The dinner tonight was at '4 Seasons' Madhapur. Right across the road was my old office (the erstwhile Satyam Computers), it was literally a trip down the memory lane. This restaurant, on the second floor is nothing much to talk about in the name of ambiance. Having said that, they have certainly put their attention in the right place - the food. Ours was a simple 3 course dinner - Tomato Soup, Chicken Malai Kabab & Chicken Biryani. Being one of those 'nice' places where everyone wants to go straight from their office, this place is always crowded (and definitely on a Friday evening). If you go there with a group of more than 2, be prepared to wait, wait really long, argue and even fight for a place.
But once you are there, be ready to eat one of the finest chicken you may have ever laid your hands on (or dug your teeth into). They have all sorts of chicken preparations. After my reduced appetite over the last couple of years (surprisingly after my marriage ;-) ), I couldn't take another starter, but if I could, I could have something Lebanese. The restaurant has Lebanese, Mughlai and Indian preparations. The biryani wasn't something something great, but the chicken pieces in it were really soft, well cooked and well marinated. The biryani took eons to come, but the wait was worth it. I wish I could adjust a dessert somewhere but we were full up to the brim and happy with the food.
So the next time you folks want to enjoy a good meal, visit '4 Seasons' - vegetarians, get a life.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
An evening well spent...
Last evening me and Shveta visited the city. It was the first time we were in an explorer mood since we shifted base to Hyderabad. Unlike Pune, which was our last bastion, Hyderabad has fewer places worth visiting at an hour's drive. By 'places' I mean places like Mulshi, Lonavla, Sinhgad and places like that where you can find spot just to sit and relax in the company of nature. So we decided just to head straight to some place in the city and just have an evening exporing the place.
We decided to take the train to Begumpet and explore that part of Hyderabad. Although Begumpet is mostly to do with shopping for pearls, huge apparel malls, Westside, Landmark and other big stores. After disembarking the MMTS train at Begumpet, we walked past the newly built flyover, the ITC kakatiya and reached Landmark. It is really difficult to walk past a bookstore if you really dig books or movies. So we entered Landmark and spent a good hour and half there, looking for books and DVDs. Came out with 2 books, a Telugu learning guide and the Times food guide to Hyderabad/Secunderabad. We also bought an audio CD, Sacred Chants volume 3 by Kosmic music. There were so many other books and music we wanted to buy, but we were running out of time and we wanted to make it till Hyderabad Central, have our dinner and catch the last train home.
By the time we got out of Landmark, it was already 8 at night. As we walked towards Hyderabad central, we entered Home Store - Future group's furniture and furnishing store. After ogling at all the expensive furniture that we could buy if we had all the money in the world and a place of our own, we moved to e-zone, the electronic appliance section within this store. There was an offer going on, where they were selling a DVD player for Rs. 1999 only. My 5.1 channel speaker system was lying idle at home, there were movies getting downloaded on the internet, there was good music to be heard, what more reason did I need to buy a DVD player! So we grabbed one and by 8.45 PM made our way into Hyderabad Central.
We had decided not to spend any time shopping here but only have our dinner and dash for the railway station. We went to the Noodle Bar restaurant on the ground floor. It is a nice place with good ambience. Both of us having sore throats, were weary of air conditioned chill. We requested for a table that wasn't directly under the duct. The waiter guided us to one such cozy corner in the restaurant. They were serving a 4 course emperor meals that consisted of an appetizer or a soup, a main dish, rice or noodles and dessert. We liked the idea of placing an order on a paper that has tick boxes in front of every menu item. We were given these papers and pencils and left alone to make a decision. we only had to tick what option we wanted for the 4 courses and hand over the paper to the waiter. We ordered some vegeterian manchow soup and a potion of vegetable spring rolls to begin with. Both these dishes were served hot and pretty quickly. Although we shared a single serving of soup, it was just the quantiy for both of us and boy was it tasty! The spring rolls were one of the best have had in a long time (if i was more confident of my memory, I would have said 'best ever'). we then got ourselves some Chicken manchurian and chicken hakka noodles.Now this was not the best part. Especialy the chicken pieces. We bth have had better chicken in Hyderabad House. Just as the initial impression was beginning to fade out, the Noddle Bar sprung their last surprise on us. The best and the last impression came in the form of the dessert, called 'Darsaan'. This is by far the most unique dessert I have ever tasted. It is fried dry flat noodles, tossed in honey and sesame seeds. This last impression of the restaurant was a lasting one. Me and Shveta, we both loved this dessert and so repented that the noodles and the chicken (both not so good) had not left enough space for this fantastic delicacy. Although Times food guide does not rate the Noodle Bar very well, the food, the quick service and the dessert won our hearts. Our dinner for 2 came to about 500 rupees and all of it worth the money (almost). definitely recommendable if you are not much fussy about visitng a restaurant in a crowded mall.
The times food guide looks like a neat way of picking up joints to visit on week ends. Although the city doesn't have much for the eyes, I hope once our bike comes, we can visit most of the restaurants in the guide and let our tongue do the talking :-)!!
We decided to take the train to Begumpet and explore that part of Hyderabad. Although Begumpet is mostly to do with shopping for pearls, huge apparel malls, Westside, Landmark and other big stores. After disembarking the MMTS train at Begumpet, we walked past the newly built flyover, the ITC kakatiya and reached Landmark. It is really difficult to walk past a bookstore if you really dig books or movies. So we entered Landmark and spent a good hour and half there, looking for books and DVDs. Came out with 2 books, a Telugu learning guide and the Times food guide to Hyderabad/Secunderabad. We also bought an audio CD, Sacred Chants volume 3 by Kosmic music. There were so many other books and music we wanted to buy, but we were running out of time and we wanted to make it till Hyderabad Central, have our dinner and catch the last train home.
By the time we got out of Landmark, it was already 8 at night. As we walked towards Hyderabad central, we entered Home Store - Future group's furniture and furnishing store. After ogling at all the expensive furniture that we could buy if we had all the money in the world and a place of our own, we moved to e-zone, the electronic appliance section within this store. There was an offer going on, where they were selling a DVD player for Rs. 1999 only. My 5.1 channel speaker system was lying idle at home, there were movies getting downloaded on the internet, there was good music to be heard, what more reason did I need to buy a DVD player! So we grabbed one and by 8.45 PM made our way into Hyderabad Central.
We had decided not to spend any time shopping here but only have our dinner and dash for the railway station. We went to the Noodle Bar restaurant on the ground floor. It is a nice place with good ambience. Both of us having sore throats, were weary of air conditioned chill. We requested for a table that wasn't directly under the duct. The waiter guided us to one such cozy corner in the restaurant. They were serving a 4 course emperor meals that consisted of an appetizer or a soup, a main dish, rice or noodles and dessert. We liked the idea of placing an order on a paper that has tick boxes in front of every menu item. We were given these papers and pencils and left alone to make a decision. we only had to tick what option we wanted for the 4 courses and hand over the paper to the waiter. We ordered some vegeterian manchow soup and a potion of vegetable spring rolls to begin with. Both these dishes were served hot and pretty quickly. Although we shared a single serving of soup, it was just the quantiy for both of us and boy was it tasty! The spring rolls were one of the best have had in a long time (if i was more confident of my memory, I would have said 'best ever'). we then got ourselves some Chicken manchurian and chicken hakka noodles.Now this was not the best part. Especialy the chicken pieces. We bth have had better chicken in Hyderabad House. Just as the initial impression was beginning to fade out, the Noddle Bar sprung their last surprise on us. The best and the last impression came in the form of the dessert, called 'Darsaan'. This is by far the most unique dessert I have ever tasted. It is fried dry flat noodles, tossed in honey and sesame seeds. This last impression of the restaurant was a lasting one. Me and Shveta, we both loved this dessert and so repented that the noodles and the chicken (both not so good) had not left enough space for this fantastic delicacy. Although Times food guide does not rate the Noodle Bar very well, the food, the quick service and the dessert won our hearts. Our dinner for 2 came to about 500 rupees and all of it worth the money (almost). definitely recommendable if you are not much fussy about visitng a restaurant in a crowded mall.
The times food guide looks like a neat way of picking up joints to visit on week ends. Although the city doesn't have much for the eyes, I hope once our bike comes, we can visit most of the restaurants in the guide and let our tongue do the talking :-)!!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The right half of brain
It took me a bit of googling to figure out that it is the right half of brain that is to do with imagination and artistic ability. So far removed I am from this part of life that I don't even remember which part of brain we use for it.
I recall a conversation I had at work couple of days ago. I was making a point there, that as we are trying to get better at communication, we are getting worse at expression. We may be able to write a concise email about all the things we need to get done for a project. But we hardly know to write a letter (or say an email) to our friends recalling our good old days in school. One of my colleague was of the opinion that the younger generation is smarter and faster than we are. But smarter and faster at what? Math? Computers? Science? How many of the children have a passion today? How many of them waste hours and days at painting? or may be swimming? The younger generation is getting increasingly left-brain-centric. Very logical and calculative in thinking. But the imagination does not have wings. The emotions are calculated. Ask a kid to imagine a sky in Pink colour and be assured to see a confused face. The empathy one could have for a fellow living creature has been narrowed down to some soft corner only for friends and family.
I have a young cousin back in Goa who cried when one of the buffalo in our stable died. Stupid it may sound to anyone, she felt the pain the buffalo's calf went through. She is not exceptionally well at drawing, but she has the patience to sit and try a Rangoli. She likes to have pets at home and maintains her own patch of garden. All at the age of 12. Many children need to be given a project in school to know names of some of the common garden plants. Where does this difference come from?
In my opinion, this difference comes from the way of life that we have chosen for ourselves. If we make a list of 10 most important things in our lives today, I bet 8 of them will be 'purchasable'. Our happiness, fulfillment, accomplishment are all achievable through that extra money we always want to earn. It has been a long time since I have heard someone dedicate his entire life to something other than his job. I sincerely hope I am in the wrong circles and there is still an increasing number of people who use & develop the right side of their brain.
I recall a conversation I had at work couple of days ago. I was making a point there, that as we are trying to get better at communication, we are getting worse at expression. We may be able to write a concise email about all the things we need to get done for a project. But we hardly know to write a letter (or say an email) to our friends recalling our good old days in school. One of my colleague was of the opinion that the younger generation is smarter and faster than we are. But smarter and faster at what? Math? Computers? Science? How many of the children have a passion today? How many of them waste hours and days at painting? or may be swimming? The younger generation is getting increasingly left-brain-centric. Very logical and calculative in thinking. But the imagination does not have wings. The emotions are calculated. Ask a kid to imagine a sky in Pink colour and be assured to see a confused face. The empathy one could have for a fellow living creature has been narrowed down to some soft corner only for friends and family.
I have a young cousin back in Goa who cried when one of the buffalo in our stable died. Stupid it may sound to anyone, she felt the pain the buffalo's calf went through. She is not exceptionally well at drawing, but she has the patience to sit and try a Rangoli. She likes to have pets at home and maintains her own patch of garden. All at the age of 12. Many children need to be given a project in school to know names of some of the common garden plants. Where does this difference come from?
In my opinion, this difference comes from the way of life that we have chosen for ourselves. If we make a list of 10 most important things in our lives today, I bet 8 of them will be 'purchasable'. Our happiness, fulfillment, accomplishment are all achievable through that extra money we always want to earn. It has been a long time since I have heard someone dedicate his entire life to something other than his job. I sincerely hope I am in the wrong circles and there is still an increasing number of people who use & develop the right side of their brain.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
THE film to watch out for...
Naseeruddin Shah and the hidden talent called Arshad Warsi...watch out for Ishqiya by Abhishek Choubey who assisted Vishal Bharadwaj in Onkara and other films. Here is the trailer...enjoy!!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Mid life crisis.. is it?
I am just back from a day trip to Mulshi - a scenic place near Pune. After returning from the UK, I spent most of my last 2 months at home recovering from the knee injury. The mood is a little upbeat.
But off late I have been observing a change in mood as the Sunday Sun moves westwards. An anxiety starts creeping in. Mostly to do with work. What is in store on Monday? Will tomorrow be painful? Is the Manager going to throw some new issue at me? Am I missing a deadline? Lot of such anxious thoughts that make my Sunday evening rather nervous. As I wake up on Monday morning, I am completely exhausted by these thoughts instead of being fresh from a weekend. I have been trying to analyse what this could be.
It appears that most of these thoughts crop up from a kind of insecurity or may be lack of confidence. I am scared of being pointed out as a loser, someone who did not perform. Or I fear I may be betraying my boss's expectations. There is always a struggle to be right - never to be wrong, never to be looked at as an idiot and most importantly to be trusted for commitment and sincerity. There is always somewhere a doubt that fingers may point at me today. Have I thought this through? Is this going to work the way I think it should? Do I know enough??!!
Enough, sufficiency, optimum are unquantifiable at the junction of life I am in. Do I earn enough? Am I responsible enough? Do I behave like a Manager or still a fresher? Should I be carefree or thoughtful and immaculate? Should I buy a bike and do road trips or be more sane and buy a house and settle down? I am not confident of the world at my workplace. It seems to be too strict to pardon a mistake. So I am scared. But is it really? Every decision I make, every mail I write, every conversation I have at work seems to decide whether I stay or I am thrown out. I keep thinking if 'this thing I am doing' could make me lose my job. And then the next thing I know is I am thinking of what I would do if I am not doing this? I start thinking of alternate careers, possible business ventures, where the money would come from and weired things like that. And all this does is takes the air out of my today.
I haven't been living in present since a long time. I am either deliberating on the past - should I have worked harder and become a doctor, should I not have quit Banking; Or I am deliberating on my future - should I start my own business or become a teacher, will I be able to move to Goa 5-6 years down the line, so on and so forth. Does it help me in anyway to make the decision now? Hell no! Last week I deliberately tried to keep these thoughts out of my mind. I have been quite successful. I am sure I will weed this out over a period of time.
Is this mid-life crisis? Whatever it is, I have observed that the best way to overcome this is to involve yourself in other activities. They could be any of your hobbies or simply socializing. I also avoid office talk as much as possible after work (and sometimes even at work)! I am also spending more time keeping in touch with friends and relatives, reading literary stuff - something that is not about business or statistics. I try to read Marathi books, poems, short stories and stuff that is pure pleasure. As of now this seems to be the right path...lets see where it takes me!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Community Supported Agriculture
Most products have the cost of failure built into the price of the product. For example, a film. When a film gets made, there are so many things at stake, that the all these risks are covered by the premium on the ticket. If a film ticket was prices simply by dividing the cost + profit by the number of people watching, it would be pretty cheap. Or consider for example, the price of a car. The insurance premium that the manufacturer pays is built into the cost of the car. Or say a doctor, who conducts very risky operations get paid highly...and now you ask what's the point??
The point is, this doesn't happen with a farmer.A farmer faces all the vagries of nature or monsoon. Alll his risks are unmeasurable and unpredictable. But does he get to decide his pricing? Why does market not behave perfectly when it comes to agriculture? Why doesn't the theory of high risk - high return apply to agriculture? How does a farmer hedge his risks then is the main question!
The answer as I found today lies in Community Supported Agriculture. This is a fantastic system wherein buyers share the risk with a farmer. They are participants in the farming process economically and hence emotionally. If the monsoon isn't good in a year, and the farmer isnt able to grow enough tomatoes, the buyers will have to forgo the amount but may be compesated by a good winter and receive abundent peanuts. But since the risk is spread, it becomes insignificant to every individual. Morover, the farmer can concentrate on growing quality stuff rather than having to worry about selling it. There are various flexible models around the worls for CSA. Just google it up and its an interesting read. Looks like my next career move ;-)
The point is, this doesn't happen with a farmer.A farmer faces all the vagries of nature or monsoon. Alll his risks are unmeasurable and unpredictable. But does he get to decide his pricing? Why does market not behave perfectly when it comes to agriculture? Why doesn't the theory of high risk - high return apply to agriculture? How does a farmer hedge his risks then is the main question!
The answer as I found today lies in Community Supported Agriculture. This is a fantastic system wherein buyers share the risk with a farmer. They are participants in the farming process economically and hence emotionally. If the monsoon isn't good in a year, and the farmer isnt able to grow enough tomatoes, the buyers will have to forgo the amount but may be compesated by a good winter and receive abundent peanuts. But since the risk is spread, it becomes insignificant to every individual. Morover, the farmer can concentrate on growing quality stuff rather than having to worry about selling it. There are various flexible models around the worls for CSA. Just google it up and its an interesting read. Looks like my next career move ;-)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Film piracy funding terror
"Film piracy funding terror: US thinktank"
I have read about this many times before. Since the time I was convinced, I stopped buying pirated films and music from the street.
Have a read.
I have read about this many times before. Since the time I was convinced, I stopped buying pirated films and music from the street.
Have a read.
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