I don’t have much money to spare, but I’m thinking of getting a camera.

The thing is: Should I buy an average digital camera for Rs 15-20K or should I buy a normal camera that costs as much, but will probably give me better quality pictures?

Anyone with advise on what’s the best deal I can get for my limited budget?

If we spend so much time complaining of getting bored of what we do, I wonder then: Why we continue to do what we do?

These days I am getting a lot of pleasure seeing my ex-colleagues work hard. This, for example is an excerpt of a conversation with one of them.

sk : what are you doing nowadays
ab : enjoying life mostly
ab : went to bangalore, pune
ab : living it up
sk : hmmm
sk : me working
ab : haha
ab : big HAHA!
ab : don’t worry. tumhara din bhi ayega!

Now, I always wanted to say that. And finally I got a chance!

I watched Pirates of the Caribbean today. And Johnny Depp makes for an awesome pirate. His mannerisms, his accent, along with his hair - all combines to make him eminently watchable. Do catch it, if you haven’t already.

I admire Depp for the variety of his roles. I’ve watched a few of his films - Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Donnie Brasco, The Brave - and what I like is the fact that he does very diverse roles and brings a lot of character into whatever he plays.

A visit to Pune always brings back warm memories of the time I spent there.

I have lived in many places so far. But in Pune, I felt at home. It was also probably because I was young, and on my own for the very first time of my life. I got my first taste of independence and the responsibilities that came along with it.
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My friend Jil knows 7 languages - Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, English, German and French. And I mean fluently. Not just one or two sentences. She’s from a Assamese-Bengali family. Lives in Karnataka. Learnt German. And is now learning French.

Leaving me quite impressed.

Indians I think tend to be multilingual, by and large. In school, we had to learn three languages. English, as intruction. Assamese, as the mother tongue. And Hindi, as the third language.

Then, if you live in another state, you tend to pick up that language (at least basic spoken). If you are on relatively good terms with your neighbouring state, then you pick some language skills across the border. If you decide to learn a foreign language, you have one more ace up your sleeve.

My own language skills are limited to Assamese, English and Hindi. I can understand a bit of Marathi (but then they hardly speak the language in Mumbai). And I can understand Bengali, but I can’t speak it very well.

Next on my ‘to-do’ list is to learn another language.

How many languages are you fluent in?

On Saturday night, we went out for a Chinese place for dinner. On Sunday, it was a place called Susie’s (Correction: Sue’s Kitchen) for lunch.

If you are visiting Bangalore or live there, you must do Sue’s (especially, if you haven’t done it yet!).

It’s a Caribbean restaurant located in Indiranagar. The owner is from West Indies and has set up a little cosy nook that you must experience sometime. Quite a popular joint, it was packed when we went for lunch. Apparently, it’s a must visit for the West Indian cricketers when they are visiting India.

For Rs 180 a head for the buffet lunch (pretty reasonable, I think), we were treated to a delicious spread of about 4-5 salads. The vegetable soup was mouth-watering. For the main curry, there was crab, mushroom and corn curry, delicious fish cutlets and a yummy vegetable baked dish, among other stuff. One can only eat so much!

I had gained at least 5 kilos heavier by the time the weekend was over.

(PS: Kinglsey, looks like the prawn pulao will have to be postponed to the next time!)

Something really strange happened last night.

I have never had so much alcohol in my life. And yet, after half a dozen or so cocktails and four drinks (between three of us!) we were all stone sober.

It was happy hours at T.G.I.F. (nice ambience, slightly overpriced) and since it was Friday, we thought it would be an appropriate place to spend the evening!

We started with margeritas. Followed by long island iced teas. Then we went for electric lemonades. After which it was pure vodka with lemonade. Ending with shots of tequila.

After this whole episode it was wonder how all of were standing straight. Either we’re getting very good at holding our drinks or TGIF completely forgot to add alcohol in the cocktails! I strongly suspect it was the latter. Usually I reach my limit with two cocktails. So, there had to be something wrong with what they served us.

And thanks everyone for all the suggestions left in my comments box.

Nobody, thanks for all the helpful hints about your city. We’ve been roaming around most of the day. We did lunch at Casa Picola. Pretty decent fare they have there.

My friend J took me to this place called Home Store, where I totally freaked out and bought a whole lot of stuff that I wasn’t planning to. Isn’t that always the way it happens? Anyways. I am a sucker for nice things. I always keep control when I am in Mumbai. When I’m out of town, I have no idea what happens. Before I know it, the money is all gone :) But they have a really decent collection.

We hit Gangaram’s after that. I headed to the stationery section first. I have a weakness for notebooks. Picked up a nice textured drawing book.

I only got to browse half of the first floor when my friend came to drag me out. Quite a selection of books they have there. From the size of the store, I figured I’d need a whole day to browse through the store.

There’s a party to attend tonight, so I better go do my hair now.