10 DAY YOU CHALLENGE #6- 5 FOODS

5 foods. Now this should be easy considering my love for food. :D

But to restrict it to just 5 is cruel! But wth, only 5 it will be.

5 FOODS

1. pani puri. I am a pani puri-holic big time and I make it a point to have pani puri in every city I happen to set foot upon. :D the top 3 cities to have pani puris you ask? well that will have to be:

1.kolkata

2.jaipur

3.chennai

2. briyani/birayani/biriyani/however else the damned word is spelt (as long as it tastes good, I don’t care about the name or the spelling :D) from KARIM MESS.

3.french fries from Mc D, Chocolate chip cookies from SUBWAY and plain DAIRY MILK chocolates..

4. popcorn chicken from KFC and tangri kabab from HOTEL DECCAN that me and my brother love to visit every now and then. ;)

5. water melon juice from anywhere in the world and banana lassi from a shop near the railway station in pune.

I also must add that the food I had on ramzan at my friend’s place was simply superb as well. The flavours of the briyani/birayani/biriyani/however else the damned word is spelt(oh, there I go again! :D), fish, chicken and a sweet they served after that still linger in my mouth. Thanks for the food irfan. :D

But whatever said and done, nothing beats the food mom makes. Be it a 5 star hotel, 3 star hotel, HSB, fast food joint, roadside dhaba or anything else, nothing beats the food mom conjures up at home sweet home. The recipe u ask? Its just the right amount of sugar, spice and everything nice. ;)

Until next time,

ADIOS!

THE PANI PURI PHENOMENON

Before I start, let me remind you all that I am a panipuri-holic. BIG TIME! Kolkata was where this addiction started and it has continued, age doing no good in ridding me of the addiction. I for one make it a point to try out pani puri at every city/town/village I have been to(ok that was a bit of an exaggeration. I haven’t really been to any village yet that serves pani puri. B)) I guess Moving back to our ancestral house in sowcarpet was a blessing in disguise because back then you could get QUALITY pani puris only here.

My pani puri mate through all these years has mostly been my cousin who is two summers younger than me. After we joined college, we’ve not been able to spend much time together but whenever we do(mostly for shopping B-)), we make it a point to have a plate of pani puri along the way. Today was no different. Having made our customary pani puri pit stop, we headed off along MINT STREET.

MINT STREET. Interesting name. History books say the street was so named because of the presence of presses along this street where money was MINTed back during the post independence area(or was it the british era? Am not too sure. Besides, I was never good with history anyway :P). But now, considering the amount of chat shops on this road and taking into account that whatever be the dish, the main ingredient happens to be mint chutney, I guess the place couldn’t have been more appropriately named. B-)

Which brings me to my point.5 years back, the nearest pani puri shop was a 15 mins walk from my place. Now, there is a minimum of two in every street. And believe me, am not exaggerating! Take the case of mint street. I did a little survey today of the pani puri shops along mint street and the figures are quiet stunning. There are a total of 27 shops selling pani puri along a 400m stretch! The numbers are approximate, cos, What the heck, the count might have increased as I type this post. :P

What makes these shops tick u ask? It might have something to do with the steady growth of the north Indian population here in namba chennai. It might have something to do with the Chennai people becoming more OPEN to north Indian food and customs. Or it might simply have to do with the fact that pani puris are SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE!

Whatever be the case, recession or ‘End of the world’, as long as its sowcarpet or kilpauk, the pani puri phenomenon will keep going strong. If ever you plan on becoming an entrepreneur in the future(like that kid in the CYCLE REPAIR SHOP ad ;)), try opening a pani puri shop. Small investments, big rewards guaranteed. :P

Until next time,

Keep smiling,

ADIOS!

THROUGH THE REAR VIEW MIRROR

'TIME FLIES'

It seems like just a week back(using ‘a day back’ would be a bit exaggerating) that I was sitting at this same computer, typing away furiously, hoping to finish my 26^th post before midnight, December 31^st. and to think that I would be doing the same thing SO SOON is something I never really expected to happen.

But guess this is the truth-time, does fly!

Looking back, I guess 2010 was definitely a better year. But as is nature’s law of balance, it had its share of joy and sorrow, love and hate & success and failures.

Cricket, or rather the performances on field definitely got better. But like a bird that didn’t have the help of thermals, I had to work real hard to stay airborne. A string of starts, a couple of failures, a day when I turned savior and very little after that. Guess my cricket career didn’t really take off this year too like I had expected it too. yet another bad day at the office.

College life was better. New friends, better relationships with the older ones and so many unforgettable moments with friends, ha-BLISS! Not to forget the arrears I managed to get this sem, a first for me. But then, what is college life if u haven’t been a part of arrear exams. :P

Personal life was kinda twisted. Some people got closer, some just fell out. Altercations with dad on occasions more than one, and happy times with him, again, on occasions more than one. Love interests(?!) though not many did come to mind, which again, happens to be a first. But like most controversial and/or low budget kollywood movies, this never saw the light of the day too!

CHANGE- change did happen. A hell lot it did. Both from within(taller, stronger, sharper; well ok I didn’t really get taller but the other two I most definitely became) and on the outside(a new hairdo :P). Not to forget , I finally managed to get some change done at home too-more breathing space to be precise!

Looking back, 2010 definitely seemed to be better for me in more ways than one; it happened to be a year of many ‘firsts’- my first arrear, my first BIG knock, my first REAL crush, my first tangri kabab, my first Frankie, my first gift to and from my bro, my first movie download, my first plyometric workout, my first stint at self taught meditation, my first academic competition at college(which we came SO close to winning), my first anonymous intro, and of course my first drop of tear in a long, long time.

So revisiting those moments, 2010 did have a LOT of happy endings. But as is nature’s way, there were shades of grey too. But then, as incomplete is a painting without the color BLACK, life is also incomplete without a few failures, a few disappointments, and a few tears thrown here and there. But then, ever noticed how tasty even plain bread seems to be when we are hungry. For, only when we have witnessed the deepest troughs of life will we be able to truly admire and enjoy the crests, the crests that is success. Learn to enjoy even failures for they are nothing but opportunities to start the same work again with more knowledge on it (simple example- Thomas alva Edison and his explanation of his 999 attempts at inventing the light bulb. He never called them failures. He instead said that he was now filled with the knowledge that he knew of 999 items that COULD NOT BE USED to produce the light bulb, simple, yet stunning thought. And history says that the next time(1000^th) he tried,the electric bulb WAS invented)

So next time you sit down dejected, think of Thomas alva Edison, and a certain karthik sukumaran(or kihtrak to mr.venkata balakrishnan ;P :D), for only because they learned to look past their failures, they were able to die successful. well ok, am not dead yet but I know I will die successful. optimistic u ask? Well yeah I did vow to look at the glass as half full rather than half-empty.

Considering I’ve been putting in the effort, I know 2011 would be a better year.

And Considering this post was written on dec 25 AND considering that good kids like me(:P) are entitled to gifts from FR.NICHOLAS, all I’d like him to grant me is a very, very successful 2011, a year when I do peak, as I have been hoping for so long.

But enough of the selfishness, this is the season to spread cheer. And joy. So here’s wishing you all a very happy and successful year to come too.

Keep smiling.

Until next time,

Adios!