Bangalore through my eyes

You can drive on spacious roads, but get stuck in traffic

When the roads are empty at night, you have nowhere to go

You mint money like there’s no end and milk the IT cash cow

But have no one around for 100 miles, whom you truly know

You can taste the world’s cuisines on your plate,

But that taste of home-made food you have to learn to forgo

Though the booze is cheap and flows ever so freely

But the friends are always busy and you miss them dearly

But such is life; you have to make amends,

If you are fortunate like me, it’s here; you’d find the dearest friends

Thank you Paper Boat!

We all sometimes like to take off our work boots off and wander in the memory lanes. Those dusty roads you walked to reach school, counting hours till recess, running out as fast as you can to catch hold of the only swing in the playground and all the other things. When I think about my childhood the best times that I remember were the summer vacations. Going to my native place among the dense Baug filled with mango trees, the game of Lukka Chhuppi (Hide and Seek) or Pakada Pakadi (Tag) enjoyed with my cousins, and the relishing drink of Aam Panha or Neembu Paani enjoyed after the hours of playing knocked out our breaths.

With the years, I thought that I had lost all those things, but recently I found a way to reminiscent those days because of Paper Boat.  I was utterly speechless when I had the first sip of Jaljeera flavour of Paper Boat this afternoon, when the quirky bottle caught my eye in the Kirana store this afternoon. The taste got all those memories flooding back. Ah the good old days! Thank you, Paper Boat.

Assassin's Creed Revelations trailer

Just saw this trailer of Assassins Creed Revelations. If you are wondering which is the song in the background, it is Iron by Woodkid. One hell of a video.

A journey to the land of faith - Part 2

The night of adjusting in a single berth with Saurabh had taken its toll. Woken by a horrible body ache, we were greeted by the amazingly beautiful landscapes of Punjab. At about 7 O'clock, our train rolled in the Amritsar station. Instantly surrounded by Punjabi charisma and Maa di-Bhen di we set out to find ourselves the room in Railway waiting room. This was the whole new concept introduced by Sumedh while planning. According to him, we could easily get accommodations in Railway waiting rooms in respective railway stations which will allow us to save good amount of cash. Unfortunate for us, most of the people knew about this service and thus, "saare rooms full hain jiiii!"

Outside the station, we engaged a cycle ricksha walla who promised to take us to a hotel. He made a complete mama of us by taking us to a hotel that was 2 minutes away. After a little bargaining, we settled in an AC room for some 1000 bucks for the night. After getting fresh we decided the days plan, and took a rick for Golden Temple. I was salivating throughout the journey, because Parathe! The road was full of Paratha stalls on both sides and the wafting smell of melting makkhan was driving me crazy. We finally settle for a breakfast near the temple. The Parathas, or as Punju's call it Praathaa, were simple, rustic and yet heavenly. The chhole served with it were amazing. Believe me, the thick gravy chhole served in parties are a sham. These chhole were more of a clear soup of chickpeas. One swig straight from the Katori and fluids were flowing freely from my facial orifices. First time in my life, my stomach was full in 20 minutes flat. I secretly vowed to visit later and eat every kind of Paratha the dingy place had to offer.

Next we stepped into the Golden Temple. I didn't think the actual temple would be that small. Could be because we always see the real close up of the temple at the center and not the whole complex. The atmosphere was serene except for some hot-spots where all the devotees were busy in ceremonies. we wandered through the complex, clicked picks, read information written on the boards, you know, touristy stuff. We didn't go inside the actual temple, as we had chosen a day of some special ceremony and there was a lot of crowd. next we moved to the museum of history of the Sikh community in the complex. It was filled with detailed accounts of life and times of all the Sikh gurus (spiritual leaders), weapons used by them, painting detailing the tortures inflicted upon the Sikhs by Mughal emperors etc. The history has been recorded in great detail. It was sad tough I couldn't find any mentions of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj which for some reason I expected to find. Anyway.

God this story is getting long...

A journey to the land of faith - Part 1

Don't get confused by the flashy title. Just a plain old travel tale of three best friends (and this was before ZNMD was released, mind it!). One of our Tikadi, Saurabh, was flying off to the US soon for his PhD in phrma stuff, and we 3 had never had a chance for a trip together. An adventure trip was on the cards. A few days of research and we zeroed on white water rafting in Rishikesh. And since we couldn't get direct reservations for train (haaye ye gareebi!), we decided to route our journey through Amritsar, another destination not visited by none of us. bookings in place and prayers for the tickets to get confirmed, finally came the day of the journey.

Sadly, the tickets were RAC but not confirmed. RAC bole toh you have to share your berth with creepy dudes and sit rather than sleep through the whole journey, which in our case was on 24+ hours. Thankfully, the guy who was allotted the 4th seat with us in RAC left us the two whole berth and adjusted himself elsewhere. I still get dreams about that guy (since I have forgotten his face, I just see a halo of light in place of his face). We decided to take turns for the whole berth and the other two will share the other berth. and thus the journey began...

The food that came along the aisles was really good. I was especially fixated on the tomato soup and matka dahi (pronounced as motkaa doi,, god bless the good bacteria). Saurabh hogged on his single berth time and caught on his beauty sleep while me and Sumedh sat chatting. After lunch, the train entered Rajasthan (or could be Madhya Pradesh) and it was hot as hell, though we were on the brink of monsoon. After a little head-scratching, we tied a Gamchha (a thin cloth worn usually as a head gear) to the window and kept hydrating it with a Bisleri (or could be Aquafina) bottle pierced through the cap. The experiment was moderately successful, as the water squirting game that followed took our mind off the god awful heat.

As we approached Delhi, we saw the first signs of rains since we left Mumbai. Delhi wasn't the stop I expected it to be. I was expecting to be greeted by the awesome taste of Chhole kulche and what not, but there was only thin kinda posh food restaurant and I the amount of hygiene there couldn't have agreed with my appetite much. The night was cold and almost uneventful. After dinner and a couple of rounds of Motkaa Doi, Sumedh finally got into the single berth and me and Saurabh adjusted somehow in the single berth......

Here There (4 Hands on a Single acoustic) by @GareebGuitarist

An amazing experiment by a dear friend Devesh Jadhav AKA @GareebGuitarist: Two guys playing one guitar simultaneously. Performed at "Godrej - Museum of memories"

Parent Hospitalization 101

Mom was like seriously ill a week before. Like we had to admit her to a nearby nursing home and all. I don't think any of my parents was this seriously ill before. The years of referee duty between me and my brother has finally started taking toll on them, especially mom. She was feeling breathless and our family doc suggested we take her to this another doctor. Docotor saab promptly ordered an ECG. Dad, who has seen mom through almost all of her health issue, called me at once. Some of the terms the doctor threw at him (including the reason why he was ordering an ECG) went like a bouncer delivery. I reached the nursing home, talked to the doctor, called up couple of my friends who are fresh out of medical college (after what seemed to be years and years) and wrapped my head around the fact that finally, after all these years, "maari maa buddhi thai gayi". (Tip: don't go all "I know what you are talking about" around the doctor. Pretend you are a local paanwaala and ask the doc to explain all things in as simple terms as possible. Also call your MBBS friends. They might not know squat, but it's good to make them feel that their years of studies are paying off).

Mom was hooked up to all these heart rate monitors. Some urgent tests were performed, an overall blood work was ordered. Dad pushed a thick wad of cash in my hand and went home. It was probably the first time he gave me so much money in hand. The night proceeded as mom settled as if the hospital was her Maikaa, ordering nurses for water and stuff. Meanwhile, dad was under an impression that the hospital will provide for food. After a long wait for him to get a dabba from home, I fixed up mom with some food from a local poli bhaji stall and went home. it was not a good idea. Couldn't sleep. Kept thinking about mom. Went back to the nursing home. Kept peeking through the ICCU window, checking on her. (Tip: The worst thing about the heart rate monitors is the way they fluctuate like a roller coaster when the person hooked up to them moves.) scared the shit out of me for the first few times. Finally went to sleep at 3 o clock in the night.

Next two days went uneventful. Apparently mom just needed a nice long sleep. she looked all good the next day. Still, as the nursing homes wanted to make her feel at home, the doctor ordered a 2D Echo and kept her there for one more day. She got discharged the next day after 2D echo test came normal. She is still taking rest and ordering us around, playing the "hospitalization" card.

Miscellaneous tips:

1. If not admitted in a hospital connected to the cashless facility of your medi-claim, call up the guys and intimidate them about the hospitalization within 24 hours
2. Keep all the documents (reports, prescriptions, bills etc) organized
3. While taking discharge, make sure you get the test requests (its sort of prescription but for tests) for all the tests done from the doctor
4. Try and keep them entertained, also be extra courteous to the hospital staff if your patient is ordering them around  like my mom
5. Do not hamper your eating schedule, the acidity that follows sucks.
6. Do not think of yourself as some lord after you pull off all this hospitalization stunt. Your dad will still think of you as a kid. A responsible kid if you are lucky.
7. Try and get someone else to do the medi-claim procedure that follows the hospitalization. Unless you are as composed as bhagvaan Buddha.