Sunday, April 15, 2012

Meet Mr & Mrs Dey (Part 1)

Life at 30 could have been far worse in the Dey household. Mr.Dey finds himself in soup owning to the major US recession and packed off his bags to Kolkata. All the while on his return trip from Santa Clara on an executive Air India jumbo jet, he had been busy rummaging on the thoughts of what his in-laws would say. 

Mr.Dey had married a wealthy rich girl from a posh family of Bengali household- the only daughter of a wannabe family who sent their daughter only to the famous Lorreto School so that she only dates rich guys. Therefore, when the time for her marriage arrived with a string of ex-boyfriends and drugs all they wanted was an NRI. They seriously wanted their daughter to get married and settled down in US. They finally got Subodh (SUUUUBOOOOD) Dey who was not a boy born with a rich spoon but an IIT passout he had made enough marks to land himself a posh 6-pack salary job and a villa in Santa Clara. They say the very few could make it such big and he was like the next Indian thing after Manoj Shyamalan. 

Life after marriage had been going great. Sex was good, money was flowing and everything that Mrs Dey could ask for. She became an integral part of the society throwing lavish parties. It was fun. She even had a few one-night stands with Goras without much inhibition. While Mrs Dey was enjoying all this, Mr. Dey was making his name in the silicon valley. He soon spearheaded the major IT companies and was getting much work to Asia. For him this was patriotism was-Get the jobs done in India. 

In between the hustle and bustle of their household, they planned to have a baby. Mrs Dey was conscious of the fact it would mean a cut-off her party life was reticent initially but then she did decided to have a baby. They did all that could be done to make the entire city know that an Indian was gracing their county. 

But then recession arrived. And all along their seemed to be chaos. People were going nuts and there were more people on the streets rather than on party halls. Houses were put out on sales for meager money and the business had its impact on Dey household. And then the doomsday arrived. Mr.Dey had planned it earlier but now he had to go back to India and plan to sell of its ancestral property. 

The plan was about to touchdown in Kolkata. Mr. Dey looked at his watch. The dawn had set in.       

Saturday, March 24, 2012

My love for Kormangala Restaurants!

When I came to study in Bangalore little did the young heart in me realised that I would have fallen in love with this city. A city that I see now as my own city and have unlike most of the Bongs hardly face issues with food. In years that passed away, I have been living in Koramangala. In fact, I can't think of staying at any other place except Kormangala. Amongst all the glitz and glamor the place offers my heart goes to its numerous restaurants and the delicacies that these offer. I chose to mention two places here. Both pretty old and still retains its charm. 
Chicken Parmigana

The first of them is Casa Piccolla (now Casa Rivera). My memory dates back to couple of years when I chose to take my loving friend to that place. We had a good time and I do remember she complimented me on the place and the food. In years to go and more visits to this place, I had a whole bunch of delicacies. The Restaurant itself transformed offering Chinese with its usual Continental food. 

For starters, you can try Roasted Egg Plant and an Organic Mixed soup. I chose to go easy on the starters and have it with much time at hand. Then for main course, there is a lot of things in the menu but and there is a but if you wish to have a dish that would in any day be my favorite then please go for Chicken Parmigana. It is a Southern Italian dish made with a shallow-fried sliced filling, layered with cheese and tomato sauce, then baked.Variations are made with breaded meat cutlets. For a single person you can have all this dishes for in less than US $ 10.

The next place that I haunt regularly is FRIENDS. It is one of Kormangala's oldest and popular restaurants. And just like Casa Rivera it also offers taste buds Chinese and Continental cuisine. For starters you can go for Chilly Chicken with Hot and Sour soup. Then, if you love steaks then I suggest you can try Mushroom Steak or Whiskey steak. Both of these are served with a bowl of rice or mashed potatoes and I can vouch you would love the flavor and content.

Kormangala houses a lot of restaurants and these days there has been a sporadic increase in the numbers. I hope all of them have scores of eaters and may the locality and city continue to grow. 

Friday, January 06, 2012

Memories of Down Under!

I love Sydney. It is one of the most beautiful and exotic places to visit. And if you happen to like water sports, there is no other place that comes close to Sydney. No sooner you reach Kingsmith Airport, a certain birdie will let you know that the airport authorities are very strict about things that you bring in Australia. But then if you tell them that you are visiting Sydney Cricket Ground and Don Bradman is the arguably the best Australian till date, you have a chance to beat them. It is a sports loving nation and which is why all that happens in Australia is anything but dullness.


My earliest memory of Sydney Cricket ground dates back to 1992 World Cup Cricket. We had a Black & White television set in our house. My eldest brother who used to sleep after the crows started morning hymns used to tap me on shoulders and tell me that Ian Chappell is away for the toss with the two captains. It was an advantage in those days to switch on TV and get your channels. Because you just had one channel. Doordarshan inspite of all its commercial breaks and insipid behavior was your savior. You could hear the birds singing and seagulls all across the SCG while Bill Lawry and Richie Benaud used to take the guards. I think Sunny Gavaskar was the first Indian commentator to be included in Channel's Nine commentary team and that was quite an achievement considering stalwarts like Richie Benaud, Frank Tyson, Bill Lawry, Tony Greig,and all the other Johnnycomboys made it an experience.

Growing up in the IT city of India is fun because I had amazing friends with whom I could talk on everything. Friends who had a voice in everything. 1999 when I saw the likes of VVS Laxman and Tendulkar whooping massive runs in SCG. It was the time when Tendulkar's captaincy was tested and we used to lose matches after matches in SCG. MCGrath and Shane Warne had by then became the lethal front of Australian bowling side. And more or less the world was witnessing the insurgence of a cricketing side that went to dominate the world in the next decade.

The next time was in 2003 when I saw Sourav Ganguly determined to make a statement on the Australian scene. If there is anything that I really feel MS Dhoni should imbibe from Sourav is to get that intensity which Sourab has and how to get under the skins of Aussies. Sourav was a champion in that and much like today he thought it was important that India started well in Down Under. And he did. We drew in the series and almost should have won the match at SCG- Steve Waugh's farewell but the umpires had a different story to tell.

Lots of things was happening in Indian cricket. IPL,large merchandise and all. Both the boards realized the importance of Gavaskar- Border trophy which is why you see more matches between the sides. Note that ACB invites team which they feel has got the pulse of the folks going. In the past, it was Lloyd's team.

The series is happening at the moment and India is behind 2-0. I would introspect about the series after the test matches gets over. I'll come up with another memoir then.