High on Caffeine

High on Caffeine ( HoC ) is probably an apt place to go, when most of the time one feels sleep deprived. And then comes an article in IBN stating that traditionally 93% of us Indians are short on quality snooze. But, HoC is tucked away neatly into the Mitsubishi showroom on LB Road Adyar, opposite Globus. One cant miss the advert board craving for attention, just before the Indian Oil petrol pump.

The western world's influence on Indian coffee shops are quite noticeable, and this one is no exception. The sport bar/coffee theme has been generously borrowed from the quaint one-off sports bars in the US, especially with the motor sport logo graffiti at the entrance. The day I went, there wasnt much crowd to be seen around, and few youngistan junta had plopped onto the generous sized bean-bags, sipping away to glory. There are couple of pool and foose ball tables, nintendo and playstation consoles, few neolithic white/gray leather lined chairs alongwith the centerpiece tables, and ample space. There is also a separate enclosure for the mild-mannered folks who wouldnt prefer the din of people going crazy over sport on the big screen. The biggest USP of this place could be the really good quality giant screen, which incidentally was broadcasting the T20 between India and Srilanka. It was just a happenchance that we dropped into this place, and given the smattering of crowd seen around, looks like word hasnt gone around about this relatively new-in-town coffee abode. We ordered cappuccinos ( the first drink to evaluate if we would return to a coffee shop ) and some kind of cheese loaded crouton type bread which came with few potato chips. The coffee cost Rs.50 while the crouton order cost around Rs.90. HoC lived upto its name with the cappuccino being pretty strong without we asking for it be so, but was little thin in the density aspect. The end result was that it was not too great a serving of the caffeine, but made up for it with the salivating prospect of watching more cricket games at this place. Would surely recommend for sports fans who prefer to see the big and bad games with friends to argue and cheer collectively.

P.S : Few short quips on the movies
Kurbaan - Rensil D'Silva's commendable movie on terrorism and love. Good music score, backed by strong performances from the lead pair and the supporting cast. Good watch, wont be disppointed.

Inglorious Basterds - Slash fest coupled with trigger fest. Oodles of bullet piercing the bodies and generous spurts of blood. Smug and cocky portrayal of a nazi slayer by Brad Pitt. Eli Roth ( "Hostel" director ), in a meaty role that sure looks like tailor made to suit his thought, action and direction of evil. Must see for Tarantino fans.

Vettai - Its in a league of its own, even before the release. Slated for an early morning show at Sathyam this Saturday. Watch out this space for an "objective" review ( trust me on this one ).

Dad's 60th Birthday and Thirukadaiyur

28-29 Nov 2009:

It is dad's 60th birthday and we set out on our way to Thirukadaiyur, which is where Lord Shiva apparently saved Markandeya from Yama's noose of death. The bus journey from Tambaram to Mayiladhurai was agonizing, thanks to the Ultra-Deluxe's (UD)late departure and then the magnificent stink of the pillow covers. We were so relieved to reach Moogambigai Residency in Thirukadayur after hopping onto another transit bus under the cover of early morning rain. I bought the Trichy edition of Hindu, which I spread out on the dining table at the hotel's attached restaurant. I settled for a modest plain dosa, a set of puris and a coffee. It felt good to just read the Sunday Hindu with a cup of coffee with rain splattering outside. Soon after, I flopped onto the hotel bed to snooze for a while even as the rest of the family had their breakfast. We took an auto to go the main Abirami temple to keep up the time with the usual abhishekams and archanais.

The overall experience at the temple could have been better if only the priests and the devotees had showed little more patience and consideration. Everyone seemed to be fighting for vantage spots, while the priests recited the mantras in an seemingly disinterested way and appeared to be too keen on winding up the entire process. We took few photos of dad and mom with their garlands and new attire within the temple premises, which normally is prohibited in majority of the temples. After about 2.5 hrs of activity within Lord Shiva's abode, we proceeded to the nearest hotel for a sumptous lunch ( sumptuous more because of the prolonged gap between breakfast and lunch ). Even though I was full to the brim, I checked out the prasadams after returning to the hotel room and another disappointment was in store. Of late, many temples disperse prasadams more as a rote and show no genuine interest in making the bhojanam tastier. There might be few detractors who might think prasadams are not meant for satisfying the taste buds, but I beg to differ. If someone makes and offers any kind of food in any of the holy places, it is a reflection of the mindset of the people in charge of those places. The heavy lunch ensured that we got decent rest, before we packed our things and headed to the bus stop to take us to Thiruvarur. Bro set on what turned out to be a long journey of close to 13 hours, from Thirukadaiyur to Erode. Man, he has some patience and perseverence, be it at work or travelling:-) The government UD bus back from Thiruvarur to Chennai was very comfortable and we reached Tambaram bus station on time at 4:30 in the morning. For all the humid climate in Chennai, the bus ride was unusually pretty chilly. To drive away those chills we had piping hot coffee at the long standing Bhats hotel in Tambaram junction. But for the hot beverages ( read as coffee, T and masala milk ) the rest of the hotel is in absolute dumps.

Update for 4th Dec - A morning visit to the temple followed up with rava kesari and ven pongal :-). An afternoon siesta, Indian batting collapse of sorts against SL on teletube, and a long drive to Sathyam for Kandaen Kaadhalai. To round it off, 3 aloo parathas and one samosa and then a bite into the butterscoth cake bro got home for dad' s bday. Wasnt that a fruitful day ? ( Had a banana and a guava as well :-))

P.S : I was clueless when my supervisor at work asked about the significance of the temple at Thirukadaiyur, so for ignorants such as truly yours -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirukadaiyur
http://www.pariharam.com/TempleAbiramiAmman,Thirukadaiyur.aspx?

2 States - Chetan Bhagat

This is pop-corn fiction, modelled on a bolly/kollywood movie. The book costs the usual Rs.95 ( so wouldn’t have to worry buying pirated copies ) for its 269 pages. It’s a quick read with a very simple plotline, with dollops of humour, mostly at the expense of Madrasis ( verbatim...as used in the book ). Not to cause much consternation, there is self-deprecating humour in the form of the so called over-the-top lifestyle of Punjabis :-)

The book apparently is inspired by Bhagat's real life and takes off from the time how the two protagonists ( Krish-the Punjabi thambi and Ananya Swaminathan-the Madrasi kudi ) meet at IIM-A's mess. Bhagat doesn’t spend too much real estate on developing the romance between Krish and Ananya, since the expected plot is how the two families are going to play a big role in this love saga. There is the usual muted profanity and some Un-Indian ( as claimed in the book ) behavioral pattern to remind us that our society is in the midst of a major westernization flux. Krish and Ananya land their dream jobs and the next step is to figure out how to convince their respective families.

The hero opts Chennai as his Citi posting in order to befriend the austere tam-brahm family of Ananya's. His IIT brains are put to test by the typical nerdy younger bro of the heroine, while the Tamil maami-mom is a budding carnatic singer. And of course, the dad is a devout Hindu reading "The Hindu" which he can’t do without. To complement this Tamil family caricature, Krish's side has a retired army officer for dad ( in his chauvinistic best ) and a loud blink-i-will-cry mom who loves food and is always on the lookout for more dowry and status show-offs. There are the usual Punjabi names and the mandatory family wedding and similar such predictable references. After all machinations, Krish does end up getting the consent of Ananya's family and soon after Ananya goes to Krish's house in Delhi for a week at HLL's expense. After some tear-jerker contest between the Krish's mom and Ananya, and one wonderful act of persuasive talk by Ananya at a Punjabi wedding, Ananya wins over Krish's mom.

Not to be satisfied, the lead pair decide to force the two families to like each other. Out comes the overbeaten rivalry between Northies Vs Southies, and one must say that this part could have been played down without the crude references. However, after much ado, the families try to reach a common ground by catering to each other's preferred lifestyles. The desi drama has a happy ending with lead pair getting married in Chennai in a deliberately chosen "Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar Karpagambal Thirumana Mandapam". C’mon, it’s that not difficult to pronounce...

What carries the book are some heavy doses of humour involving Krish's first tamil boss-Bala and the loud mouthed Rajji mama from Krish's family and some sensitive moments involving Krish's dad's sudden change of heart ( cant explain what caused it though ), and a short dip into philosophy with a Pondicherry saint. Chetan Bhagat says he doesnt want to be remembered as a paragon of high pedestal english literature and so he keeps the sentences simple, and the narration just flows through. One doesnt have to wrack his/her brains to keep up with the pace of the plot. Would rate this just below "5 point someone" and definitely way above "3 mistakes of my life".

Pondy - The first official road trip in India

Nov 21-22/Chennai-Pondicherry/ECR :



Notorious for planning dime-a-dozen trips, I should thank "bangalore se aaya mera dost" for what turned out to be the high-octane cruise on the bump-free and beautiful ECR. OK, that is not true, not possible with a 2000 model Maruti Zen loaded with 4 not-so-size-zero-guys.

Sudhi (tamilian in the guise of a kannadiga) and me set-off to first replace the wiper blades and have our bat-mobile checked for any major performance barriers. After a mathematical mess-up of epic proportions at the spare parts shop, we picked up the ever-so-popular Raghav and the new kid on the block-Narasimhan, from the latest addition to Chennai city maps - Tambaram. Never one to keep up the sanctity of punctuality, we were behind our schedule by a mere one hour.

The recent rains ensured that we bumped our way to the ECR road and then in a yahoo moment, pressed on the accelerator and the engine cried out loud for some mercy. Every trip of ours ( dating back to the US days ) has centered around food, and so I took a U-turn after we missed Don-Pepe" by a whisker, only to order some "kewl" cool drinks and a chimichanga and enchilada. Satiated, I laboured into the driving seat and hit a steady 80kmph. Mamallapuram looked not so appealing in the hot sun, but to showcase Chennai to Sudhi, we did the mandatory pit-stop. To ask directions, we could not recollect the historical monuments in local lingo and it was a comedy of sorts trying to explain arjuna's penance, and I blurted out "rocks".



We reached Pondy and checked into GINGER - a TATA enterprise. The hotel offers a freshness not to be seen in the more pricey options or cheaper ones - thanks to the "citrus" theme. We had our dose of caffeine from the in-house coffee day and I couldnt help buying India Today and Sports Illustrated from the miniature landmark. The rooms were very convenient for the Rs.1800 tariff. After stretching our legs, we hit the streets and navigated through the chaotic JN street ( we wanted to shop even in Pondy...for a pair of Cargos to ease the pain of wearing trousers ) without much success. The beach front reminded us of the Besant Nagar stretch, and the slight drizzle made our distant gazes across the dark waters more special. Soon after, we wandered off to the Asian House and then to Le Terrasse for our dinner. We retired to our rooms for a well-deserved rest and Raghav was very adamant that we witness the sunrise the next day.

Sudhi, is the epitome of perfection and so he woke up by 5 AM and surprisingly Raghav came into our room hoping to beat the daylights out of me. Luckily I was awake by then and we started off to witness a bright start to the day. Well, the clouds played spoil sport, but we still had a great time just sitting on the rocks with umbrellas to give us cover from rains ( Narasi....under the umbrella...hmm...he wandered off in his thoughts... ). It was very calming and refreshing to see the waves hit the rocks under the cover of dense clouds, which I preferred over a bright orange circle arising out of distant horizons. Food - we never forget food. So back at GINGER, we were as usual pestering the hospitality boys for the buffet breakfast, and not surprisingly we did the honours in inaugurating the rather conservative buffet( Rs.99 ). I went back to my room and deciding to rejuvenate my aching muscles and sore back to take the trip back home. The trio visited Auroville meanwhile and just came back in time to check-out by the customary deadline of 12 Noon.

We bought quite a few "Off-beat" printed casual Tees, before heading to "Promenade" for our buffet lunch(Our motto - more the buffet, the better ). Priced at 575 per head, the food was as good as the beautiful view of the ocean side. We felt that the overall lunch experience was awesome, which meant my job as a driver was that much more difficult ( for obvious reasons ). The return trip was very pleasant - en route we stopped for a tender coconut drink. The next drink for us was coffee/T at besant nagar CCD. Overall, it was a very welcome break from the hum-drum of city roads and the constant chaos. The best part is that we proved people wrong by proving that we can execute our plans as well as we plan them ;-)

Chennai Rains

The northeast monsoon is causing much havoc among the sun-capped denizens of Namma Chennai. The met dept had predicted that the rains would subside after the initial few days of downpour, but yet again, they have been proven wrong. That too in an almighty way.

Normally in Chennai, the 3 best indicators of the intensity of rains are :
1) the mixing of sewage with the relatively pristine waters
2) the diameters of the craters formed on the Chennai roads
3) the auto fare.

Residents have had to put with the innumerable suffering brought upon them by the poor design of roads, while the government is claiming credit for the so called storm water drainage system. Newspapers are awash with pictures and related public outcry on the sewage water seeping into their households. Since the onset of these rains, I have had to navigate around daily addition of new potholes. Enough said about the toll linking roads; just makes us wonder how on earth, newly minted roads turn so tricky after a heavy downpour. Auto drivers' suddenly show a heightened sense of social awareness by reducing the fare from 200 to 150 ( on a normal day, it would have cost 50 ) and talk so much about the risk they undertake to ferry us across the dangerous waters to the safe harbors.

Gone are those days when we used to just take out the bike for a zip in the rains; there arent many proper roads to enjoy the steady stream of rain, with the focus now more on avoiding the pitfalls that wait in ambush under the murky waters.

P.S: The accompanying pic looked good, and was more of a foreboding of heavy rain in Chennai, than the rain itself.

The Hyderabadi Biryani

I set off on my quest to taste the ever-so-popular Hyderabadi Biriyani from "Paradise" hotel in Secundarabad. The biriyani had what we would call, "larger than life image". Now please dont argue about the not-so-wise choice of analogy. I started off from my borrowed space in a cab - one hour package for Rs.300 within an hour or 20 kms, and every additional hour would be Rs.100 + Rs.18/km. Luckily I reached my destination within one hour and paid Rs.350 in all.

I found my way to the 2nd floor of "Paradise" :-)( there were many different mini-restaurants of Paradise in different floors ). There was another dude, who was waiting eagerly for his quota of hyderabadi cuisine and I took the table next to his. The menu had the usual non-veg fare, but I looked for the word "Biriyani" and they had a separate section for it. The "Paradise Special Biriyani" was listed for a whopping 660 rupees and another one was for some 550. I am assuming it would serve a group of 4 or so, else, dont see why would someone charge so much for a biriyani at a non-star restaurant. However, I scanned down for what would serve my needs - a chicken biriyani for Rs.165. I saw big servings of Biriyani in a copper vessel being taken to different tables and thought maybe it was the special biriyani. But to my surprise, I got mine too in a similar vessel and was horrified at huge the quantity of rice.
The chicken piece buried in the rice, was as tender and well-cooked as it can get. The offering had general doses of saffron for sure, which was very dominant among other spices used for the rice. It was more close to the kerala biriyani, where the masala is not fully mixed with rice, than to the traditional chettinad biriyani. The accompaniments included, a rather plain raitha, a very ordinary mild chicken gravy and some slices of onion and lemon.

A friend of mine had remarked that "Paradise Biriyani" is more hype than substance and unfortunately, that was the case. It was really good, but wasnt good enough to generate the "Aahaa" feeling. The biriyani my friend made in a typical mallu style and the one at Anjappar-Nungambakkam restaurant are the best I have tasted so far. Lucknowi biriyani is next on the list. However, for now my first big agenda of the visit was done and dusted, and I wondered if I will be able to eat or drink anything for the next 8 hours after this bountiful biriyani episode. I proved myself wrong- had a aaloo paratha to satiate the 4-hour delayed hunger pang. Long live spicy Indian food, and the wait for Irani chai continues....

Cricket Rant - Way back in 2007, after India's WC exit

The write-up which I unearthed while cleaning my hard drives :-)

Lets talk reviving Indian Cricket - the obituary for the current one

Junta, guess not a bad time to talk about a shakeup of the current bunch of bozos, who call themselves the creme la creme of the indian cricket system....
Few of the radical changes, but effectives ones could be...
1) Relegate the current team's overhyped and ineffective players to either retirement or to the regular grind in the domestic cricket
2) Scrap the crap called the state teams in domestic circuit. consolidate them into at the max, 8 teams
3) Ban the players from endorsing products. Just pay them adequately ( performance based payments ). This will save the common man from losing his time, money and sleep.
4) Restrict the players from giving the outlandish press statements. Let them not go to town with their grievances of not being given enough chances, not being selected, not having enough girlfriends and all sundry....
5) Dont invest blindly in so called youth. Nothing to be ashamed of in aping the australian system of selecting players, who are on the wrong side of their twenties.
6) Have some experienced cricketers, cricket-wise heads in the so called BCCI ( which is basically a joke...one should just look at their office in mumbai...the caption reads...."wolf camouflaged in sheep's attire"...the financial behemouth has a shanty and ramshackled office )
7) Accountability of all parties involved - the administrators, selectors, support staff and of all...the players themselves.
8) If a player is not good enough to show positive results in few games and tricky surfaces, then they are not good enough to represent their country.
9) Set up result oriented cricket academies, not just some run of the mill ones, which solely aim to rake in some moolah.

It hurts to see that people are beguiled into following this game so passionately, only to be betrayed by their esteemed players. If they had any sense of "consistent" self-worth, they should take the rap on their wrists and evolve into more competitive and dedicated cricket players. Its now becoming a rote for dravid to support his players and his own thought process, even after such inexplicable and shocking losses. I just feel he got the wrong end of the bargain : when ganguly used to be the captain, dravid sweated it out for the team's sake, but the current group lacks a player who could help his captain unerringly

Any more suggestions or counter arguments....? Lets kill some time guys, now that our players are busy packing their bags in the carribean for the sojourn back home.