He quit the corporate world to start his own restaurant

He is famous for his sarcasm and scepticism

He is known to prefer the company of monkeys!

I guess you know who I’m talking about by now.

A very very happy birthday to the guy we all know as Madman and who introduced me and my sister to fine South East Asian cuisine with a wonderful home-cooked meal last year!

Do hope Shiok grows from strength to strength and more and more Bangaloreans (and beyond) discover the art of fine dining…

Do hope you grow crankier as the years go by!

And do hope you get most of the stuff on your wish list, including your BMW :)

Looks like the end of the year has brought about creative spurts in everyone.

Lavannya has started a group called ‘Chillies and Chutney’ for food lovers in Bangalore (and beyond).

Vaish and Vinay have started a blog called ‘Francesay’ for those interested in discussing the French language and anything concerning France.

And I’ve just got an email reminder that I am supposed to spread the word around regarding the Indi Bloggies 2004. So here I am doing the needful. Please go forth and multiply (the message I mean)!

Some facts about the play Tumhari Amrita I watched yesterday at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall.

• It has been running for 13 years!

• With the original cast of Farooque Shaikh and Shabana Azmi
• Uses no props except two tables and chairs and a whole lot of letters
• It’s directed by Feroze Khan
• The play also has a sequel called Aapki Soniya
• It’s an adaption of Love Letters by AR Guerney

It was a seamless performance by the two stars. And since there wasn’t much movement to distract you, they had to depend on their words to keep the audience captivated through about one and a half hours. Of course, having performed it countless times, the actors probably can sleep through it. But you wouldn’t guess from their expressions. Shabana has a great voice and stage presence.

The play explores the relationship between the two protagonists built up largely on the basis of their correspondence over 37 years. It’s sad at times, touching and funny at others. All in all, a really great watch. If it’s coming to your city, make sure you go and grab the tickets!

Sitting through the performance, I suddenly remembered all those love letters I have written in the enthusiasm of my younger years. And I did write quite a bunch. I wonder where they are sometimes. Maybe they’ve been been burnt. Maybe they’re wrapped up in soft muslin and are lying in the depths of someone’s cupboard (wishful thinking, ay?).

But I still remember the longest letter I’ve written. It was about 38 pages long. I had a fascination for those crisp onion pages, which crackle when you turn. That’s the paper I wrote most of them on! I wonder now, what I said in those letters more than 10 years ago!

Would I smile and laugh out loud if I came across one of them today? Would I express myself differently? Most probably, yes.

But do you remember the first love letter you received? Or the longest one you wrote? Or one you keep till today because it’s precious to you? Or one that changed your life? Or maybe you’re never written one at all?!

The current status quo over the screening of Hindi films is not only affecting the distributors, it is also affecting regular cine-goers who I am sure are missing out on their daily dose of entertainment.

One of the spokesperson said that this is ?the last opportunity to save the language (Kannada)? (TOI, Nov 24). Last opportunity? That sounds a little too much, really. I understand people’s concern regarding their language, but surely there is a better way to ensure this than to target another language? That too, an Indian one, the last time I checked.

I thought entertainment is entertainment, notwithstanding the language. Shouldn’t I as a viewer have the right to decide what movie I want to watch and in what language? Why should a group of activists decide for me? This takes away my freedom to watch what I want, when I want.

If I want to enjoy a Hindi movie, I shouldn’t have to wait for 7 weeks just because someone else thinks that Kannada is suffering. I am all for preservation of culture and language, but this is surely not the way to propagating a culture!

And isn’t Hindi is an Indian language? Why is it being made out to be some foreign language!

From a 3 week moratorium, the group is now demanding a 7-week moratorium. Unfortunately, not only will audiences miss out on the latest movies, they will most probably watch them on pirated CDs.

I can’t imagine something like this happening in Mumbai. It’s like people saying only Marathi movies can be released in Mumbai. All others can follow. Weeks later!

I really think that serious measures should be taken to promote Kannada in whatever way possible ? have more culture events, hold plays, street festivals. But targeting Hindi is only going to make matters worse. And I can’t see it solving the purpose either.

Are people, who don’t go for Kannada movies, going to rush to watch them because there is nothing else available? I seriously doubt it.

All the ?top film? personalities behind this should wake up and smell the coffee. And let us enjoy our daily entertainment, please! In whatever language we choose.

Spent a whirlwind 4 days in Mumbai during Diwali. This is what my schedule was like:

* Eating
* Shopping
* Chatting with friends (actually trying to above the loud cracker bursts)
* Eating some more
* Shopping some more
* Chatting some more!

Mumbai looked pretty, especially during the night. All lighted up, decked in her most resplendent jewellery, she shone and sparkled. In fact, flying out on Sunday evening, I looked out of the window and the usually lighted city looked even brighter, and with the crackers going off at regular intervals, it made for a pretty sight indeed.

I found it unusually hot. I think I’ve got a little spoilt after the cooler climes of Bangalore. I also realized that there is no city like Mumbai for shopping! So I made the most of my trip, with a willing friend who kept telling me how much she misses all our shopping expeditions.

Visited heaps of old friends. Spent some precious time with them. Eating. Chatting. Catching up. It was hectic all right. The highlight however remained binge eating. To kick-start the visit, I visited my favourite fish place in Mumbai – Gajalee. After that a good friend treated me to a meal of yummy mustard fish and delicious chicken. Evening, it started with chicken and paneer appetizers at a friend’s place followed by dinner at Peking Tom, where we decided on prawns, since all of us had already had too much chicken! Then another round of Gujju oondew oondhiyu (it was delicious, though I am sure the spelling is wrong!) that my art sir’s wife cooked up for lunch.

If I ate anymore, I was sure they would not allow me on the flight back on one ticket!!

Boy, was I was relieved to get back to my cat on Sunday!

Vaish gave me the good news that I had passed 1a of my French. Meaning I can now go onto the next level. Of course, I have to thank this brilliant woman, the topper of 1b, who went over the basic fundas and helped clear my million doubts just a few days before the exams and saved me from getting really dismal marks!

We watched a play called Marathon, on Monday at the Ranga Shankara complex, Bangalore’s answer to Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai! Vaish could not stop raving about how cool the place was (a hop, skip and jump away) and how the suburb of JP Nagar had finally arrived!

It is a really nice complex with a small, but cosy auditorium, coffee area and a bookshop. The centre stage itself is designed so that you get a good view of all the seats. It is a 300 seater complex, which means that nearly everyone gets a clear view of the stage.

The bonus of watching the play was that not a single cell phone went off during the whole performance. Thanks to all the volunteers and Arundhati Nag herself who made a personal appeal to shut them off. Actually, it’s rather sad that they have to resort to begging people to switch of their cell phones. People should shut off their phones automatically when they enter cinemas and plays. Not only does it disturb the audience, it’s a real menace for the actors who I am sure can do without the disturbance. IMHO, if people cannot live without their phones for an hour, then they should not go for a play in the first place!

I have watched a few plays with cells going off every 10 minutes and it’s so irritating that I wouldn’t mind it if they ban phones during performances.

The other interesting thing about the play was that the protagonists actually jogged and acted through the whole 62 minute performance. It wasn’t called ‘Marathon’ for nothing! Coming from someone who can do neither, that was real impressive! I am definitely looking forward to more of such experiences. And with the complex pretty close to home, I hope my life will get a little more culturally enriched now!

If there’s something that I am really fascinated by, it’s the vast expanse of the sky. Sometimes I’m driving down the long road to office, so fascinated by the changing colours and pretty patterns that I almost forget that I should have my eyes on the road!

And one thing I love about Bangalore is the clear blue expanse of skies, whenever the sun is out. Believe me, after six years in Mumbai, I forgot that there could actually be blue skies! And that one could actually see the sun set! Little forgotten pleasures :)

I am yet to see the perfect sunset however! Or to capture it on film. But have you had such a moment when you looked at the horizon and felt: this is just the most perfect scene you have ever witnessed?

Isn’t he absolutely adorable? Of course, Kit Kit would have been mighty jealous if she knew how much fun I had with these cute creatures in Goa! And there were seven of them. This one poses like a doll. I was really tempted to pack him up and bring him home :)

The exhibition went off really well and all of us had a little celebration on Sunday night at the Century Club. My personal thanks to some of you who dropped in.

Some snapshots of the exhibition

Quite a few photographs sold and the response was really good. In fact, they are still up for sale. Most of them are up here, if you’re interested. If you want to know more about a particular photo/artist, please send me an email. If you’re doing up your house/moving into a new one/need one for your office/know someone who could brighten up their walls a bit, do pass on the word. The quality of the pictures uploaded are not very good as they were not taken for viewing purposes. Better versions can be provided if required.

They’re all mounted and framed and most of them are around 14×20 inches in size. The proceeds are going towards charity, so if you’re looking for something nice to grace your walls, go ahead and pick one up for a good cause!

After all the excitement of the last couple of days, I am disappearing for a bit till next week. So no fresh content till then.

French final exams on Sat and Sun. Wish me luck. Like all good things, I shall be back in a bit :)