope this willl be a space is virtual relity where the same kind of interaction happens ..........

2007-01-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

i have heard from my more informed and technology savvy friends and collegues that blogging is the new thing and that it provides the platform to interact and meet and realise and discuss a whole new world of ideas and opinions.........maybe thats what tempted a simpleton like me to enter a crazily progressive and advancing world of digital media and see what it feels like to stand and watch.......