Thursday 21 June 2012

when the gal gets gold


All that glitters is gold.. YES!!.. you read it right… including dosa in india. Indians are celebrated worldwide for their fetish for the flashy metal. Long gone are the days when we were like “AAAAHHH….WOOW” when gold plated jugs, mugs, plates and water closets found their way into palatial  bungalows and imperial palaces of the affluent. Today, every Indian, irrespective of his income tax statement (whether he has it or not) boasts of his chunk of glistening gold. 

Till now, the metal is adorned on the body but now, it is into the belly. That’s possible with a dosa gilded with a gold foil of 0.1mg gold content. I hail from a family where gravy is drunk like water. Being the foodie I am, wanted to coat my tongue with this gold plated dosa, the brainchild of Rajbhog restaurant in Malleswaram, Bangalore. 

The restaurant is not so flamboyant that you actually doubt whether this is the abode of gold dosas. It is snugly placed at an unassuming locale on the bustling Margosa Road of Bangalore. The ground floor at the restaurant is “quick-eat-go styled” where one signs off after savouring a dosa and sipping coffee. The first floor is fashioned with gold and brown hued furniture, a few portraits and bathed in gold hued illumination where there is waiter service and you are in for a PARTY. If you are picturizing a 3 star hotel ambience, well don’t go for it. It is the place you should visit just if you are on a mission to see the gold dosa at least once in your life. Well the owner of the restaurant boasts of several other varieties of dosas – silver plated dosa, chocolate dosa, paneer dosa, etc. As many as 101 variety dosas are born and served here. No vegetable or spice is ineligible for becoming a dosa I guess. 

Where am I? Yes, my tongue and gold coat. I took my brother and dad along on a surprise visit. We stepped in having a myriad doubts about the restaurant and its minimal grandeur. I suspiciously uttered “GOLD DOSA”.  A waiter ushered us towards the staircase and eventually a hall, i.e., the first floor. We ordered for one gold dosa. Well I don’t like to part with gandhiji’s impressions… I mean money here… so… 1 dosa will suffice for three starving stomachs. 

The gold dosa took more than a woman getting ready for a party to arrive. We were almost emptying the somph on the table. The dosa was brought in a silver plate accompanied with coconut water in silver tumbler.  She is embellished neck to toe. A petite burning candle was placed inside a green capsicum carved in the form of a lamp hood. The gold dosa, next to the candle was going green in the flame. The dosa rested on a banana leaf which was cut to fit the dosa cozily. Shredded cabbage, carrot and beetroot bordered the dosa. A  patch of gold cushioned triumphantly on the dosa stealing the show. We were to attack her pride with coconut and tamarind chutney and sambhar. 

regal rejoice - gold dosa

my dad, surendra nath inaugurating the gold dosa
 
It is time we  set our mouths to motion. Crisp and subtle it was and oily too. I later discovered that it is a dash of olive oil lest I should curse my calories. As we explored, we found a mound of potato curry in the stomach of the dosa. There was utter silence and each of us tried to stash each speck of gold found on the plate. It didn’t fill our  three stomachs but definitely our desire. This is the best gift i could give my mouth till now. An experience worth cherishing and blogging. In the end, we did justice to the salads also.
When you party, you pay also. The bill displayed 1070(Indian rupees incl. taxes). What if non-Indians read my blog, that Is why I mentioned Indian rupees  :-) . Just when were about to depart, the restaurant owner, Chandan met us personally, expressed gratitude to savour the gold dosa and elaborated how he bumped on the idea of gold dosa. A personal and thankful touch by the owner concluded the glittering gold dosa experience. A shimmering evening to remember.

Caution: A dazzling dosa a day keeps all currency away. (Unless you have  a currency printing machine at home)

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Bored? Naaaah!! Busy? Yessssssssss!!

1.       Endless ennui?

       If you thought boredom implies plenty of time but scarcity of work, you are not all correct. Based on my experience, boredom also means that you have been doing the mundane work for quite some time now. It is high time you awoke the creative department of your brain. Why don’t you take some cues from my observations on how to tame the boring boredom?

             a.       Order of the Deal:

Google all the deals available on beauty, health care, spa or dining, etc. in and around your locality. Be it a 1-month salsa classes for a meager 99rs. in the lane next by, or beauty overhaul services at an unexpected low of 300rs. Once in a while, treat your mind and soul to the pleasant luxuries as these don’t ruin your purse but definitely ride you on a high. Recently i pampered my taste buds to cold coffee with vanilla icecream at a coffeeday outlet. the deal was pay rs. 20 and get buy one get one. the cost of i drink was rs. 104. and i got 2 such drinks for rs.138(i.e., 20+104+taxes). many such lipsmacking deals are available in snapdeal, timesdeal, etc.

b.       Sweet shockers:

Start with a plan of hitting the street-end eatery with a group of friends. Don’t disclose that you have planned a series of surprises for them. Charm them into window-shopping in a street with highest glamour quotient in the town. If your gang is teaming up with dudes, the eye-candies, (I mean the dudettes) are a sure treat as you shop by. Conclude the itinerary with a hang-out at a coffee day outlet far off from the hoots and the honks of the city traffic. Sure shot sweetness assured.

c.        Toast to Toastmasters:

For many of them who do not know what toastmasters is, let me do the privilege of enlightening you. Toastmasters International is a renowned non-profit organisation which can add the adjective “extraordinary” to your speaking skills and “captivating” to your communication abilities. The icing on the cake is that some of the clubs in town permit guests to visit their clubs atmost thrice before you can enroll for the course. Believe me that is a penniless entry to the world of eloquent speeches, hilarity and free snacks (I got pizzas on two of my free visits to the club). You know I am always lucky J

d.       Friendly Feelers: 

What is more soothing to heart than to hear your close pals and dear relatives speak to you? Fetch your telephone directory (oops!! Should I say contacts in your mobile? Mobiles have put the good old telephone directories to rest) and start calling them one by one. Let them know you care. Microblogging sites may very well bridge the gaps of communication but nothing wins over the mellifluous vocal “HELLO”.

e.       Culinary comebacks:

Sometimes you have to take the culinary route to bellow that you are getting bored. Pick that ingredient on whatever your hand lands on. Be it spices, oils, dals or pulses. Toss in to the pan whatever comes to your mind. Cook that ultra fancy designer mischievous dish and serve with master chef aplomb. Within the first gulp, they will be aware of your culinary notoriety. Let them realize that an empty mind is a devil’s workshop. If they don’t realize even then, just say, “ I am bored. Shall I cook the tadka matka jhatka dish I made last month? ” They ll drop all work including pants to engage you lest you should be ready with another ghost recipe.


Monday 18 June 2012

a bark, a flutter, a swish and a chirp


“Oh my god!!! Thanks a lot................
You came running to give me this? I love you- truly madly and deeply. <3 <3 <3

 Let’s celebrate tonight. Be ready.” I gushed passing my fingers through his thick black hair, nibbled his ear and kissed on his forehead...

In return, I got a lick on my cheek... :-)
 .
.
I being the best absent minded professor the world has ever produced, forgot to carry hall ticket for my 10th class board exams. It was not until when the invigilator demanded I realized that I have rested the hall ticket on a bed of kumkum, adorning it with flowers in the puja mandir at home.
That being the Physics exam, I was reminded of Newton’s third law: For every action- (of forgetting the hall ticket), there is an equal and opposite reaction- running home to get it.

Puffing......... and panting..........., I bumped into the school gate when our Dhara Singh like watchman waved red signal with his lathi.

“Bow bow.. “BARKed Happy at Dhara Singh shoving his mouth into the circular iron grills of the school gate from the other side. Down fell my hall ticket drenched in Happy’s saliva at one corner.

Canine Companion:


Happy, my Labrador pup was just 1 yr old when he came leaping to give my hall ticket to my school which was nearly one and a half km away. I dotingly brushed his thick black hair and he barked “I love you too” to me. Remember the lick on my cheek?


Happy followed me wherever I went much before the pugs followed their little mistresses in Hutch advertisement.

Isnt spending with your pets one of the best ways to get rid of loneliness, stress and depression. Apart from bringing hall tickets to exam centres like my Happy did, dogs babysit children to some extent at home, provide exercise to you when you walk them and lend an ear when you want to pour out your joys and sorrows.

I can sense some souls reading this, questioning me silently “Do you think we never thought of having pets? We are not able to take care because of our highly demanding jobs and stressful lifestyles- where there is time for everything but no pet time.”


Now, I am staying in my company township accommodation where pets   are a strict no-no. But still I pet. Come on, spare me that look. I am no law-breaker.

Every morning, Masakali wakes me up at 6.30 for breakfast. Masakali, the grey and white streaked pigeon coos until I break my sleep and spread a 1 cm thick bed of wheat grains in the window slab. She FLUTTERS in rejoice before it sets off for its daily adventure. My heart too dances in merriment.

Fluttery Friend:

Masakali is not my roommate. We are 6.30 am friends-Friends with benefits. She alarms me to wake up and I offer her breakfast. The encounter is short lived but the happiness for both is long lived.  Does this care require commitment? The answer is No.. Masakali eats her grains but not my time.. she could find her fodder somewhere else even If I dozed off for a day. This kind of care minus the commitment is definitely possible for all of us if only we look around.

Swish Fish:


The blonde gold fish in a transparent glass pot would definitely add glamour to your living room. Watching it release tiny air bubbles as it SWISHes through the water surely puts a full stop to all your day long stress. You  can always leave the enjoyment to your neighbor when you are on travel.

A much easier task is to befriend our shy friend, the chirpy squirrel. You need not watch the squirrel for much long like our golden fish to start an amiable relationship with it. In fact the squirrel wont give you much time too. The best time to attract it is when you have stepped out of your house to go to your office or to that street end grocery store.

Chirpy Comrade:


Pamper the squirrel by dropping crumbs of bread near the feet of a tree. It sure will grab its mighty gift as soon as you turn your back but it will CHIRP back in gratitude. Isn’t that a proud feeling?

The answer will be a "YES". Think it over. Pets provide a doubl delight- companionship and unconditional love, both of which are key to happiness. If your lifestyle desists you from petting one, why don’t you choose one among the pigeon, the gold fish or the squirrel- the low maintenance pets? They give you company even if you are an OSAMA and love you without any expectation in return even if you are an OBAMA.
Let us find time to shower an iota of kindness on Mother Nature’s voiceless children whenever and wherever possible. It doesn’t strip us off our time or money like Facebook and other social networking sites outrageously do. 

Be it a single wheat grain to the pigeon or the petite bread crumb to the squirrel, do it regularly.   I am doing it. Will you?