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Something different — Good Different March 24, 2010

Posted by Karthik in Uncategorized.
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Something on food once again 🙂 ..

Couple of months back , on a sunny afternoon, riding my scooter, I was frantically looking for a Juice joint where I could quench my thirst with some drink. After a while I did spot a “Ganesh Juice Center” . Wats in a name? well, almost everything.. Why are most of the eateries called Shanti sagar or Sukh sagar, even though they are not run by the same management. Most Juice joints are named Ganesh Juice center (mabbe becos the first one became a major hit and hence all others adopted the name).

So, here I was in this Juice center, finally looking to quench my thirst. Ordered for watermelon juice to beat the heat. Could hardly wait to get hold of the juice cup. Was like waiting for the much-wanted-thing.. so near-yet-so-far. After what seemed an eternity, finally I was holding the glass of juice that would give me relief .. I took a sip (thats an understatement).  As I sipped on the drink , my eyes wandered around the shop and suddenly my eyes stopped on a board that read “Bangarpet Chaats available”

Curious that I am , I probed more into that and found that they served those delicacies only after 3.30.. Aaargh!! i was there at the wrong time. Ever since, I had been planning to go there between 3.30 and 9.30 (thats when the Bangarpet chaats are available). Plan never turned into reality until today.

Bribed a friend into this “different” experience, both of us set out towards our goal. After the formalities of finding a parking space, we finally landed up at Ganesh Juice center and uttered the words “Bangarpet Chaat” . Apparently the recipe for the “Chaats” are a speciality of this place (Bangarpet.. You would come across this place if you travel from Chennai to Bangalore or vice versa)

We ordered Paani puri in Bangarpet style. We were served with 6-7 pieces of gol-gappas with fillings and a cup of what looked like clear water. Actually , it was a mixture of masalas and chillies in water.. the stuffings used in the gol-gappa were totally different from the one that we normally get to see. It was a different taste altogether.. a good one in that. Having done with this, we wre suggested to try Masala puri.. We did that and it sure had a different taste than the usual ones. There are other dishes on offer, which we did not have the luxury of tasting , thanks to our full tummies.

Be sure to check this place out .

Ganesh juice center,Gandhi bazaar, Basavanagudi

Need assistance (in eating) , do buzz me 🙂

Bon apetite

K

Train journey – Good and not so good March 22, 2010

Posted by Karthik in Memories, Travel.
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Train journeys – Something that I love, maybe coz i have been travelling in trains frequently since I was a kid. I always used to jump with excitement the minute I got to know that we would be embarking on a train journey, more so because it was a journey that would take almost 3 days (start to end), which involved changing of trains (Kanpur to Jhansi and then Jhansi to Chennai), waiting at odd hours (1 Am )  to board into the train, watching engines being changed, and of course the train-friends, some of whom have gone on to become more than just train friends 🙂

Even today, I do excited about the train journey ,provided the Waitliste ticket after moving up painfully slow, gets confirmed. And it did couple of days back and I was on my way to chennai on the train .. Yipee!!

The train arrived at close to 11 in the night.  As the train started moving, I settled myself in my seat (a side lower berth , which normally I dont prefer due to space constraint).  Ten minutes, it was silent all around inside the compartment, the lights switched off and the only sound that was prominent was the rhythmic sound of the train. I plugged the earphones , leaned back , looking out at the dark outside which was barely lit by the crescent-shaped moon. It felt so nice , in-peace with the surroundings and slowly sleep took over.

2 days later

Yet again it was the day (or rather night) of a train journey. As usual, the W/l ticket story again. I set off towards the train with a lot of thoughts in mind. Its really interesting the way we perceive things. I was hoping to get into the train, switch on the fan (not that it emits great air, but for the little feeling that there is air somewhere above your head) and settle into the window seat.

And here I was standing in front of my compartment….. I reached early I guess, since there was no light inside , so decided to wait outside till the lights came on. While waiting for the lights to come on , I spent time looking at the coach itself. It was in such a sorry state. Wondered if it was ever washed after it rolled out from the paint shop 🙂 ..

The lights came, breaking my flow of thought. I waited till the elderly folks got in and as I stepped into the compartment , I was greeted with the strong stench of ammonia.. All my thoughts about a perfect train journey had vanished.. I looked around at the public in the compartment and everyone had the discomfort feeling, but nothing much was being done other than accepting the fact that “Its like this anyways”. Some of my efforts to improve the situation looked bleak as the time for departure got nearer. Talking to the TTE / Station Superintendent did not help, except for the acknowledgment of the fact that it was unbearable.  What was more saddening was to see that the basic rules were being taken for granted by people who look to be educated.

The sound of the whistle sailed through the air and in few minutes , the train moved. The stench seemed to disappear slowly or was it that we were getting used it in the same pace.

Why are we “ok” to things we do not want to be “ok” with? At a closer look , this way of being is not only towards such things , but in general this is a pattern that is predominant in our daily life.

A little bit of responsibility from all of us would make a lot of difference to ourselves and people around us.

Until next time!!

Ciao

K

Samosa, Kachori and Rossogolla March 11, 2010

Posted by Karthik in Food, Memories.
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No, this is not a post about recipes, but the inspiration behind this post.

I have come to believe that most of the interesting things are unplanned :-). So was the visit to K.C.Das today. Least did I expect to end up here since

a. this is far off from where I work

b. This is nowhere on my route map of home-office-home

So ,here is how it all started. A couple of text message to and from a friend (visiting from chennai) intermittently over an hour and a meeting plan was arrived at. As always, the place of meet was on me to choose. After a lot of permutation and combination (the algo was simple. Wherever there is space for parking, we would go there), I chose K.C.Das , which is off MG road in a hope of getting parking space nearby.

So, off I set out from work, all set to wade through the traffic of Bangalore. Surprisingly within 30 minutes I was on MG road looking for parking. MG road looked so different and I realised it had been eons since I had been to this place and how the facade had changed over a short span. (Read as 2 yrs).

The wide road has shrunk and given way to Metro rail. The side-walks are partially used for parking 2 wheelers, leaving very little space in the already small space. Sometimes the question arises.

1. Is this change required? (Getting metro railway at the cost of greenery)

2. Will things be close to what it was before? (Majorly traffic)

Well, I guess the answers are debatable , so wont go there.

It was a while before I could find a space to park my car.Phewww!!!  I walked slowly tracing my steps to the meeting place , taking in all the changes that the surroundings have undergone. Within a short time, the familiar Red board bearing the name K.C.Das came into view. As i stepped inside, a sense of nostalgia swept over me.

Nothing had changed in terms of layout. Realised that the process also hasn changed much. Asked the waiter for a menu and he promptly nodded his saying “No. We dont have one” and he doled out what was on offer. While waiting for the food to arrive, looked around , comparing in mind how it was when I last visited. Nothing much had changed , except for the company with whom I used to hang out then..Thankfully somethings remain the way they were.

Spent a while savoring the food, esp the lukewarm Rossogolla.. mmm. yummy.

Hopefully the next visit will be sooner (not another 10 yrs) 🙂

Ciao

K

Getting back on track March 9, 2010

Posted by Karthik in Uncategorized.
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It happened again.. I guess it was to happen since this is the pattern. I start writing and then hit a blocker and it ends! Well this time I am going to break the pattern. Talking to a friend , I realised that this pattern is not only applicable to my writing, but also in all other areas. Its true for all of us.

So, how do I break this pattern of write-once-and-disappear?
It all happened when I was driving back home from office when I happened to read a sign at the back of a truck. It was an interesting one, unlike the many sentences that one normally gets to see on the back of a truck (“Buri nazar wale tera mooh kaala, 13 mera 7 etc etc).

At that moment , I wanted to convey my thoughts to someone, a friend, an acquaintance , anyone who would have been there, but all I ended up doing was telling it to myself , aloud 🙂 .

So, I am here to break the pattern. I plan to post on a daily basis.It could be anything as i mentioned above. The idea is to make a start and I believe i have ….. Getting back on track 🙂

Ciao

K

Starting trouble!! October 24, 2009

Posted by Karthik in Learning, Life, Moods.
Tags: , , , , , ,
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Its been a while since I created this blogsite and have been wondering as to what to write. No, its not that there’s nothing to write about, in fact was wondering where to start :-). Having got no answer, I just thought of putting what comes to mind.

Riding back in a upbeat mood (managed to  crack an exam which was a long pending one), I came across a park where a bunch of kids were whizzing past on roller skates around the park. I got off my bike and went a bit closer to get a better view. The kids looked cute in the skating outfit. All of 3 or 4 feet, some zipping past , some taking it nice and slow, some just starting 🙂 . Looking at them for a few minutes made me rewind and I wished I had learnt it when I was their age. Then it occurred to me “Why not learn it now?”.

I loooked around to see if there was anyone my age with roller skates on? Not a single person. Well, maybe they did not teach adults how to “roller skate”. But I decided to find out. So, off Iwent from one end of the ground to the other hoping to find an answer. After a couple of  finger-pointing (for the direction), I met a person who was supposedly in-charge of registrations. I waited patiently till he was done with his ciggy (seemed like eternity).

Finally, I managed to ask him what I wanted to. I had already assumed an answer before even asking that question. His answer was “Yes, we do teach for adults”. For a minute I thought I did not hear him properly. After spending a few minutes jotting down the details, I left the ground. Will return on Monday early morning  to begin my skating classes :-).

Glad that I stopped by and decided to find out. Eagerly awaiting Monday morning now:-)