Boats going out to sea early morning…

Sunrise at Mahabalipuram

So a friend and I drove off to Mahabalipuram last weekend. It was a nice scenic drive via NH4. We started off at 5 am in the morning (after sleeping at midnight, such good children we are). It took us about 7 hours and with Shibs’ awesome display of the Tamil language in Chennai we found ourselves cruising on the scenic ECR.

Mahabs was hot and humid but still not totally unbearable. We got ourselves a nice room with a view. Mostly we lazed, ate (a lot of bread and cheese!), read and gazed at the sea and were most reluctant to return. On Sunday morning, we paid a visit to Mahabalipuram’s most famous monument - the Shore Temple. Shibs had last been there when she was much younger and couldn’t believe there was one temple (there were definitely more of them, she kept saying!).

On the way back we dropped in at this place called Dakshin Chitra - an artisan’s village and there was some nice handiwork of craftsmen from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. We also got a glimpse of a Theyam performance in the premises. If you’re on that road, this is a nice place to spend a few hours. If you like Indian handicrafts, jewellery etc. it might also put you back a few thousand rupees as I discovered.

I bought 3 sarees for reasons I have not been able to figure out yet thus proving that women are indeed mysterious creatures. Then by some stroke of chance (and asking a few people for directions), we got onto the highway again around 5 pm and made our way back. Of course, we didn’ t realize which highway we were on until we had paid toll at 4 toll booths (now that ’s a heavy toll!) and then realized that this was definitely not the way we had come. This was NH7, the super express highway. But it was a good chance to get onto it since it got us back home by around 9.45 pm.

Sigh. Another weekend gone…

The trip pictures

And I so spent an evening by candlelight.

It does seem a tad romantic. It really wasn’t that way though.

An evening by candlelight

(more…)

Sunday afternoon.

They call it a brunch but things start cooking up only after 1 pm. The place gets mighty crowded and a large population of Bangalore’s expat crowd converges here so be prepared to feel like you’re in another country or something.

Other than that, I couldn’t find much wrong with the Leela brunch @ the Citrus last Sunday. Firstly, I had to think twice before squandering 1000 odd bucks on a lunch, but I rationalized saying that I would probably do it just once in a blue moon. And this was the blue moon, I decided. A friend actually owes me a treat at the Leela since donkey’s years (and I think one should honour a treat is what I think, but not everyone thinks alike :). But that was not forthcoming I realised after waiting for a year (I’m mighty patient that way!), so I decided that this was it. Now or never… Secondly, I needed all the good food and wine I could lay my hands on. It does great things to my spirit.

So there we were, a motley group of four and one small kid who kept running off now and then, waiting impatiently to start off on our gigantic meal. They start pouring the sparkling wine almost as you take your seat. We began with the appetizers section and I must say that I have yet to see a larger variety of meat in front of me (except probably at a meat market, where it doesn’t look half as good). Every time, I think of giving up pleasures of the flesh, this is what happens – temptation! We tried everything – squid, lamb, chicken, egg and even sushi (which I didn’t quite like). After that, we went back again for a second helping.

By the end of the second round, there was no place for the main course. So we decided that we’d try out the delicious varieties of cheese and bread they have on offer. Cheese is something I can live without, but I must admit that whatever I tried was delicious.

I was into my fifth glass of sparkling wine, when I realised that I was beginning to feel a little wooly headed. The desserts section looked extremely appetizing and the greedy Ms Aquadreamer took everything on her plate (till her plate actually looked like the dessert section itself) and ate mighty little of it when she suddenly realised she was on a diet. Talk about wrong timing :)

Anyway, not having any such worries myself, I ate and ate and ate till I felt pretty much like the stuffed potato, coated with a layer of creamy mayonnaise – glazed and calorie-filled! There’s only so much a figure conscious woman of today can eat (well you’d think so), but since I don’t fall in that category, I surpassed all limits.

Finally, about 2 hours later, I emerged from the Leela into the Bangalore sunshine, lighter (in the wallet), heavier (by about 5 kilos) and fuzzy headed. But as they say, one has to return to earth after a while. The long drive back home cured me of my wine-induced hangover. Aren’t I glad that a blue moon doesn’t happen too often?!

All my experience at some time or another.

- Man leaning out of the window and peering close to the front rear mirror, adjusting it, taking comb out of pocket and vigourously brushing it. The catch was he had just a few strands of it.

- Man & woman in the car. Woman trying to distract man by pulling his hair. This goes on for a while. Then man in frustration pulls off her dupatta. Both of them laugh like crazy. Ahem. Are there no decency laws around this place? :)

- Plucking nose hair. Yucck!!

- Plucking nose muck. Even yucckier. But it’s something about traffic signals that make people reach for their nose, methinks.

- Woman haggling with vendor. This goes on for a while. Then she loses interest and the poor vendor is left stranded, hopes high but no sale. She was probably in a mood for bargaining. Women do strange things sometimes.

- Man takes out pen from pocket and scratches back vigourously. Then not having much luck reaching strategic locations, hands it over to co-passenger, who then takes the pen and goes about the task with much sincerity. Where the hell is my camera?!

- And this is something I did. This was at the airport road signal before the flyover (god, that sounds good) with a friend in the car. A nice song started playing and after a bit, not being able to resist it, I let go of steering wheel (foot firmly on brake!) and did a little dance right there in the driver’s seat. Just after I finished my impromptu performance, we noticed 2 guys on a motorbike peering into the car from the front glass, looking *really* amused. We all broke out laughing and thankfully just as embarassment settled in the signal turned green!

Any funny moments you remember?

August 31, 2006 is Blog Day. According to the blogger behind this idea, “BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. In this way, all Blog web surfers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs.”

You also need to post the recommendations on your site and also notify the selected bloggers. Read the instructions page for more.

So go forth blogger, you, blog away!

After a long time, I caught both Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives on the idiot box on Sunday night. You have to give it to them for coming up with some really interesting episodes! From SATC, Carrie (who had given up her life in NY to be with Alexandr in Paris) realises that she’s been looking for love in all the wrong places.

Carrie: “Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous. “

Carrie: “I’m looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love. And I don’t think that love is here in this expensive suite in this lovely hotel in Paris.”

Big: It took me a really long time to get here, but I’m here. Carrie, you’re the one.

Now that’s a line that would melt any woman’s heart and I must confess I shed a tear or two myself, watching Carrie and Big find each other again on the streets of Paris… Sigh. Did I call it the idiot box? I have to take that back :)

I finally managed to get out of my lazy mode and update the blog roll. I also got it out from the inside page and made drop downs instead. It’s been a long pending exercise but I had put in on the back-burner. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, and can’t find yourself in the space on the right, please do leave your URL and name and I shall add to my growing list :)

I woke up feeling slightly depressed on I-Day. A few nagging matters refused to leave me in peace, and the best way to tackle this state, I’ve found over time, is to occupy myself with some activity or another.

Geetha and I had noble intentions of watching the I-Day parade. Geetha had asked me the night before, “should we not do something patriotic?” and we agreed that watching the parade would definitely be along those lines.

Unfortunately, none of us could wake up on time.

Instead, about 7 of us met up for a late lunch at Indijoes, which had a special buffet for the day. The place was packed and it was a good half hour before we got a place.

After a long lunch, we moved on to the Café Coffee Day at Indiranagar where we chatted, debated and argued (Vasu in particular) till some of us got so loud that it was surprising they didn’t ask us to leave. This particular Coffee Day has a really agreeable location. And with the pleasant Bangalore sun filtering through the trees, and a nice breeze blowing, it was indeed a lovely afternoon to spend some time catching up with friends.

The next stop was Blossoms, always a great place to head when you want some comfort for the soul and mind. Geetha and Suman gave me company and we browsed around for an hour or so. I picked up a whole lot of books to read. Some comfort books, some for intellectual stimulation and some that will look good on my bookcase. You need all kinds.

Not wanting the day (and the four days of bliss) to end, we decided to do something fun and headed to Zero G.

As luck would have it, there was a private party going on there and we bumped into a friend who was invited. We didn’t need much coaxing to move to the poolside. And there was more good news.

The singer KK (aka Kailash Kher) was coming for the party and would be singing a few numbers.

Now, I’ve really liked some of his songs, the number one on my list being Teri Deewani. I think I listened to it about 10 times one particular day.

KK has a very interesting history and you can read about how he broke into the music scene nearly two years ago with his unconventional music style and the hit song Allah ke bande. He’s a small man in stature but packs in a powerful punch with his voice.

Meanwhile, I was absolutely thrilled. Sitting there, beside the poolside, the water shimmering with reflections from all around, and the lights of Bangalore glimmering in the distance and a very cool breeze threatening to turn us into ice cubes, we listened to KK sing a few of his well-known numbers. It was quite an unexpected treat since he didn’t really come to perform he said later, but to party.

All thanks to the lovely lady who we bumped into by chance!

tere naam se jee loon, tere naam se marr jaaun
tere naam se jee loon, tere naam se marr jaaun
teri jaan ke sadke mein kuchh aaisa kar jaaun
tune kya kar dala . marr gayi main . mitt gayi main . ho ri . ha ri . ho gayi main
teri deewani .. deewani
teri deewani .. deewani
- from teri deewani, by kk