The ordeal of eating at Hotel Saravana Bhavan

Hotel Saravana Bhavan started in Chennai in the year 1981 (almost as old as me!) with the K.K.Nagar branch. We moved to K.K.Nagar in the year 1990 and from the first time i tasted the famous Saravana Bhavan sambhar, there was no looking back. I was addicted to it.
Back then, when there was no concept of pocket money/allowance, it was hard work trying to "collect" enough money for a visit to the hotel. There was a tacit understanding with my mom that any "unattended" coin with a value of <= 1 rupee could be claimed by me as mine. There were other sources of income too. I would always immediately respond to anyone's call for help in recovering coins which would have fallen behind tables/shelves. I would attempt (or rather attempt to attempt) to recover those coins, but ensure that i make back-breaking groans and moans when i do so. This would immediately prompt my mom to say "It's ok. Leave it if you cannot reach it" and the coin would be forgotten. But the location would be promptly stored in my mind and when the time/need arrived, i would go over and, with the slightest of ease, recover the valuable 50 paise. So, once i had collected 7 rupees (the price of a sada dosa back then), I would run over to Saravana Bhavan and enjoy a sada dosa with the three types of Chutney, the sambhar and the Molaga Podi. Pure Bliss!
But, when my brother started growing older, there was competition for the stray coins. My mom, realising the rising inflation along with the competition from my brother, increased the threshold of coins defined as "stray" to 2 rupees! So, from then on, the only hotel i swore by, the only hotel which i considered worth visiting has always been Saravana Bhavan.
So, it is no surprise that i look forward to this whenever i visit Chennai. I was in Chennai last week and had been to Saravana Bhavan. Then began the ordeal!
It was around 7 in the evening and the place was full of people. So, it was tough to find a place. I had to wait a few minutes to find one empty seat on a table of four. But, considering the humidity in Chennai in summer, this place was a wrong choice as it was far away from the reach of the ceiling fans. So, i didn't place my order and was on the lookout for a better table. To my luck, a place on the other side of the room (just below a fan) was vacated. So, i jumped up and walked across the room. But, it looked like i was not the only one with this idea. Another guy, who was unfortunately nearer, occupied this seat before i could go over. Disappointed, i turned back to go to my place. But, even this was gone now as it was forcible occupied by the family on the next table who decided to give a separate chair to a child not even tall enough to reach the table. No wonder there is so much competition in India for everything! So, i was back on the waiting list. Luckily, all this action was seen by a waiter who was kind enough to come over and volunteer to find a good place for me. True to his words, he found a good seat - right under the fan. After thanking him a lot, i sat down to enjoy a good meal.
Now, i had to order stuff. In the past, when i had been on month long home leaves, i usually start ordering based on the serial number on the menu and go one by one. But this time, I was in India for just a week and it was already the 4th day into this week. So, this concept would not work. I had to go for plan B which was to either choose according to my likes or according to availability. If i were to go based on my liking, it had to be one of the dosas accompanied by the sambar. What i meant by "availability" is the probability of getting that particular item back in Cyprus. Yes, we do get Dosas in the Keralam restaurant in Cyprus, but i have to drive a 100 kms and pay a humongous 14 dollars for a single masala dosa, but theoretically, dosas are available and so they are out of consideration. Then, it had to be the famous Parotta kurma. So, i ordered it. You can never have only one dish in saravana bhavan. So, for the next item, i chose the 14 idli sambhar dish. Nowadays, you might have to request for a magnifying dish as an accessory to see the "mini" idlis. The main course was done. A dinner at Saravana Bhavan is always finished with the famous "Masala Milk", yellow in colour with the "paal edu" (that which many hate to have in their glass of milk, but which i love!) floating on top.
So, after having ordered for the Masala Milk, i went over to the wash basin. When i returned, the inevitable happened. My seat was gone, taken over by the next saravana bhavan enthusiast. Now, do i just leave and hope that my bill will be paid by this guy? But, i havent had my glass of masala milk!! There is no way I am going to leave without it. So, not knowing what to do, i slowly wander near by hitherto seat. The friendly waiter comes into the picture again, smiles and offers another seat and even brings over my water glass to my new seat.
One hour and three seat changes later, i finish my dinner. Yes, it was an ordeal, but it was worth every bit.

Indian Premier League (IPL) is a success

Why do i conclude so? Because i "feel" so. When Chennai Super Kings lost their matches, i felt bad and was wondering as to what they could have done better. When the Chennai team gets a wicket, i applaud and feel happy, though that wicket might be a player whom i would love to watch any other day.
This was what the organisers of IPL wanted, this was what Lalit Modi would have hoped for and it has happened. IPL has become an addiction. I spend seven hours both days of the weekend watching both the matches. Somehow, my earlier argument that 20-20 matches are just 3 hrs long doesn't seem to hold good with Vidhya any longer and i get admonished every time i put on the channel to watch IPL.
No, I was never a cricket-crazed person. I love to play cricket and given an opportunity, i don't mind playing it all day. But, watching cricket for extended periods not for me. I consistently used to fall asleep on the sofa between the 15th and the 40th overs of an innings.
I was never a fan of test cricket with the exception of Ashes. Getting up at odd hours of the night to watch the first ball being bowled in the boxing day test match, that is something only a true cricket fan would understand! Maybe it is the green grounds, maybe it is the telecast quality, maybe it is the commentary team, i don't know the reason, but i can watch the entire three sessions of an ashes test match without taking a break. The other test matches, i care a damn. An india-sri lanka match happening in Jaipur, chennai wherever, I just hear about it from friends. At the other end, there are people (there are!) who watch the ball-by-ball commentary on cricinfo of even Ranji trophy matches! I wouldn't even recognise the names of most of the guys on the team.
But, IPL is different. The cricket is entertaining (not just the cheerleaders), it is fast and furious. The new talent knocking on the national team would surely give the jitters to the experienced indian players. I am addicted to IPL. What about you ?
and ...Chennai Super Kings rock!

Are these games still played?

The post "Games we forgot" on hawkeye was one of those posts that you back to your childhood days and bring back fond memories. There are a lot of games mentioned in his post and i remembered having played many of those. If you can't recollect any of the games mentioned below, check out his post.
Kings: I remember having played this game event until the end of high school. It is a fast paced game and i was good at it, as it required the person inside the circle (or whatever field) to be pretty athletic in avoiding the ball. Of course, I have had embarrassing moments in school when, out of over-enthusiasm, i do too many acrobatic stunts and end up with my pants torn in all the wrong places!
Chains: This game was very popular in my apartment, but only when the girls were also present. Contrary to other games in the same category, there was a great demand to become the catcher, because the catcher would first "choose" the girl who he wants to hold hands with, make her out and enjoy the rest of the game holding her hands!
French Cricket: This was played when we didn't have the required strength to play a proper game of cricket. A good cricket player would have lot of fun in this kind of game, as it was almost impossible to get a good cricket player in this form of the game. The others, pity them, as they would be spending the entire time running to all parts of the "open" field, as there was rarely a n"end" to the field.
Hide n' seek (Kannam M/Poochi): This was a standard game, but we used to play it on our terrace. Thinking of the places i used to hide in gives me the jitters now, as our terrace was the fourth floor and i used to climb on top of the tanks and even down the water pipes by the side of the building to the sunshades on the windows of the third floor flats.
Hand Tennis: The usual rules of tennis, except that the racquet is replaced by the palm. Our moms used to be the water-moms. The water was not for drinking, but for cooling the reddened palms.
Chalk Cricket: We used to play this at school, where a ruler replaced a bat and a chalk replaced a ball. The chalk (usually 1/2 a chalk) was placed vertically on the table (serving as a pitch) and it had to be flicked towards the batsman (which constitutes a delivery). We even had different scores based on which girl you managed to hit, ranging from +6 (the highest) to -2(the lowest). Few of the girls also knew this scoring system and we have had many an argument for the validity of the rating.
Unfortunately, the games which people (from the South) usually recollect are Goli (marbles) and Gilli-Danda, both of my which i have never played! I am sure that there are many more that i have played and forgotten and i hope that some blog post comes along the way which refreshes my memory.

Chennai Super Kings beat Punjab Kings XI at Mohali

Way to go Chennai Super Kings. Dhoni and his men couldn't expect a better start to the tournament. Though this defeat wasn't as convincing as the way King Khan's Knight riders smashed the Bangalore Royal Challengers, it was good enough to get the players into the groove for the rest of the tournament.
Mike Hussey showed the way for the Chennai Super Kings with a brilliant hundred. When the Punjab Kings were chasing and Kumar Snagakkara and James Hopes were having a partnership, things looked to be pretty even between the sides. But once hopes was dismissed, it was pretty easy for the Super Kings.
Great start Chennai Super Kings, keep it up. Vijay and Nayanthara will be proud of you! On the other hand, someone should teach Preity Zinta hot to cheer in cricket. The moves Preity Zinta were making would fit better in a boxing ring and not in a cricket stadium and it looked so artificial!

Technorati Tags: IPL cricket indian premier league cricket chennai super kings punjab kings XI mohali chandigarh cricket

Kolkata Knight riders beat Bangalore Royal Challenge in the first IPL t20 match

badly, very badly, in fact miserably! But, what can they do? Poor Vijay Mallya. When he purchased the Bangalore team in the Indian Premier league, I guess that he wouldn't have had an idea that his iconic player in the twenty 20 matches, the player for whom he would have to pay the highest money, would have been Rahul Dravid, of all the cricketers!
Yes, Rahul Dravid is a good cricketer, but this is 20-20, not the bend-forward-show-the-full-face-front-foot-defence game! Even i wouldn't have Rahul Dravid in my team for the Galli cricket 6 over matches! When the Bangalore team went in to bat today at the Chinnaswamy stadium, I almost fell off my sofa seeing Dravid and Wasim Jaffer walk out. What are the two test players doing in a wham-bham-thank-you-maam kind of game?
But Vijay Mallya, you have something to rejoice. There are lot of Bangloreans going to get drunk today with the sadness over this miserable loss and you can hope that they buy your liquor! You can also hope that Shah Rukh Khan and his Kolkata Knight riders will purchase your liquor in the party tonight.
I am obviously a supporter of Chennai Super Kings and i hope that the combined power of Dhoni, Muralidharan, Mathew Hayden and Fleming would be enough to crush the other teams.
Long live IPL, Long live Chennai Super Kings!

Technorati Tags: IPL indian premier league bangalore royal challenge Kolkata knight riders chennai super kings Vijay Mallya Shah Rukh khan

Tata Nano and Hamara Bajaj Lite - The 1 Lakh small car

Okay, the bajaj one is more than 1 lakh, but it is targeting the same segment as the Tato Nano/Jeh. So, i guess that it is okay to bring them together.

Tata and Bajaj are making it easier for the common man to purchase a car now. When a bike costs 50,000 Rupees, who wouldn't like to go for a cosier option by paying another 50,000 rupees. This move by Tata and Bajaj has lot of implications:

• The Indian cities would now definitely feature of every edition of "The Amazing Race", "The crazy Race" or whatever new series the american channels can think of. Even now, it is fashionable for people to show a segment where a foreigner is shown driving on the Indian roads. Now with the Tata Nanos and Bajaj Lites replacing all the motorcycles, more mayhem is assured on our roads which translates into more dollars from all the foreign tv shows coming to India.
• It is said that 1 in every 5 mile of the highways in USA was built straight so that it could be used as a landing strip in times of war. The Indian government was very impressed by this concept that they "customised" it a bit and implemented here. On the Indian roads, 1 in every 5 km is pot-hole free so that people can use that part to stand on when the other sections gets filled up with water during excessive rains. The other 4 kms were designed so to stop any advancing armies which don't have the capabilities to negotiate such obstructions.
• With respect to the last sentence of the previous point, Pakistan and China have already placed orders for thousands of Tata Nanos and Bajaj Lites, which are cheap options for their armies to use when invading our country as these vehicles are built for Indian roads.
• Demand for land of a particular type has sky-rocketed after these announcements. No one even wants a petrol bunk to be allotted to them now. All of them are now crazy after allocation of parking lots, as soon, every tom, dick and harry in India will be driving around in small cars.

So, the small cars are not only stirring the Indian media, but the media of other countries are also getting interested. Tata and Bajaj, a good move!

Technorati Tags: tata nano Hamara bajaj lite small car 1 lakh car india india

Flight of fancy or was i on it ?

Well, it turned out that i really flew and it was not a dream. But, the flight on the low-cost carrier Spice JetBut turned out to have all the ingredients of a "spicy" dream.

I had to go to Pune from Chennai and the first option that turned up on makemytrip.com was the SpiceJet flight which had, incidentally, been started only a week back. The price was too tempting to let go and after a few exchanges of mails with friends about low-cost carriers, i went ahead and booked tickets for me, vidhya and my mom from Chennai to Pune and back.

It has been more than 7 years since i went on a domestic flight and i don't remember anything from that experience. So, practically for the first time, i was walking into the domestic terminal at Chennai Airport. We went through a big lobby and within 1 minute, we were at the boarding gate. Or was it a boarding gate? It just looked like normal door out of the building. But, there was a Jet airways person next to it and there were people queueing up. So it must be a gate.

But, where was the SpiceJet gate? There was just one door and Jet Airways was next to it and our flight's boarding time was just 5 mins away. It was just then that i saw a remarkable manoeuvre from the staff of the Jet and Spice Jet airlines. There were lot of those wooden stands (from where people make speeches, i forgot the word for it) with the nameplates of the different airlines. As soon as the last Jet Airways passenger went through the gate/door, in one swift move, the Jet airways person moved her "stand" away from the door and the SpiceJet person rolled over his "stand" next to the door.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, SpiceJet is happy to announce the departure of its flight to Pune. Passengers are requested to proceed to the boarding gate."

So, this is how the same door becomes the boarding gate for the different airlines. Didn't know that! So, we are in the flight and comfortably settled in. Even after i explain the intricacies of low-cost carriers, my mom is not able to comprehend a flight without food. But, it was good that water was free and my mom was happy!

After some time into the flight, the flight attendants brought some food for sale. With it was also Litchi Juice costing around 30 bucks. Litchi juice of all juices! if they had brought Mango Juice, Orange Juice or even Lemon Juice, it would have been ok, but how may people actually drink Litchi Juice? I decide to skip the juice and dozed off for the rest of the flight to Pune.

Once we landed at Pune and people started disembarking, i looked out of the window and expected to see a bus/van to take us from the plane to the terminal. I had been expecting too much. It seems that you have to get down from the plane, walk across few parking lots (meant for other planes) and you enter the terminal, just like you would do in any railway station.

As we were standing inside the terminal getting used to the small building and contemplating on our next move, there was an announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last and final call for spice jet flight xxx to coimbatore. Passengers are requested to ...". Interesting, we thought. There are people who fly to Coimbatore even from Pune. A few minutes later, another announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last and final call for spice jet flight xxx to coimbatore. Passengers are requested to ..." !!! I never knew that there could be many instances of "last and final"!

The stay in Pune was very eventful and it requires a separate post. So, we finished whatever we had to do in Pune and the next day, we were on the return flight home. We were one of the first to board the flight at Pune. Looking out of the window, we saw a big group running very fast towards the plane and crowding at the base of the stairs up to the plane. Vidhya and I were discussing that this flight probably had a unreserved section and these people were the poor ones who were without seat numbers and it was a matter of "first come, first seated".

But, as one soul entered the plane in the front, we realised that this was not the case. In came a scantily clad middle-aged man accompanied by a twenty something. Ah, this has to be a sadhu. He fitted the profile perfectly. I was right. He sat in the first seat and everyone entering after him (this was the big group) managed to somehow find enough place in the cramped aisle to prostrate completely before him and get his blessings. There were many foreigners also in tyhis group. I thought Indians went abroad and took the jobs/money of foreigners, but now i realised that we invite them to our country and do the same, saving the cost of travelling abroad. I watched the faces of the people go by. They were on cloud nine, on seventh heaven whatever you want to call it. Even an autograph or a kiss from aishwarya rai would have paled in comparison.

There was a couple seated behind us and they were on the edge of their seats to get a glance of the sadhu. I asked them who this was and they said in unision "guruji, sarath babu guruji". Had Sarath Babu changed professions because of low returns from films ? No, it wasn't the actor as i remembered him from his films and guruji looked a lot different.

So, after a few dozen people had finished getting their blessings, the plane was ready to depart. Until then, the air hostesses had a tough time getting people to move towards the back to their seats. It was Deja Vu! When i was in school, our school bus conductor always kept shouting at the boys to move to the back, away from the girls' seats in the front. Anyway, after all was finally ok, the captain announced the departure.

Then, out of the blue, a guy starting running towards the front of the plane. Vidhya panicked "Was this a hijack attempt?". I didn't think so. The plane had not even moved and it was too early for a hijack. But, you never know, this guy could have been one of the low performers in the "School of Hijacking" and in his eagerness to pull off his first hijack, could have acted a bit too early. But, it was not so, thankfully. It seemed that he had suddenly developed some mysterious sickness and was feeling very uncomfortable and had to get off the plane. The air hostess tried to explain that it was too late now as they had already got the clearing for take-off. He started getting agitated and demanded that he disembark from the plane. The captain relented and asked him to get his baggage.

So, he got off the plane and the captain announced that there was some paperwork to be done before they left and it would take another ten minutes. Then there was an announcement "Ladies and gentleman, please check whether all your cabin baggages are still inside the plane". Everyone panicked! Though he had gone out in clear view of everyone carrying a dark blue bag, my mom insisted that we check all our baggage even though none of our bags would seem dark blue, even to the colour blind! Imagine a hundred people jumping out of their seats in unison, opening all the overhead lockers and jumping up and down to check whether all their bags were there. After a few minutes, all were satisfied that he had not taken any other's baggage with him.

Suddenly, an Eureka moment came for Vidhya: "Whats the point in checking whether he had taken anyone else's luggage? What if he had left a piece of baggage behind? a bomb?". A perfectly logical question from Vidhya (was the moon blue? I peeked out to search for it, i couldn't find it). So, for the rest of the journey, any ticking sound from a watch would get nervous glances from my mom.

We were in the air, finally. After the seat belt sign was switched off, people started to throng the front row preventing the air hostess from bringing the Litchi Juice. Then, one smart gentleman, seeing the opportunity, decided to stand next to the guruji and act as the coordinator and started issuing coupons for the visit to the first row (well, almost!). The air hostess begged, pleaded and tried every trick in the air-hostess' guidebook to get the passengers back to their seats, but nothing worked. Then, a knock on the cockpit and few words were exchanged and an announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen, due to the prevailing turbulence, we request all of you to get back to your seats and fasten your seat-belts". I settled back in my seat and looking at the crystal-clear sky through the window, dozed off for the rest of the flight.

Rangoli in the Kholu for Navratri

We reached India just in time for Navratri celebrations. My mom, as always, had elaborate plans for the kholu. Navratri was a total relaxation time for me as i had nothing else to do but to eat all the snacks which Vidhya and mom brought back from their trips to the neighbourhood.

My mom had set up a big Kholu occupying our entire living room and she had also done a massive Radha-Krishna rangoli. It was awesome and as i had written before, it deserves a separate post of its own. Below are some of the pictures i had taken of this awesome rangoli. My mom had a picture as a reference for this rangoli. She first drew the outline by chalk and then filled in the gaps with different coloured powders.

There was also a mini-kholu on the side which contained, according to my mom, dolls which couldn't be accomodated in the main kholu. There were reporters from some local daily who had come to take photographs for a competition for the best Kholu. Well, we didn't hear back from them, but i would definitely like to see the better kholus.

She had also prepared decorated plates for display in front of the kholu. These were made with lot of chumkis, grains soaked in coloured water and fevi-kwik!

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The mighty Cauvery

Watching the river Cauvery(or Kaveri, however you want to spell it) puts one in a spell. It, being one of the major rivers of Tamil Nadu, provides water for irrigation for almost the entire area of Tamil Nadu known as the rice-bowl of India.

Last year when i had been to India in the summer months, the river was dry and just 2 days before i travelled to Trichy, the gates at the Mettur dam had been opened. It would have been a wonderful sight watching the first waves of the water enter Trichy. I was in trichy early this month and Kaveri was at her best with lots of water with a good flow. Below are some of the photos of this grand river of Tamil Nadu taken last year.

I took the photo of Malai-Kottai from the main bridge over the Kaveri (Chennai route) very early in the morning.

We also visited Mukkombu which is a main tourist attraction near Trichy. Mukkombu is actually a place where a dam has been constructed on the Kaveri. This dam is actually split into many sections because of the presence of an island in the middle of the river.

There were many people fishing from the dam using nets. There were hundreds of small fishes just next to the dam eagerly jumping to be caught!

Kaveri starts from Talakaveri in Kartanaka and finally flows into the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar or Kaveripattinam or Kaveripoopattinam. This place was originally called Kaveri-pugum-pattinam i.e. the place where Kaveri enters. This town is also my native place and every time i go for a vacation, we try to make a trip to our "Kula Deivam" temple in this town.

Technorati Tags: trichy kaveri Cauvery Talacauvery river south india

Diwali rockets have sky-rocketed

This is my first Diwali in India in six years and i was quite surprised by the relative lack of excitement visible on the streets considering that Diwali was just around the corner. Where are the crackers? Where is the noise?

Back then, when we were in school, my brother and i used to be allocated a budget to buy crackers. We would then do lot of complicated mathematics with the price list to arrive at an optimum combination of "hardcore" bombs and soft ones like the traditional flowerpot, pencils etc. It was important that we start bursting crackers before the "rest of the gang" and we had crackers left to burst after the rest had burned out theirs.

This year, i didn't have much of a company and i too wasn't very keen on bursting a lot of crackers. So, the purchase was put off until yesterday evening. Yesterday, i got the details on the good places to buy crackers and visited those shops. The first one i visited "theoretically" started around half a km before the actual shop, as the queue extended until there. I was in no mood to start an hour to purchase a few crackers. A similar story unfolded in all the other branded shops i visited. So, i went back to the "local" shops though i was told that the crackers might be a bit expensive there.

I had budgeted approximately 500 Rupees for the purchase, as i just wanted to have a feel of the crackers. I wanted to buy the entire course of crackers starting with the sparklers and ending with the rockets. I first asked for a pack of sparklers. Out of curiosity, i asked the shopkeeper for the price. He said "125 Rupees, sir". 125 rupees for a pack of sparklers! My purchase had almost finished as soon as it began! I was very careful in the further purchases enquiring about the price of each item before purchasing it. Good that i had forgotten the big shopping bag which i had intended to bring. Otherwise, it would have been an embarrassment if i had given the bag to the shopkeeper for the very few items that the 500 rupees would have got me. In fact, the number of items i got for the amount fit into a small plastic cover which usually fits two aavin 500ml milk packets!

Anyway Happy Diwali to one and all, while i go out for 5 minutes to burst the crackers i have bought...

Technorati Tags: diwali crackers pattasu diwali party happy diwali

It is cold in Chennai - El Nino?

Chennaiites are not used to the weather being cold. Even when it is a pleasant 20-something (deg C), you can swarms of chennaiites out for their morning walk wearing their monkey caps or their shawls. You can even see people sitting around a fire to keep themselves warm from the cold 20 deg outside!

But, this time, it is really cold in chennai, really cold. Why else would a sane chennaite like me get up in the middle of the night and switch off the fan? Agreed that the electricity board does that often, but no one would do that in the bedroom. It is an open invitation for all the chennai-born mosquitoes to come and have you for dinner! But, i was forced to do so. I was never prepared for this and hence i don't have a quilt or something similar. So, i had to switch off the fan and put up a brave face against the mosquitoes.

As a result of this exceeding cold climate, the sale of monkey caps sky-rocketed and monkey caps manufactured by world renowned brands like rheebok, odidos and nikey started making an appearance on the streets of T.Nagar. Tamil Nadu police had even relaxed the rule in the mornings for two-wheeler drivers (which forced them to wear helmets), as they anyway wore 2 layers of monkey-caps which was equally thick.

While the scientists and other equally bright scholars at IIT Madras were blaming El-Nino for this phenomenon, Jayalalitha made a statement on Jaya TV:

"My dear brothers and sisters of Chennai, don't believe the statements made by the scientists. They are in connivance with the minority DMK government. It is not "E" "l" (pronounced eee-yell) Nino which is responsible for your suffering, but EEE-Yell-ThamizhThanniMagan (Cousin of ThamizhKudiMagan) who is responsible. EEE-Yell-ThamizhThanniMagan is the minister of state for caps and his son has recently started a factory manufacturing monkey-caps. To increase sales, their TV channel started showing lower temperatures in their weather forecasts thus leading people to believe that it is actually cold. It is not! Throw away your monkey caps. Even I have removed my shawl to prove that it is not cold (there was a highly greyed image of Jayalalitha shown without her shawl)"

Whether it is El-Nino or EEE-Yell-ThamizhThanniMagan who is responsible, I don't care! But, it is cold in Chennai!

Technorati Tags: chennai India El Nino Jayalalitha

It is vacation time!

It is home sweet home for a month, as I am in Chennai now on my annual vacation. It's been 4 days now and it has not been the usual "home sweat home", as the weather, surprisingly, is quite pleasant with intermittent drizzles. I was here in april for a one-week short vacation but this time, I managed to get time off for the full quota of 1 month.

It is Navratri time here in Chennai. Since we are here this year, Vidhya didn't create the kholu back in Cyprus like she did last year. My mom has kep a BIG kholu (deserves a separate post with photos!) and my house has been seeing a steady stream of visitors, keeping me confined to the interiors of our house.

This vacation looks to be a very hectic one going by the places we are going to travel to. Another reason is that Vidhya's bro is getting married and we have a lot of shopping to do. Like last year, i have an opportunity to witness a grand indian wedding of a close family member. As always, we have a pilgrimage tour for 5 days planned early next month before Diwali. I am looking forward to Diwali, since it will be my first Diwali in India in 5 years. Luckily, i will be back in Cyprus on the day of the Diwali Party. I am planning a 3 day vacation-within-a-vacation to Singapore along with my parents. lotsa things to do ...

With all this, i try to get in a few hours of badminton a day. And, I am supposed to be on vacation taking rest....

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi

So, it was Ganesh Chaturthi the last weekend and like last year, Vidhya made a Ganesha idol, only that this year Lord Ganesh turned out to be a little fatter than last year. I hope that this is a sign of prosperity in the year to come :-)

This year, there was an extra member added to Ganesha's family, his friendly rat!

Next year, we should think of changing the colour of the clay we use. We might get a cool looking Ganesha then!

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Happy 368th Birthday Chennai

Chennai (w.k.a Madras) is celebrating its 368th birthday today on August 22nd. There are lot of activities like tshirt design contests, quizzes etc being organised in Madras in the coming week. Wish i were there now!

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Intro of Rajini in Sivaji

There has been much talk about Rajini's intro in the movie Sivaji. Unlike his usual dramatic entrances in his movies, his intro in Sivaji seems to be very ordinary, which I am sure will give rajini fans something to discuss about.

If you are searching for youtube videos of Sivaji or online versions of Sivaji, i guess that you shouldn't be able to find many. I heard that people who upload camera prints of movies onto the internet have had an informal agreement with the producers of Sivaji that no Sivaji torrents (if that is a correct phrase, for i have never downloaded a movie off the net) would be uploaded within the first week of the release.

I got the link to the video of the intro scene by email. It seems that this was taken with a mobile camera in one of the theatres in US. The quality is surprisingly excellent. Enjoy the intro and hope this prompts you to go to the theatre and watch the rest of the movie even if that means you have to wait until July. I am going to India in October and I am sure that the movie would be running in theatres until then. I want to watch the original Sivaji in the theatres and not one of a crappy quality on a computer.

Watch the intro of Rajini in the movie Sivaji here. (a 27 MB download for a 75 sec video)

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Superstar Rajini's Sivaji is a super-hit

So says the media, even before the movie has been released. The ticket sales for Sivaji opened on June 10th and within half a day, all the seats for the first week had been sold out. No, we are not talking about seats in one theatre, but in 18 theatres, more than 10,000 for a single show. Rumours say that the earliest date for which you can get a ticket now is sometime around mid-July! With such numbers, no wonder that Sivaji has been declared a hit. By the way, if you want to book tickets for Sivaji online, go here.

Every day, new photos of Rajini from Sivaji are being released adding to the excitement of his loyal fans. I am surprised that Chennai Central, a die-hard fan of Chennai and everything associated with it has nothing to say about Sivaji on his blog. Thennavan, where are you ? I am sure that you would have more inside-information on Sivaji...

Read shankar's complete interview here. See more photos of Rajini in Sivaji here.

Take the poll below to let the world know your opinion whether Rajini's Sivaji will be a superhit!

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More pictures from Rajini's Sivaji and director Shankar's interview

Director Shankar's interview to SUN TV is probably (IMHO) the most detailed interview he has ever given. He talks about Sivaji, Rajini, his career and whatever his fan might want to know about him (ok, depended on what was asked of him!). Check out the complete transcript of Shankar's interview here.

Also, i have uploaded some more stills and photos from the movie Sivaji showing Rajini in various outfits. Enjoy!

Do you feel that Sivaji will be a superhit? Take the poll to let the world know!

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Rajini in the movie Sivaji - pictures, photos, news and the story

Everyone is talking about Rajini's new movie, Sivaji - The Boss (or is it Shivaji?). I was just getting too many emails about this new movie that i couldn't resist creating a post on the movie. So, i went forth a created an exclusive page on the the movie Sivaji. This page would have all the latest pictures from the movie, news about the movie and (according the the email i got), the story of the movie!

I am sure that you would be looking forward to see the movie, but until then, enjoy the stills from Sivaji, the trailer of Sivaji and lots more on the Rajini in Sivaji page. A small sample below!

Do you feel that Sivaji will be a superhit? Take the poll to let the world know!

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No more Idlis and Dosais on Indian Railways

If you are the kind who doesn't like Noodles, vegetable burgers or pakoras, then you may have to go hungry on Indian Railways. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited is planning to do away with South Indian way and bring an uniformity in their catering services on our rail networks. According to the NDTV report,

As per the plan only 21 approved food items will be served on trains - a move that south Indian rail passengers feel is in bad taste.The IRCTC has decided to remove the south Indian delicacies from the menu, initially on a pilot basis for three months. The order has left a sour taste in several mouths.

There are bloggers who have expressed their "distaste" over this issue. Let the Indian Railways go ahead with scrapping the South Indian items from their menu. Anyway, the food offered on the trains is nothing to crave about. We will always have the same items on the platforms and they taste better too.

I still remember my Pilani Days when we used to make the bi-annual trip on the Tamil Nadu Express from Chennai to Delhi. We used to served a meal which consists of miniature pooris, the sizes of which indicate that they were probably made from the leftover dough of proper sized pooris. These pooris were very fascinating for the Bitsians with the "scientific" bent of mind, for their extraordinary elastic properties (It required the effort of two people to tear a poori in two) and they have even gone to the extent of questioning the on-board cooks for the ingredients in them which gave them this magical ductility.

Back to the issue of Dosais. Many people, particularly the north indians, refer to the dosai as dosa. Ok, a little misspelling might not hurt, but this destroys the essence of this particular food item being named as dosai. Here is a way to make it easier for the northies to remember the name as dosai. When the dough is poured on the hot pan, you are supposed to hear a "saiiiii" sound made by the contact of the room-temperature dough with the hot tawa. If you had been to a bad South Indian restaurant (easy to find in Delhi), you would notice that the dosai is crispy on one side and "doughy" on the other. This is because the chef didn't turn the dosai around on the pan. If he had done this, there would be another "saiiii" sound made by the other side of the dosai. So, there should be two "saiiii" sounds for a good dosai. Two in hindi is "Do". Put them together and you get Dosai! Easy, isn't it ? As scientists say, never mug-up the end result, always remember the logic behind the result and you shall always be successful in getting the solution.

Lets hope that the IRCTC doesn't ban the South Indian food items from the platforms too, for no one is definitely going to touch the burgers or the pakodas when you have hot and fresh idlis and dosais available.

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Driving in India

Driving in chennai was never a problem for me. This is where i had learnt driving and once you can drive here, no other road, anywhere in the world can be a challenge for you. Yesterday, i took out our car in an attempt to prove that i was not NRIsed like others and can still manage to drive around in Chennai traffic.

The start itself proved to be embarrassing, as i tried to shift to reverse gear with my right foot firmly planted on the brake pedal. I couldn't engage the gear. I complained to myself that the car might have a problem and that i had to have the gear box checked. A little later, after almost breaking the gear shaft, i realised that this was not an automatic-shift car and that my left foot, which was comfortably sleeping in a corner, had to be used on the clutch pedal. I looked around and luckily didn't find anyone staring at my inability to take the car out of our parking space.

After few minutes of hardship, i managed to leave our colony and entered the big bad outside world. I realised that i was diligently following the unwritten laws of NRI driving in Chennai, the moment i faced a T-junction and was dutifully waiting for an opportunity for the traffic to clear up so that i could enter the road. A long line of vehicles was building up behind me and it was only a wait of few minutes that infuriated the person behind me and he started composing threatening tunes on his car-horn. Why don't people understand that it takes few hours of driving around for us to become accustomed to the intricacies of the chaos here!

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Short Vacation in Chennai

I am here in Chennai on a very short one week vacation. We have our Easter holidays during this week and this was a good opportunity to take a break from the monotony of work. Two years back, we had been to London during the Easter break, last year we went to Dubai. This time, we couldn't finalise on any destination and hence we decided to head to home, sweet home. Since it is a short vacation, we are not embarking on the usual pilgrimage tours which happen in India.

Few things that i love about being in Chennai:

• Going around in an auto. Such a trip would be a realisation for any individual in terms of the the laws of physics. The western world talks about packing as many silicon chips as possible into a very small area. If they come to chennai, they would probably get more ideas from the way we pack as many vehicles as possible in the narrowest of lanes.
• Aavin Flavoured Milk and Pocket More (It is actually a buttermilk packet, but for the shopkeepers to understand, you would have to pronounce it as "pocket more"). Throw away the Pepsis and the cokes, there is nothing better to quench your thirst than these two!
• Sweat! Yes, sweat feels great, especially after gruelling sessions of non-stop badminton. Wish we had badminton courts back in Cyprus too.
• Composing Music on the car horn. Back in Cyprus, you horn only to convey your displeasure at other drivers, but here in Chennai, you have the liberty to horn even where there is no other vehicle or human being in sight. Of course, you have to warn the oncoming stray dog to stay away from your path. So, i always tend to "try" to play the tune of the latest song i have heard on the horn. Musical bliss!
• Saravana Bhavan. Agreed that it has become costly recently to the extent that Ganesh calls it Saravena Bhavan, but it still is the hallmark for quality vegetarian food in Chennai. There is nothing that can match the taste of Saravana Bhavan's tiffin items!
• Home-made Murungakkai Sambhar. My mom has been unfailingly making Murungakkai Sambhar on the first day of every trip i make to chennai. Unfortunately, drumsticks are something unheard of, in Cyprus.

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A Good Indian Wedding

My only cousin got married a few days ago. Probably, I am one amongst a handful of Indians of the current generation, who has only one direct cousin, including the father's and the mother's side. So, this was an important occasion for me to attend. Luckily, the wedding coincided with my annual pilgrimage/vacation to India.

This was a good Indian wedding, which I was expecting it to be, considering the importance of this wedding to me! So, what makes a good Indian wedding? It may be similar to big, fat Greek weddings, as in, Indian weddings are big, in scale, in money spent and also in the number of people attending. Indian weddings definitely make one feel fat, with the dozens of varieties of food items on offer during the course of the two or three days of the wedding.

Ironically, Greek weddings are neither big nor fat. I had the opportunity of attending the wedding of one of my Cypriot (Greeks known by a different name) colleagues. Her wedding was held at a “family” church with around a 100 people attending, with more than half of this number being the neighborhood kids! She was so tense before the “walk to the altar”, that she was puffing away at cigarettes just outside the church, to calm her nerves! The strangest part of the wedding, at least for me, was that the entire wedding process, that of the priest solemnizing the marriage and the “I do” sessions were held with their backs to the audience. So, we spent the entire time sitting in the church watching the butts of the bride and the groom!

Back to the good Indian wedding, my cousin’s wedding was very good and it followed a very good schedule. It started off with very good Tiffin early in the morning and 3 or 4 cups of good filter coffee in the few hours after. All this while, something was happening on stage (mandap), something related to the marriage, I suppose. By then, it was time for a good heavy traditional lunch (Sambhar, Rasam, Butter Milk etc). Lunch was followed by a brief afternoon siesta for 2-3 hours. By this time, the bride and the groom had spent many hours in front of the “smoking altar”, cleansing their sinus cavities in this process. I came to know, that the couple had been officially married in the time I had been away for lunch. Next, it was evening snacks time, Pakodas, Badushas and some mixture, of course with the usual servings of filter coffee. Then came the reception. “Reception” in an Indian marriage is done to show off to the public, that the couple is still happy and smiling in spite of having gone into wedlock. When it is time for “reception” for the couple, it is time for dinner for the people attending the reception. The “reception dinner” is usually the best of the lot, as this is the time, when the work-bosses of the parents or the couple, good looking friends of the bride, the not-so-good looking friends of the groom who came to look at the good looking friends of the bride and other socially and economically relevant people attend. Needless to say, it was good.

My cousin has no brothers (If you hadn’t concluded this after the first line of this entry, go and practice old Infy question papers). She has 3 cousin brothers and I am the eldest of the lot. So, I had additional responsibilities, the foremost being that of ensuring that the quality and quantity of food being served at the wedding was adequate. So, there I was, at least 15 minutes before each session, first in line for the pandhi (serving). Not only had I to check the quality of each and every food item, I also had to ensure that everyone got whatever quantity they asked for. So, I had to keep asking for more servings of almost all items to ensure that there was sufficient for all. I had to different kind of tests too. For example, when I was eating the payasam at the end of the dinner and the seats to my either side had been vacated as far as the eye could see, I wanted to test their responsiveness to unplanned requests (thanks to my company’s customer satisfaction survey for giving me the idea of this test). So, with a cup of payasam in my hand, I shouted “One appalam (papad) please”. The guy with the appalams almost fell down in surprise. Good that he actually didn’t, for if he had, all the appalams would have been crushed. Surprised, yet cheerful, he handed me an appalam and asked “Sir, do you need some rice to go with the appalam”. Good guy!

Finally, after three days of the same tough routine of getting my responsibilities right, the good Indian wedding came to an end and may the couple live happily ever after.