How to go to the movies in Senland...

Yesterday I decided to go to the movies and watch a nice hindi film. My friends have been raving about the two new releases - Tanu weds Manu 2 and Dil Dhadakne de. I ran a quick poll on Facebook to make up my mind... Buggy suggested Tanu weds Manu 2 and that was that... I decided Tanu weds Manu it is .. accordingly I researched where in London they screened hindi films and how far these theatres are from my area.... google popped up cineworld theatres in Ilford and Feltham. Turns out Ilford in closer... take the DLR to Stratford and from there a train to Ilford. Easy peasy you say... but you couldn't be farther from the truth... not when you happen to be me... the one gifted with the navigation skill of a rock and the impulsiveness of a child. I wouldn't take the right road, if the road sign jumped off the road and smacked me on the head, in an attempt to point me in the right direction.

 

You don't believe it, well let me tell you a little story that happened last November.  I decided to get myself a two-wheeler licence, I already have a four wheeler licence, but the fact that I don't drive is well know as lets face it... I don't have the guts to drive. But I can ride a bicycle quite proficiently and decided the natural progression for me would be riding a two wheeler... a scooter. Accordingly I arrived at the driving school and was directed to go to RTO Office... the new one. I've been to the old RTO which was at Oshiwara, the new one apparently is much closer at 4 Bungalows. I set out looking for it... Have I ever told you that I'm a corrupt rickshaw driver's delight... the one I hired that day had a field day...half an hour later after going through various back alleys and getting stuck at a number of traffic signals... I arrived at the place. I finished the test for the temporary licence, and it was only when I stepped out via the back gate... I looked around and the place seemed familiar... very familiar... that's when it hit me ... I was standing on the road which ran parallel to Veera Desai (which is where I live in Mumbai) at the very junction where the road linking Veera Desai met with it... the blasted RTO was no more than 3 minutes away from my home... but I digress.

 

I was ready by 9.30 a.m. but the show was at 12.30 p.m. and I decided to get a bit of telly while trying to pass the time. Before I know it, it was quarter to 12 and I decided it about time I left... I got to South Quay DLR station and as luck would have it there were no direct train to Stratford (if only I'd check the time tables with a little more care)...so I took the train going towards Bank and decided to change at Canary Wharf. The train arrived at Heron Quay which is the station before Canary Wharf and for some strange reason I don't know what possessed me to do it... I alighted here and went straight to Canary Wharf Tube Station where I could get the Jubilee line, when I arrived at the station I realized I actually should have stayed on the train as I needed to get the DLR train from Canary Wharf to Stratford, feeling rather foolish I made my way to the Canary Wharf DLR station and took the next train going towards Stratford. We had just arrived at Went India Quay when I realized I forgot to swipe my oyster card when I re-entered the station at Canary Wharf, not wanting to be on wrong side of the law I alighted and went downstairs where I could swipe back in. All this ate up 30 minutes and I was no more than 5 minutes away from home. After that fate took pity on me and I arrived at the theatre at 1.15 p.m., I missed the morning shows for both Tanu weds Manu 2 and Dil Dhadakne do and was left to decided either to kill time till 3.30 p.m. to see the next show or catch some other film. I decided to see Jurassic Park in 3D.  I'm still recovering from the paper-thin plot and the bad acting, as a rule I like Irfan, but he seemed lost in the quagmire that is Jurassic World... all in all it was a mistake of ginormous proportions... if you'll excuse the pun.

Start of something good...

I've been in London for a little less than two months... and without any outside interference, have been left to stew with my own thoughts and a few facts have become surprising clear...

 

Sherlock said, Life is infinitely stranger that anything the mind of man could invent... and I agree wholeheartedly...

 

Now that I have a sufficient number of years behind me, a few decades if you must know, I can speak of things from my own experience and if I've learnt anything it is,

 

1) Things eventually work out, most things that bother you now, you won't remember five years down the line, even if you wrote about it, trust me, I wrote about some things here, cryptically of course (I used to have a loyal following then, viz. friends, office colleagues, relatives, random stranger, the neighbourhood dog etc. all hooked to my online rantings), my logic then being, since this is a life- changing incident, I will remember it even in my dotage and honestly its less than five years to that date and for the life of me I can't remember what it is that I wrote about...

 

2) I'm something of a magnet for people with problems, being the kind who will always be a shoulder to cry on... my dad always tells me, 'Everyone turns to you for a shoulder to cry on, when will you find yourself a shoulder to cry on?'. He was of course, referring to the many nocturnal calls I get from my girl friends who at that time were going through shit in their respective married lives and turned to me in their time of need... I patiently listened and to my eternal shame I admit that I let their rantings influence me and am guilty of painting every man I met with the same brush as their husbands...

Now that I've got this off my chest, I've decided to try and change my outlook towards life and put myself out there a little so I can see how the world reacts to my tentative attempts to re-connect with my fellow beings. As a tentative step I tried to strike a conversation with the maid who cleans my apartment, I live in a serviced apartment and the maid come every Monday, this being a bank holiday Monday I actually met her in person. I had just got out of bed when she arrived and was in the process of making myself some tea, tentatively I asked her if she would like some. She politely declined saying she had just had breakfast, this being the first flat on her cleaning rounds.

From there on we just hit it off, Ausra (meaning dawn) is from Lithuania. When I told her I'm from India, she just went into raptures about India. Apparently her cousin was over in India the week before last and loved it... expect for the fact that it was too hot. I don't blame her cousin, the summer heat is something I myself haven't got used to in spite of the fact that I'm born and raised in India, coming from the cold climes of Europe it must have been positively stifling for her cousin. We chatted about this and that as she went about her job and parted as friends...

I don't know why, but I just feel very good after this small interaction... hopefully its the start of something of good...

Deja Vu

Have you ever felt deja vu, I for one seem to be plagued by them, ever so often I feel like, this situation happen before and it seems to have happened in a dream long ago... but I remember it... every small detail, where I'm, the setting, what is being said, everything... when the event unfolds I get the uncanny feeling, it has happened once before... I always remember it as a scene from a dream long ago. 

 

This set me thinking do I have ESP which get triggered when I'm most stressed and it gives me glimpses of my future so that my subconscious mind which is really worked up... relaxes for a bit... Thankfully this deja vu thing only happens about things related to me.

 

The latest in the string of events happened last week ago, I should have jotted down the facts asap but, I was too busy and even though I felt the distinct feeling of deja vu, I let it slip and now I can't remember the exact details.

 

I'm positive of one fact is that it was set in my current office, at my current desk and was  something related to my being in London. Now I've been in this office for less than a month, and though I've visited this office in the past, there was never a chance of me ever sitting at my current desk as the person whom I replaced was like a rock, with many years to go to retirement. Also there was no inkling what so ever that he would move roles, and even if he did move, me replacing him wouldn't feature in my or anyone's wildest imagination. Nothing to do with my lack of capability, I assure you, its just that such a thing was unheard of. Like I mentioned in my previous post, last year this time I was on the point of losing my mind, at that time I must have had a dream about me living and working in London, something which at that point was beyond wishful thinking. One year later, it has become my reality and something that happened last week filled me with a sense of  deja vu...

 

 

Long week end...

So the long weekend (4 days) is over and I haven't stepped out of the house...save one trip to Tescos as I ran out of food...

Yes, I'm quite capable of shutting myself in my house with nothing but books and food for company, if I don't see a soul for a month I wouldn't complain... not a chance...

Its not to say that I don't like getting out at all, I'm an avid traveler, and love to explore but I love my solitude even more and for a long time I've looked forward to spending time with only I, me and myself for company.

I did want to see atleast a couple of plays but thanks to the tumble in the tub as I like to call it now, I had to stay at home on Saturday and everything was closed on Easter Sunday and today I couldn't be bothered to step out...

The little voice in my head that nags the life out of me on normal days, went into overdrive from Friday itself... it wanted me to get up at 5.30 in the morning and go for a run... then it wanted me to go shopping... then it wanted me to go watch a play .... then it wanted me to cook...I mean do something... anything other than this shutting myself away from other humans and cozy up with a book... and I kept fighting and as it always happens with me and even though I really enjoyed the time I spent shacked up with books, one part of me was guitly... my mind kept bothering me that I should be out there... meeting new people and making friends...

I try to reason I don't want to meet new people, I don't enjoy putting myself out there, I'm quite content with my life the way it is.... with not even a cat to complicate matters.... so as a peace offering I've decided to take up a hobby, I've decided that every day starting today, I will cook a dish, something that I haven't made in a long time from scratch.... that will put my conscience off my back for a bit... hopefully...

Weekly roundup

Its been a crazy week where my colleague has already started match-making for me and I've managed to lock myself in the office bldg. at 9 in the night with the bank holiday weekend staring me in the face, then I fell in the tub and got this humongous bump on my right leg and shocked my new office colleagues when they found out how ancient I really way....

 

Lets start in chronological order, A new joiner in another team was being introduced to my team and some how that topic that I have been with my India company for 8 years before I moved here came up... I thought I heard a sound like someone gagging and I put it down to my overactive imagination.

 

No sooner had the others left than L pounced on me and was like '8 years!!! you serious, you been working that long???, I don't even remember what I was doing 8 years ago, must have been an university, I think"

 

I told yes I had 8 years with the India subsidiary and a few more before that in other set-up and then I told her how old I was and she almost faints... 'D, I'm in shock, you with your baby face, and baby voice, I thought you were in your early twenties ...late twenties at the max, wow, you maintain yourself very well, I hope I look so well when I'm your age'

 

Then L goes on a tangent,

 

'D, how is it that you are still single, its not right, is that why you are running away from India???...

Do you have a boyfriend, do you want a boyfriend??'

 

and I calmly look at her and say, 'I like my life the way it is, uncomplicated, and btw, I'm not gay, but why do you ask,  someone you know wants the job of my boyfriend??'

 

Shamefaced she goes, 'I don't know why I asked you that ??, but I'm positive you will meet someone, you know, when you go for your opera'.

 

My love for the musicals and plays is well known so I go, 'We shall see'.

 

This long weekend I planned to watch a few plays, but as luck would have it as I was stepping out of tub this morning after my shower, I slipped and fell with a sickening thud, banging my right leg on the edge of the tub.

 

I felt the pain and staggered to the living room, a look at my leg confirmed that I had hurt my leg real bad as big bump was already in place where I hit my leg and just looking it made me feel faint. I collapsed on the floor for a few minutes and then gingerly got up and shifted my weight on each leg to check whether it was as bad as it looked. Thankfully it was only a bump and there seemed to be no other repercussions, I thanked God, that it was my leg that was hurt and not hand or worse my head.

 

But the pain put paid to any plans I had for going out and I had to be content with sitting at home reading a book, not that I feel sorry, I enjoyed every moment :)

 

Next I have to tell you about how I managed to lock myself in office on Thursday night. I was working late as it was the monthend and next week we would have more responsibilities and were working with one staff on leave. Sometime after the last of my colleagues left, the maintenance guy walked in to check that all was well. When he tried to go out, the door wouldn't open for him and he asked me to please let him out. I did that and conveniently forgot to re-swipe myself in, as a result when it was time for me to leave, that door wouldn't budge. I began to panic as I sit on the 8th floor with the only security in the office on the ground floor and I didn't know the emergency numbers to contact any of them!!!

 

My mind was in total panic mode and at last I remembered I could call DJ, hopefully he could help me out. Accordingly I put through a call to him and told him my predicament and he burst out into laughter. 'Sorry D, I know I shouldn't laugh, but you sure you don't want to live in office, sure you haven't got a sleeping bag, stashed somewhere under you desk'

 

He always chided me about the time I put in at office, and I wasn't at all surprised at the reception. Finally he went off the phone promising to call me back in a few minutes when he had sorted this mess. At that time I had a brain wave, when I had my security induction a few weeks ago, they gave me a pamphlet with all emergency contact numbers'. A quick glance through the list and I had the number I was looking for and within 5 minutes I was outside the building, breathing the cold but welcome London air...

My reputation is dented...

My friend returns to India tomorrow and in true blue Indian style decided to pack up all the left over cooking ingredients and pass them on to me. She knows I'm crazy about cooking and every bit of it will be used up, so she was leaving it in good hands so to speak.

 

But the bag she used to pack these bits and pieces have made me something of a sensation at office... to be honest people barely know me, what with me being here only two weeks... but after today no doubt I'll be known as the playboy bunny...

 

My friend the crazy woman, decided that the only good bags she had were the ones from the Playboy store and packed the stuff in not one but two Playboy store bags and delivered it to my office .... and I had to bring it to the floor and endure some of the weirdest looks of my life...

 

Thankfully just last week I had transported my shoes to office in a large Dmart bag... yes, I wear flats while travelling and change to my beloved three plus inch heels the minute I arrive at office... I keep three pairs in my drawer, so at any given time I have a range of shoes to choose from ...but I digress... so thankfully I had a large bag where I could banish the offending playboy store bags and breathe easy.

Starting off a brand new way...

Ok, lets start from the beginning shall we...  Last year this time I was so fed up with my life in general that I decided that something had to change... call it mid-life crisis if you will but I decided enough is enough... and to bring about the change I took the easiest way out... I quit my job ... my reasoning at the time, if you don't do it, one of these days you will be found dead at your desk... the fact that my parents decided to move cities too... just gave me the necessary push....

 

Also at that particular point in time, if someone told me that its all going to be OK, next year this time you will be sitting in London (incidentally, my favorite city) after having landed your dream job, I would have laughed in his face...

 

But I quit, spent the next few months travelling and when my bank balance was finally in the red I started looking for another job ... and out of the blue this London opportunity came up... after that it was a whirlwind of activity, as they say, before I knew it I was in London... fairytales do come true and here I'm sitting in my apartment by the river...watching the beautiful London skyline... listening to the sounds of the city as life goes on ...

 

I've been in the city for two weeks and other that a few trips to the theatre and a trip to the Cotswolds, I have made no new friends... but no regrets on that count... everything happens for the best, and now that I've all this time to myself, I can finally figure out what I really want...

After reading e-book after e-book, something stirred inside me today...a small voice said... why don't you blog again, its been years since you actively wrote anything... meaningful or otherwise... don't you remember... its what made you feel funny and creative and last but not the least gave you happiness and peace of mind...

They say to write/ blog is good as it help you heal and move on with your life... not that I need much moving on ... don't get me wrong... I'm living my dream ...
 

Now that I've started blogging again I intend to write regularly, hopefully a post every day...we shall see!

Pineapple Menaskai

This is a South Indian recipe, slightly sweet and is served as a side dish with rice and vegetable curry. It usually calls for freshly roasted and ground spices, but I substituted whole spices with powdered spices which I quickly roasted. This worked for me as all the spice powders I used were home made and we roast the spices before powdering. The only one I needed to work on was the fenugreek seeds.

4 slices of pineapple (I used the tinned variety)
8-9 fenugreek seeds (roasted and powdered)
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 inch piece of jaggery (crushed)
1 tsp sugar
Water
 For Tempering:
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Oil

Method:

1) In a small pan, mix the coriander powder, chilly powder and cumin powder and lightly roast it.
2) Chop the pineapple slices into small pieces.
3) Boil the pineapple pieces with a little water, ensure not to over cook.
4) Now add all the powders (cumin, coriander, fenugreek seeds and chilly), mix well and cook for a while.
5) Add the jaggery and sugar and keep stirring.
6) In a seperate pan, heat a little oil and add mustard seeds.
7) Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the cumin seeds and curry leaves. Fry for a bit and then pour over the pineapple pieces.
8) Serve hot or cold, tastes good both ways.

Tomato and Carrot Bisque

This is my version of bisque and at the risk of falling into the blow-my-own-trumpet category, I'll state that it tastes superb... hand on heart its tasted amazing for the few ingredients that went into it!!!

This is a low fat vegetarian version (I've eliminated cream) and all the ingredients, spices and herbs are easily found in an Indian kitchen!!!

The end result is an aromatic soup, that is both nutritious and perfect for a rainy or cold winter day, when all you want to do is sit at home ...read a book and eat a cup of wonderful soup!!!

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Ripe Tomatoes (diced)
200 gms Carrots (diced)
2 cloves of garlic (peeled and roughy chopped)
1 small Onion (peeled and roughly chopped)
Black Pepper (Powdered)... I like the flavor so tend to use it liberally
A handful of Coriander leaves and stem (roughly chopped)
2 heaped tsps of Rice Powder
1/2 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
4-5 cups of water
Oil

Method:

1) In a large pan heat the oil and add the onion and garlic.
2) As the onion starts to soften and brown a bit, add the carrot pieces and salt.
3) While the carrot is cooking we start adding the pepper powder
4) The carrot will cook in about 5-10 mins, at this point add the tomatoes and 2 cups of water
5) Another 10 mins of cooking and the tomatoes will soften
6) Add the Rice powder and mix well.
7) Keep cooking till the tomatoes are completely mushy.
8) Add the chopped coriander and sugar and mix well.
9) Cool and pass through a blender. Ensure that the whole lot from the pan is blitzed (including the burnt bits if any that are stuck to the pan, this helps amplify the flavor. I normally use the same pan for cooking the bisque, so this also helps ready the pan for when the mush is blitzed).
10) Return the paste to the pan and add more water.
11) Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
12) Bisque is ready to be enjoyed as it is or with a toasted cheese sandwich :)

Sweet Chutney

15-20 Boiled Dates,
1/2 cup Tamrind Pulp
1/2 cup Jaggery
1 tsp Chilly Powder
1 tsp roasted and powdered Cumin Seeds
1/4 tsp Black Salt
Salt to Taste

1) Grind the dates to a pulp
2) Add the tamrind pulp and jaggery
3) Bring this mix to a boil
4) Add the chilly powder, cumin seeds, salt and black salt.
5) Keep boiling till it thickens
6) Cool
7) Sweet Chutney is ready for use

My Cooking Holiday...

As they say, lets start from the very beginning...

Here I am, barely four days away from my self imposed exile from the corporate world... my parents decided to relocate to our hometown in Mangalore and I decided to go along...

When I started off on this journey, it was with a great sense of relief that I've taken some decisive action... even though the decisive action was in the form of quitting without another job in hand (something that I'd promised myself never to do very early on in my career)... but somehow this decision seemed right... so I stuck on with it, in spite of several temptations...

The minute I resigned I booked myself into a holistic healing programme at an ashram outside Pune, thinking that I'll relax for a bit and think what I want out of life....but now as the time to go there is around the corner I have started developing cold feet ... to be honest who am I fooling, I'm just not the kind who will appreciate the sitting around waiting for massages, yoga and restricted food intake... If there is one thing that I know about myself its my undying passion for FOOD...

Give me four square meals and all is well in my world... I like all things about food, right from making it from scratch... to the serving it to fellow devotees... to attaining seventh heaven on tasting divine food... the kitchen from where the food came be damned... 

It occurred to me that given my feelings on the subject I could take a cooking vacation, I remembered reading about it on the internet a few lifetimes ago, yeah...learn to cook exotic food while on holiday... seemed like a super plan, a few google searches later I realised that cooking holidays are still mostly targeted at the western tourist willing to spend in dollars and better still in pounds and there was nothing for an Indian looking to enjoy a similar experience...

Not one to give up... I soon hit on another plan... why not take a cooking vacation in my own home... with my Mum as my instructor.... it helps that she is the bestest Mangalorean cook in Mumbai... my friends who drool at the very mention of her Neer Dosas and Curries will vouch for this....

So next week will see me arrive in Mangalore on my birthday, no less and I intend to chronicle each tentative step on what has now officially been christened.... My Cooking Holiday....

Mangalorean Pomfret Curry

Again my mum's recipe

Ingredients:

2 medium sized Pomfrets (clean, cut into 4 pieces each and keep aside)

A little more than 1/4 coconut (grated)

a handful of roasted coriander seeds

8 dry red chillies (4 Madras and 4 Kashmir)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Tamarind (a ball the size of a small lemon, soak in water)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp black peppercorns (roasted)

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (roasted)

1 large clove of garlic

1/2 onion (chopped)

Tempering (optional):

1/2 onion -finely sliced and fried till it is crisp and golden brown.

Method:

1) Grind the coconut, coriander seeds, red chillies, tamarind, turmeric powder, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds and water into fine paste. Every now and then add a little water to the mixture. 

2) The finer the paste the better the curry.

3) Once the paste is ready add the garlic, half onion and cumin seeds and grinds for a further 30 seconds. Do not grind for longer as we don't want the garlic and onions to get all mushy, that will kill the flavour of the other spices.

4) Place the paste in a pan and add water to it to make a nice gravy.

5) Let the curry come to a boil.

5) Once the curry starts to boil add the fish pieces and let it boil till the fish is cooks (about 5-10 mins).

6) Let it simmer while you fry the onion slices in a little oil (fry the onion till it is golden brown).

7) Add the fried onion to the curry and cover.

8) Serve hot with rice.

P.S.: The tempering is optional and is usually done when we have guests for dinner, but I like it so when I cook my curry usually has it :)

Neer Dosa

For all those who are die-hard fans of my mum's Neer Dosa, I hereby give you the recipe. The second reason why this is being documented is that I seem to have a memory of a goldfish or more close to home, seems to have developed a Ghajini complex whereby things that are not written down are forgotten. I figure I do not have enough surface area over my body (or the pain threshold) to have the recipes tattooed so have resorted to writing it down here for my own sake.

Ingredients:

1 cup kolam rice

2 cups dosa rice (you will get this in your local shop)

 1 onion - Chop half of it, the other half will be used for oiling the tawa.

1/4 coconut (grated)

Salt

Oil

Method:

1) Wash the rice and soak it water overnight.

2) Discard the water.

3) Grind the rice, onion, coconut in a mixer till it is a fine paste (I mean really really fine, put a drop of the batter on the tip of your index finger and rub it against the tip of your thumb, it should feel like paste).

4) Place in a bowl, add salt and water to make it a fairly runny batter (it should look like coconut milk at this stage only a little thinner).

5) Heat a dosa tawa (I really cannot help you here, this tawa is a speciality from Mangalore, and I don't think it is available anywhere else, you could try your local Mangalore stores, they sometimes keep this tawa or you could try get pally with your friends from Mangalore so they bring you back one on their annual pilgrimage to Mangalore).

6) Dip the onion that you reserved earlier, cut side in oil and run the cut surface all over the tawa, this way the flavour of the caramelised onion gets infused in the oil and ultimately the Neer Dosa.

7) Take a ladle full of the dosa batter and pour on the tawa. Since the batter is runny it will spread all over the tawa, there will be a few gaps, pour some more batter over them, but ensure that you don't put too much batter (else the dosa will be too thick). The best Neer Dosa look a lot like crochet handkerchiefs.

8) Cover and let it cook for about 30 odd seconds

9) Uncover and fold the dosa like you would fold a handkerchief.

10) Remove from the tawa and keep aside.

11) Serve with coconut chutney (refer earlier post for recipe).

Tip:

1) The dosa should not burn, it should only cook for 40 seconds tops, the whiter the dosa the better the cook you are :)

2) The onion is optional, you can eliminate the onion that you put in the batter. Instead once the dosa is ready, you can put sugar and grated coconut before you fold the dosa, I assure you it is a hit with kids.

P.S.: I don't have a picture at the moment, it will follow.

Coconut Chutney

This chutney is perfect with dosas, idlis or as a side dish at meals. The tempering is optional and the chutney tastes just as good without it.

Ingredients:
1/4 coconut (grated or cut into small pieces)
4 dry red chillies (I used 2 Kashmir and 2 Madras varieties)
1 inch piece of ginger (lose the skin)
Tamarind (a marble sized ball soaked in warm water)
Salt

Tempering: (Optional)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1 red chilly
a few curry leaves

Method:
1) Blitz the coconut, chillies, ginger and tamarind in a mixer, till it is a fine paste.
2) Place in paste in a bowl and add salt
3) Heat a little oil, add the mustard and let it splutter.
4) Add the urad dal to the oil
5) Add the chilly and curry leaves
6) Pour the tempering over paste and mix well.
7) Serve with dosas or idlis or as a side dish at meals.

I'm back...

Ladies and Gentlemen... boys and girls... I proudly announce that I'm finally back to my old self, the clothes loving compulsive shopaholic... 

For the past few years I had renounced shopping so much so that I almost hated it... what with only stepping into shops when I had to buy something and walking out again without making a purchase... as nothing I liked fit... but today I out-did myself and shopped till I dropped and  I'm as pleased as punch as everything fits just right... 

The last time I was so happy after shopping was in 2010 in Singapore... after that I went into denial and just stopped shopping. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I piled on a few extra kilos and I just couldn't bear the thought of going into shops and not fitting into any clothes... now London has helped me shed the extra weight I was carrying around and I've managed to drop a couple of dress sizes as a result of which I can fit into a better array of clothes... and to say I'm loving the feeling is an understatement... I'm relishing every moment right down to trying the dresses on again as soon as I got home (something that I haven't done for a long long time) and it helps to have R as a flat-mate as she has the patience of a saint and she lets me prance about the flat parading my new purchases... the fact that she was my partner in crime also helped matters :-p

It all began with R asking me if I would like to go to Lords Cricket ground as she wants to buy some cricket memorabilia for her cricket crazy family followed by some shopping and I said "OK, I'll go with you, just to give you company"... famous last words...

Everyone goes to Lords to see the place where it all began, its almost like a pilgrimage to them, but what did R and I do, we shopped... and then shopped some more and between us spent enough money that would have easily fund my rickshaw travel for close to six months back home in India... but its all towards a good cause... the proceeds will go towards maintaining the mecca of cricket and I know a number of cricket crazy  people who will approve of the charity work we did this morning...

Coming back to my story, the minute I hit the stores...right from the Lord's cricket ground shop to Zara (I think I just changed loyalties from Aldo to Zara...I'm going to be Zara girl from now on) it was like everything was just right for me and everything I liked just fit :-) it was like one of those magical days where everything just falls into place, my wallet is also a lot slimmer as I spent an indecent amount of money but I'm feeling good and retail therapy is finally working its magic on me again.

Since there is still another thirty minutes to go before this day ends I'm thinking I might as well ask God for the one thing that has kept eluding, Erm, you know what I'm referring to God, so what say??

One month on... attacking showers, becoming a laughing stock and other stories...

Time flies, it feels like yesterday that I landed in London and now I'm already halfway through my stay here :-(((. As you all know, London is a city that I love and the more time I spend here the more I love London. Its almost like we have a connection, something that goes beyond the boundaries of time and space, like I've known London from a previous birth, every time I come here I get a feeling like I'm coming home, it doesn't feel like an alien city at all, it envelopes me in a bear hug like someone welcoming a dear family member...sigh, I could go on for ever...

Thankfully I've now moved to the company flats at Paddington (P.S. my new apartment is on the 15th floor and is nice and quiet, a welcome change from the chaos at St. Paul's) and have settled down  nicely into a routine that I quite like. Everything I need is now two minutes away from my apartment complex. I've finally started cooking full fledged and quite like the independence of running my own household. You notice that I've used the word thankfully to start this paragraph, this is because I'm grateful to move out of my previous apartment complex as I've become something of a legend in a 'laughing stock' kind of way, and how did I do that??? you ask, well, smart old me, locked her self out of the house, not only did I lock myself out of the house, I kept my apartment keys in my hand bag, and where do you think I kept my hand bag, I locked it in my suitcase (it has one of those Made in China locks - the self locking variety'. So absolutely shamefaced I had to go to the reception fetch the spare apartment key and then had to bring my suitcase to the reception where the manager brought out the tool kit and the set about breaking the lock, after struggling for a few minutes he called the maintenance guy and the two of them set about trying to break the lock. The whole episode provided much comic relief to the other guest who tripped over one another as they rushed about to call their partners/friends/ children to see the 'Einstien who locked her suitcase with her keys in it!'.

That aside, it has been a really eventful stay so far, the work is challenging and while I've worked hard, I've also managed to find time to make a few new friends and travel around the countryside like my life depended on it. I've finally managed to scratch off item no 5 on my things-to-do-before-I-die list - Visit Stonehenge. More on that later and I've also done the touristy hop on - hop off bus tour of London. As an add on bonus I also visited Bath and Salisbury.

Stonehenge - To be honest the feelings after seeing Stonehenge was 'Thats it!!, is this all, shouldn't I be feeling like part of some magic!!!', but sadly it just became one more item to scratch off my list and proved to be a damp squib. It really hurt when it became another thing that I will add to my list of 'Been there, done that, none the wiser for it'. 

It is really funny that I should feel this way as I've always wanted to go to Stonehenge for the better part of my life. In my head it was like a pilgrimage that I had to do, I really looked forward to it but sadly like most things in life that I've longed for when I finally saw it, it proved to be a disappointment... Thankfully I did Salisbury Cathedral and Bath on the same day,  the stunning Salisbury Cathedral, the Magna Carta and the beauty of the city of Bath compensated for it and I arrived back in London a much happier person.

Moving on to the attacking showers, well I'm a very wary person when it comes to plumbing and related gadgets. I hate it when I'm faced with the stylish faucets that ultimately just dispense water but have such a smug look, almost as if goading me with a 'Chala kar bata, toh jaane'. I'm sure you know what I mean as everyone one has at least one story to tell about a tap that just wouldn't work, no matter what you did and how after you have conceded defeat a five year old who had been watching the proceedings with great interest came forward waved her hand in front the tap and as if by magic the tap worked, making you feel like a gigantic ignoramus. The shower in question is in my friend S's apartment and for the life of me I could not figure how to get it to work. I stayed overnight at her place one weekend and that is how I came face to face with my nemesis, It has two lever one small and the other slightly bigger. I gingerly turned the big lever and a blast of cold water hit me before I could say 'Oh ah'. Quickly I turned it off and fiddled with the small lever and again tried to work the tap, again with the same result and at the end of it I accepted defeat and quietly had a cold water shower and stepped out....

Happy Birthday !!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

London - Week 1 - Day 1

Now that I've somewhat settled down, I can get down to chronicling my time in the city I love. I arrived here last Saturday and the weather the past week has been amazing. Though your truly has been anything but amazing...though slowly but surely I'm getting there.

Well first things first, the early morning flight which I thought was a good idea at that time turned out to be a nightmare as the whole of India seemed to be queued up to take the flight out... the serpentine queues at the check-in and immigrations had me thinking I would be at the airport a long time. Finally the flight was announced and I guess I was so exhausted that I dozed off the minute they had finished the safety briefing. It was crick in my neck caused by my head hanging at an unnatural angle that woke me up and after that sleep eluded me. Economy class travel that is the lot of poor old me surely doesn't become of me and my Prince Charming ain't coming any time soon so I foresee cricks in the neck for a long time to come.Never mind that, so where were we, yes, sleep eluded me, it was sure a sign of things to come, but ever the optimist I let it pass,thinking of the greener pastures that were to come in the promised land. The plane landed at 7.15 am a good 45 minutes before schedule and by nine in the morning (I was at the apartment building that would be my home for the next 35 days), this inspite of the fact that I took the Heathrow Express into Paddington and then a taxi to my apartment complex at St. Paul's (yes my apartment is in the lane bang opposite St. Paul's Cathedral) .

Since I had arrived a lot earlier, they did not have the apartment ready for me to move in as the previous tenant had not yet checked out, so I was allowed to leave my luggage in the reception and asked to come back at 1ish in the afternoon as this time would allow the cleaning staff to have the rooms ready for me. I had effectively nothing to do while I waited for the room to be ready, so I decided to get some breakfast, I was starving as I don't partake of any food while travelling and my last meal has been at 8ish at night back home in India. Thankfully, London has a number of options Sandwich and Soupwise and I'm one happy girl when here. Though this time I'm sure life is going to be much more difficult as I've become a vegetarian on account of health grounds (the nature of my health problems I will pen down some other time). Having said that I found a superb vegetarian sandwich, and chips and washed it all down with some nice ginger beer.

Having replenished the calories, I still has time to kill so decided to get some sight-seeing done and decided to start with St. Pauls. I went right inside St. Paul's Cathedral and was taking in the beauty of the various murals that were adorning the walls, when I noticed that people were taking their places for the service and I decided to attend it too. The service was beautiful, accompanied by a choir who sang like angels. The singing truly moved you... I can now see why the service was jammed packed with tourists and locals alike. The service ended at 1 and I decided to go check whether my room was available, thankfully it was and I could deposit my belonging and soak in the atmosphere of the rooms that would be my home for the next few weeks. I has just about settled in when S called and was like "Get your a** out of the house, it is such a beautiful day, join me for lunch followed by some quality time lazing around at Hyde Park, Don't you dare go to bed now or you won't sleep at all at night". Little did she or your truly know that sleep from that minute on was indeed a very precious commodity. I'll let the suspense hang for a bit and let in on the reason why a little later in this post. Now if it had been the old me I would have finagled a way out of attending the appointment, but a new raring to go spirit seemed to have been instilled in me, I was like 'Carpe Diem, Baby' and agreed. We met for lunch at Marble Arch and walked to Maroush, a place that serves the best Lebanese food ( this is her husband's favorite Lebanese joint and after eating there, I agree too). Post lunch we walked about at Hyde Park and took in the atmosphere. S and I could only but wonder at the Brits, who just seemed to go gaga over the beautiful weather and could be found lying about in every patch of sunshine available, where as S and I could be found looking for shade to salvage what ever was left of our complexion, no thanks to the pollution in dear old Mumbai. After spending a couple of hours I was dead beat and decided to call it a day. Once was back at the apartment, I dived into bed only to woken up a few minutes later by the chiming of the clock at St. Paul's, the clock chimed every fifteen minutes; at quarter past, it chimed once, at half past twice, at three quarters of an hour it went three times and at the hour it rang four times followed by the Bell pealing the hour (so if it was seven, it pealed seven times), this continued through out the night, I should know, I was up all night... thanks to the incessant chiming, the traffic noise and some animal or bird that kept screaming through the night like it was being beaten to death. This was indeed not a very good start for my time here... but as always we live and hope for a better tomorrow....

Movie Review: Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (YJHD)

If I were to sum this film in one line... it would be, 'The film had great potential if it was truly an Ayan Mukherjee Film'. It began as an Ayan Mukherjee film, lost it way and then got lost some more. So much so that in the end I'm sure it suffered from a huge identity crisis and Ayan Mukherjee was compelled to end it abruptly to put it out of its misery.

I for one loved Ayan Mukherjee's first film, Wake up Sid, there was a freshness, a sense of wonder in each scene that is unfolding on the screen. Here is a sensitive director who can take a everyday scene that could be from anyone's life and make it appear more meaningful on screen, the metamorphosis of Sid into a mature adult is beautifully captured on screen. He extracted every ounce performance-wise from Ranbir Kapoor in what I feel is a near flawless film. However, YJHD reduces talented actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Farooq Sheikh and Kalki Koechlin to mere caricatures.  

Lets start from the beginning shall we,  the narrative is jumpy and the songs seem to have been added on later as an after thought to plug the holes in the narrative. In an attempt to make a stylish movie the director forgot the soul of the film. Sadly the the viewer is unable to connect with the soul less film.

Keep that aside for a minute shall we, can someone please explain to me why his friends don't feel happy for him when he gets a scholarship to attend a journalism course of his choice. As far as the viewer is concerned Bunny (Ranbir) is a guy of modest means  and he wants to travel and see every corner of the world, he even maintains a scrap book of the place he wants to see. If indeed his friends were as close to him as the director wants us to believe, they would know that and would be jumping for joy that he is indeed taking a step in the right direction. But what do they do, they send him on a guilt trip... with friends like these who needs enemies.

Deepika is absolutely spot on portraying Naina's discomfort when she initially tries to gel with the other group members. She continues with a strong performance as Naina continues to fall hopelessly in love with Bunny. Even though Naina does say that neither of them waited for the other, it does seem that while Bunny was painting the town red, Naina was actually waiting for him to realise that he loved her and that he would come and rescue her from herself, it does seems a little too far-fetched, but who knows, such things happen, so I will let it pass.

 Moving on to the script or the lack of it, I strongly suspect the while the trek sequence was in the original script the slap stick comedy goon fighting sequence was someone else's idea that the director was road rolled into adding. Also pray tell me why the need for an item song with Madhuri ?? Don't you believe in your product?? We could honestly have lived without having been subjected to it. The only song which has any sense or melody or any reason to be in the film is Kabira.

There are sequences that have the Ayan Mukherjee sensitivity, like the one where Aditi reveals to Bunny  that Taran was only trying to stop her from having a show down with Avi on his wasteful expenses. Or the one where Bunny makes Naina admit that she is dying to go to the party. Or take for instance the one where Naina's mom talks about Aditi at the dinner table. You do get glimpses of the talented director, but they are like flashes, you blink and they are gone.

I would really like to see what the original script was like before too many cooks spoilt it on the way to making the Great Indian Masala Movie.

Grilled Paneer

Ingredients:
200 gms Paneer (cut into cubes)
Salt to taste

For Marinade:
2 green Chillies
1 inch piece of Ginger
3 cloves of Garlic
Corriander leaves
a pinch of Garam Masala
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Method:
1) Put all the ingredients of the marinade (except the lemon juice and Garam Masala)  in a grinder and make a fine paste (don't add too much water as it will make the paste runny, we want a thick paste).
2) Remove to a bowl and add the lemon juice, Garam Masala and salt.
3) Prick the paneer cubes on all sides with a fork.
4) Marinate the paneer cubes in this mixture (the longer you marinate the better).
5) Heat a tawa well, for the first batch just rub a little oil on the tawa, just enough to leave a trace of oil (one or two drops of oil).
6) Place a few pieces of the marinated paneer on the hot tawa cook on a slow flame, when one side is half done, turn over. Keep turning the pieces so that they don't burn.

Note: The excess marinade on the paneer cubes will stick to the tawa and burn, ensure that you scrape the burnt marinade off the tawa and keep turning the paneer pieces to ensure that they are evenly cooked.