Vacation '07/'08 - Goa & Pune

Its been long since i've written so here goes... i just had a fabulous and much needed holiday in India ! Met a lot of the old folks... Everyone's more or less the same. Some of the girls have straightened their hair and/or put on weight.
We did some karting again, and needless to say who was the overall champion: me :)... although a certain driver by the name of Yuri might respond to this blog trying to say how he had been leading. But my friend, the idea is to keep your kart on track rather than in the tyre wall. Anyway, you drive your Alto quite well mate, and thanks a million (I really mean it !) for taking me back home the day I was totally drunk. I'm going to remember that night for a long time now, specially since i had to explain to my mom why i don't need to join AA.

Goa, India

Anyway, had a good time at the dances inspite of not being able to put to practice what i'd been learning. But i haven't given up yet... restarted my dance classes with the British women. Mari, i'll teach you some more cha-cha-cha next time. Hopefully next time i'll take someone other than sisters or sisters-in-law as well... Oh, but I did manage to get in for the bacardi blast... with a French girl. And using a little bit of what my French teachers had thought me in school, i know her name is Sirielle. Well, "Rendez-vous à Paris, Sirielle !"
Anyway, the highlight of the holiday was the trip to Pune. It was great driving on Indian roads again, although some of my friends think i've lost touch ! But the roads were good. Its great to see India's infrastructure improving. You could almost compare the highways to the motorways here. Did quite a lot of shopping for export.
It was fun staying at the Engico home in Pune. It seems to be the 'hudda' for our batch. There's a lot i can write here, but i'll let the photos do the talking...

Pune, India

(besides i think i've caught the norovirus here and don't feel all too well).
Back in Goa, i found myself at the annual mando festival, which reminded me of my roots... and it was fun hearing the politicians speak and the spontaneous Konkani humour from Dr. Bhikaji Ghanekar.
I just wasn't feeling like coming back at all, and as if the heavens read my thoughts, i got an extra day thanks to Air India's troubled services, so spent the night at the Jajurs @ No. 903 in Mumbai !!
It was fun travelling in the Mumbai locals and getting lost in India's population...
I'm back in England and its cold and windy and rainy and horrible. We had our first snowfall yesterday and did some masti and fell sick. As a matter of fact i haven't seen the sun since i left India...

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Weekend destination: Silvassa

Laxminarayan and myself planned and executed road trip to Silvassa yesterday... Laxmi was to spend the night before the ride at my place, n when I said it would be egg-curry for dinner he said he wanted to be around to see me buy the eggs... to ensure I don't feed him pigeon eggs :) Well... he was late and had to trust me with that...

Next morning... 24 Nov '07, 0530 hrs IST..

We're out of the house n hit the western express highway within minutes... couldn't speed too much as the trucks were pretty reckless.. however, we weren't too pissed with them cos their exhaust was thawing us out of the 5.30 chill... When we got out of Mumbai onto NH-8, trucks were fewer, it got much darker than before, and much much colder... Our windcheaters weren't good enough and my bare fists were practically frozen...

We stopped at a dhaba in Manor to heat up a bit.. had hefty alu parathas and tea...

By 9 o' clock we were in Silvassa, and our host for the day - Abhishek Desai picked us up n took us home.. An elaborate breakfast was waiting for us... Laxmi was already full.. so I helped him a bit.. :)

Our first destination after breakfast was Dudhni... about 40 km from Silvassa, through the mountains n trees...on a very well made up road... was an awesome ride... At Dudhni we sat together at a picnic spot discussing the hostel days... updating each other etc... had lunch, and went waterscooting in the Damanganga river..

Next destination: Deer Park... another lovely ride... but the gates were closed n we had to plan something quick for the one hour left until they opened...so we went to Bindrabin temple and had a nice refreshing dip in the chilled pond.. that was like the best activity for the sunny afternoon.. We felt so fortunate that the deer park was closed...

Came back to the deer park... Man! its tough to ride when the roads are not tarred...

Well... mud biking is real fun... but then it kinda hurts to ride your own bike on stones.. :)

Excited seeing some wild animals pretty close, and covered with dust, we got out of the deer park and went back to the town... and got onto the highway to head back home...

We missed seeing a camping site as it would've taken us too long.. Abhishek suggests we plan an overnight to this place... go with a big gang.. I'm game.. interested people please contact me..

The ride back to Mumbai was pretty interesting... we did the first 140km in 2hours... and the remaining 15 km in 90 minutes.. that is Mumbai's way of saying.. "Welcome back!" :)

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Birthday Bumps....This is not a joke....

Since I turned 25…(here forth referred to as N)….there have been a series of incidences that make me wonder about the humour of life and growing older…
Things that rub my age in my face…. This is my TRUE experience... I wish it was just a forward..

“Coincidence” 1: Date…24th Oct …1 day after my bday
While calling up my Tata indicom guy… after 1 month of yelling at them I take the polite approach...speaking slowly n politely in Hindi.. and saying please and thank you…
Result…? When he comes over to my house… he asked me If he spoke to me on the phone… when I said YES he says..
“Lagta tha ki main Aunty se baat kar raha tha” ...(Probably not the best Hindi, but this is my version)
Of course when I gave him the “Mel You look like Rajnikanth’s Wife” look he tried to cover up while filling in my details like DOB saying...”Oh 82.. lagta tha ki 85 hai..”
Yeah, right … too late!


“Coincidence” 2: Date…22th Oct …1 day before my bday
I receive a special offer courier from Ponds….”Try a product worth Rs.450/- for Rs. 200/-….if you don’t think it works we’ll give you your entire money back…”
Seems really nice tho the envelope said “Look Younger in just 7 days…or your money back”
Ponds Age Miracle.. yeah ... that’s my special offer….
I went semi-berserk and asked my receptionist if it looked like I needed it.. she laughed…

I didn’t laugh so much when I received the SAME courier 3 days later AGAIN!!!!! Talk abt adding insult to injury!!!

“Coincidence” 3: Date…25th Oct
My friend enters her kids picture in some website and asked us to vote for it…the website is IndiaParenting.com ….you have to register to login…
Oh well apart from icky details like your spouses name, if pregnant your due date…. (SERIOUSLY) ….there is the usual DOB field…I decided to treat myself to lying about my age…23 Oct 1983 is not such a big lie is it…?? Except that ...
…the dropdown for Year started from 1982! There was no option for anyone born after that!!! Apparently once you are N you are eligible to join this website and not before.. (I’m looking for a sue-this-site link)
I don’t want that kid to win the contest now.


Oh well… I laughed it all and said... I should blog about this... This is actually cute and funny na! HAHAHAAAAAHAHAA take it in Good spirit n all that jazz !!
I mean, 3 times can be coincidence na ??

Let’s laugh it off going shopping to Brand-Factory with Clyde for some shopping and my ego boost….
….So I did that...
Yeah, and the bill came to...(I swear I have the bill to prove it)…………
Rs. 1983/-

“Coincidence” number 4 ??????? I don’t think sooo..

Wish all my pretty lady pals a very happy Nth birthday

And here's a pic of d Pune Gang who shared my Nth with me... sad to say most of them are under-N....

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Recipe: Kabu Kabab Pariwala

Here is a simple recipe that you would like to try at home.

Ingredients:
Pigeon - 1 nos.
Onion - 1 nos.
Carrot - 1 nos.
Turmeric - 1 tbsp.
Coriander pdr - 1 tbsp
Garam masala - 3 tbsp
Red chilly pdr - 2 tsp
Rava - 3tbsp
Oil - 30ml
Salt - to taste




Directions
Behead the pigeon, skin it and wash it clean. Cut the edible parts into average sized pieces. Rub turmeric, coriander powder, red chilly powder and salt and leave aside.
Go to the balcony and clear it of all the feathers.
Now mix the rava and garam masala. Heat oil in a pan. Roll the kabab pieces in the rava mix and fry for 20-25 minutes
Garnish with onions and carrots and serve hot!

Do try out the recipe and send in your suggestions for improvement.


Okay... now here's how I caught it:
we have an abandoned bathroom where I sprinkled a little toor dal and waited a few days.. the prey arrived, I sealed all exit points and pounced on it... It flew to the kitchen, saw the window closed, flew at my face, and I just caught it in flight. Cool eh?

Aakhir jallad bhi to insaan hota hai na....


Hunters don't normally care for tiny pecks.. but yes.. for the record... that b@$#!% pecked me... and it hurt... :-(

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How my life changed...

I was in a very bad state... Nobody would talk to me.. My moustache just kept growing... N I did not know what to do... It was getting to my head.. People made fun of me... Called me names behind my back.. and on my face... I was going mad... I would've soon lost my job..
BEFORE

But then my friend suggested "Fiskars"..
This has been the best gadget I have used lately...
Life suddenly took a U turn... Now I look sober again...

AFTER


And people talk to me... and girls ask me directions... and kids don't get scared of me... dogs bark at me like before...and my boss points out my mistakes... I'm so happy once again..
So guys... Get a pair of Fiskars... and cut down the whiskers!! . . . .

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WTF!! ?? Thats what came to your mind? Yeah rite.. I feel like reading stuff on the blog, I come to this site and see that its still the same old posts... You have something better to write...? Why not just post it up then?

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Thump thump thump we go....

For all those of you who didn't know, Clyde n myself rode down my bike to Goa in May this year.. And the time for getting it back was nearing.. Clyde - busy as ever couldn't confirm on the date until one day before we actually went.. :-)

Friday, 5th of October I collect Clyde from the airport and we head to Dadar where we would be boarding the train... We reach with one hour at hand, so get into a restaurant for some kebabs n beer...After a 20 min wait, the waiter comes n pisses us off saying beer is not cold... Now we get desperate and walk real fast in a mutually agreed direction with two bags and a helmet in our hands.. Find a place finally.. pretty expensive.. in fact way too expensive... but what the hell!! We get in.. Ek chicken tikka, do beer.. thanda.. jaldi lao..train ja raha hai..

We gulped down in a hurry and made it to the platform well in time, but the train was delayed by an hour!! It was due to a bomb scare at CST.. and we had overheard about it on TV in that restaurant...
Had we been a little more attentive, we could've possibly put down a couple of beers more ;-)

Train journey pretty uneventful, and we get to Goa...

I spend most of the day with my bike checking this and that and getting some stuff rectified by a mechanic..

October 7 - The auspicious day

Cool n cloudy day... seemed like it could rain.. Fingers crossed...Started from home at about 9:15 and headed to Clyde's house who was ready n waiting for me... packed up the bags n headed to the next halt - a petrol pump at Pernem... There we fill up the tank to the brim and mount the big bag on it so the pillion's hands get freed...I rode till Sawantwadi, Clyde took over..

Then we stopped in Amboli for some bhajiya and omlettes.. Normal Amboli scene with some sober monkeys socialising and many anti-social humans making killos.. Other than a guy spitting from inside a Sumo right onto another guy's feet, there wasn't anything really exciting..

All along the way the clouds did exactly what we wanted them to do.. protect us from the sun.. Otherwise we would have been roasted papads by evening..

Ajra, Uttur, Gadinglaj, Nippani and onto the Highway.... where we zoomed past some 100cc toys .. Kolhapur.. we stop for lunch.. home made alu parathas n chatni under the trees by the highway.... Satara... Umbraj.. Indoli... that's where the clouds let out a few drops n cooled the atmosphere further... It was 3:45 in the afternoon, but looked like an average 6:30pm.... The last halt was about 70 km from Pune - tea break and rider switch... Clyde took over and rode home.. We were in Pune by around 6:30... No rest.. excited.. we discussed the ride, had dinner outside, came back n watched a movie... not realizing that tomorrow was a Monday.. and my office was still 200 km away..

Having slept at 1:00 AM and woken by 5:00 I was in no state to ride till Mumbai.. Edwin was kind enough to drop me right until my office gate...

We had a short high tea halt atop Khandala Ghat....

What a ride... Will soon go thumping for another.. and yeah.. keep you updated

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THE ENGICO ....page 4

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Ganesh Chaturthi Pics - 2002

Requires Flash

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Finally Made it in 3 years...

Cross-posted here

I am the last person to sit and jot down whatever I ve been upto on weekends, but this is one of an exception. Its been 3 weeks since the trip to Hassan, but let me give it a shot. The memories are fresh and beautiful.
It was a long pending trip in fact. A Wipro friend had been inviting us over to her place in Hassan since 3 years, and for reasons best known to us the trip happened only 3 weeks ago. Chaitra had almost given up on ever seeing us in Hassan, till she finally challenged me to get all the girls to the Kempe Gowda bus stand and that she would take over from there. With some last minute ticket booking (thanks to KSRTC online booking) we managed to get the tickets on a wed night. Bus was to start at 820 pm on friday, and most of us wouldn't be surprised if I told you, we kept the bus waiting, cause we reached there at 830.
So there we go, chaitra takes over from here. She is our tour guide cum host for the weekend. Total 7 of us off to hassan - chaitra (kannadiga n wiproite), shivashankari (tamilian & wiproite), Tina (malyali and wiproite) and the engicos, Reema, Elizabeth, Dechen and Myself. Reached at 2 am and headed straight for chaitras home. Ate upma at 3 am and went to bed. We knew the driver was going to pick us up again at 9. But all of us including chaitra knew it well that 9 was an impossible target. I Went to Hassan with minimum expectations, cause all I had heard of hassan so far was that it has a satellite control centre (ISRO). As luck would have it, we ended up seeing everything in and around Hassan and only the gates of the ISRO centre.

To our surprise we were ready by 9am on Saturday, but the driver wasn’t there. He arrived at 930 odd and we headed straight out on the highway to Chickmaglur. A pleasant drive, with beautiful sunflower and marigold fields on either sides awaits you. First stop was at Yagachi Dam (excuse me if got the names wrong, actually most engicos who know me, surely know my habit of confusing names). Clicked some nice pictures and got back into the car. Next stop was Kalhitgiri falls. A small but surely magnificient falls to see. Did a small trek through the mucky path to see the falls from a height. Next winding up the curvy road the vehicle drove us to Kemmanagundi hills. A beautiful hill station at a height of bout 5000ft above sea level. A much deserved break from the dust and pollution of Bangalore. Walking through the clouds to the topmost point of the hill (as reema puts it) was awesomeeeeeeeeee. Then we thought we were heading downhill for a good grub, as we couldn’t find a decent place to eat uphill at Kemmanagundi. Luckily our host had packed loads of fruits n snacks for us, and we finished it off in no time. Inspite of all the munchies we were too hungry to think of another place to see, but the driver insisted that we see Baba Budangiri hills while we are already there. Kemmanagundi and Baba Budangiri are adjacent hills, not sure which one is higher than the other. Baba’s Shrine is a famous pilgrimage spot for hindus and muslims. When we reached the Baba’s shrine, the thermometer would have surely read a single digit, and the clouds covering the hill restricted the visibility to barely 4-5 metres. But all the hunger and the biting cold was forgotten when we saw this amazing shrine carved inside a rock. (brought back memories of the college trip to Manali). Inside the shrine people offered locks to the saint (a Baba who is believed to have spiritually disappeared while lost in meditation. Hindus believe he went to Kashi and muslims say he went to Mecca). The locks were opened once your wish was fulfilled. And yes we all prayed to baba for some food, and surely enough he gave us the most delicious bread omlet, I ve ever eaten. That was the last spot for the evening and it was already 7, so we started our 2 hours journey down the hill to Chickmagalur. Ate dinner in Hassan and went to bed at 11, dreaming of the heavenly places we had visited.

Sunday morning start was much hurried as we knew we had a lot to cover and just a few hours to start back for Bangalore. As we didn’t want to miss out anything, we arranged for the return ksrtc bus to pick us up from Shravanabelogola, as it was enroute to Bangalore. In the morning visited two temples belonging to the Hoysala rule (Belur and Halebid). Both temples were so similar in their architecture, that I can hardly differentiate when I look back at the pictures now. One of them was famous for the statue of a perfect woman sculptured to the last detail of perfection. (For all those who will ask me now for the vital stats of this perfect woman go google.). After the temple visits we headed for chaitras home and her mom had prepared the most amazing curd rice I ve ever eaten. (being in south India for 3 years now, I still cannot stand curd rice, but this was again an exception). The best part of our trip was yet to come. The icing on the cake was the visit to Shravanabelagola, a must see for all, the largest monolithic statue in the world. Up a hill again but this time climbing 800 odd steps, to see the statue of the Jain God – Lord Bahubali. Reema, tina, chaitra and Karthik (he joined us on day 2 of our trip) was the first to reach up hill while dechen, Elizabeth, shiva and myself crawled up 15 mins later. From up the hill you get a exhilarating view of the entire district of hassan and the surrounding places. We spend some peaceful moments up the hill taking pictures of the beautiful scenery and started down hill. Sitting in the bus back to Bangalore, I m sure all of us were pondering over the same questions - Will I ever come back to hassan again? Why didn’t this happen 3 years ago? Would this have been possible if not for our wonderful host? Would we ever know so much bout ancient India and its cultures and religions – if not for this most unplanned and yet so wonderful trip to Hassan.

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Swirl Sniff Sip

When in Rome do as the Romans do. But when in Nashik, do what we did. Have some fine wine.

I have always enjoyed the taste of wine on my palate but this experience was quite different. Mostly my knowledge of wine was limited to Vinho Porto but this was some eye opener. So, if in Nashik do not miss out on the wine tasting at The Tasting Room @ the Sula Vineyards. Six fine wines combined with a little bit of education(and bias if you are female) for Rs.150 only...definitely a steal. Optionally one can opt for the Rs.100, five wine option. The wines on offer for the six wine option were ...
White (Blanc)
1. Sula Sauvignon Blanc
2. Sula Chenin Blanc (this one we unanimously liked and recommend)
3. Sula Late Harvest Chenin Blanc (a little too sweet)
Rose
4. Sula Blush Zinfandel
Red
5. Dindori Reserve Shiraz (one of their finest)
6. Sula Zinfandel

The tasting includes a super micro mini tour of the vineyards where-in you get to see the crushers, the fermentation chambers, storage tanks and the bottling plant.

Ok back to the wine tasting and the informative bit. I hope most of this information is true and the guy across the bar wasn't giving us 'pilla'. The only i-know-something-about-wine-thanks-to-Wikipedia soul was Melissa and she kept the guy busy with her questions about "corked wine", "wine legs" and what not. I dunno if it were the questions or that she was the only girl amongst us .... but rounds 1 to 6 she always got served the patiyala peg while we din't. Grrrrr.

During the tasting session we learnt a few things about wine drinking...here are 10 random things i noted down.

1. Wine on the palate is usually dry, semi-dry or sweet and as we learnt very sweet too.

2. White wine is served chilled (6-10C) while red wine is served at room temperature or like the guy put it..European room temperature(15-18C)

3. How does one hold the wine glass? While drinking white wine one must hold the glass by the stem so that body heat isn't transferred to the wine while for red wine one can hold the stem or the bowl(you rather not). Well well Wikipedia tells me, ISO has standardized a series of glasses for wine tasting. Beat that!!!! ISO 3591:1977

4. The different wines would classify as white, red, table, rose, cooking, sparkling....and the list goes on.

5. The Swirl, Sniff and Sip - Once served you must swirl your wine glass(not a good idea with a full glass) to help oxidise the wine and sniff immediately to drown in its aroma. And yes then importantly sip it or if in a hurry ....gulp. :) The sniff part gives one an indication of how the wine would taste. e.g. Dry wines would have a more pungent aroma. And yeah if you wanna feel more intellectual after you swirl take a look at the legs(of the wine). I think its an indication of the alcohol content.

6. The color of the wine doesn't come from the grape juice coz it's clear but it comes from the presence of the skin during fermentation and the time duration of the presence. At Sula it's 16 hours for Rose wines and 6 days for Red.

7. The alcohol content for most wines @ Sula is 13%.

8. The year usually indicates the year of harvest while the name is usually derived from the Grape variety.

9. The taste of the wine not only depends on the grape variety but also the climate, the soil and the yeast culture used....and yes the storage(e.g. oak wood barrels) and the time.

10. One round of tasting sure gives you a nice feeling in the head...round 2 would leave you just right.

We were so into the place that we went back at night. This time however you have to buy by the bottle, pint or glass. The wine tasting hours are between 11:00 am and 5:30 pm. After that the Tasting Room is open till 11:00 pm for service and purchase(on the weekends) but make that 10:00 coz the lazy and politely rude(by switching the lights off) bartenders shut the place down. So you need to get there by 9:30pm if u want to slip in a drink. The eats on the menu are nothing to boast about but one can find handy cheese dips, assorted nuts, cheese, crackers and wafers. I would personally highly rate the tasting experience but not the wine-dining one unless you are one for the ambiance.

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