Glimpses of Birthday Celebrations 2022

 I had my birthday, and we also celebrated a friend's birthday (Pratima Gaikwad from IIMI) and a niece's too, during the week gone by. Glimpses through pics, of various things we did- ate, mostly.

First, mine- with IIMB classmates.

and NM colleagues.

It was Anjali's birthday on 2nd Oct.

So we bought books, and went to Sodabottle Openerwala

and read funny stuff on their walls.

Had an Irani chai, and again, celebrated with Pratima her birthday which was on 5th

with some Kandahari chicken (and great chai at her place). 

Eating Places

I think for me, the top of the pops are the Irani chai joints, because of memories associated with them, from engineering college days. They were usually non-descript places with names like Hilton, Ramser, Lighthouse; small and just tolerably clean, with a crowd of people of every description. But they all had a warmth which the best of restaurants find difficulty in giving you. The food selection wasn't great- an Osmania biscuit, a bun-omelette, or a mirchi bajji- a delicacy for gourmet eaters fond of fiery stuff. But we spent hours at some of these joints, sometimes discussing dreams of going to the U.S., but mostly the last Bollywood movie or something more down to earth. The waiter-boy's cries of "do chai la" still rings in my ears, after decades.

The coffee cafes probably serve the same function today, but wifi has intruded to make them more tech-oriented, and maybe conversation-less in some cases. They are definitely posher, cleaner, and still limited in eats they offer. I have spent a few hours talking to people at some CCDs (particularly one on Brigade Road, Bangalore- Anupriya, Shafique, Zargar were some of the people I yapped with). Another pleasant place I remember is Coco's in Hyderabad where Nikita and Ritika were with us-it has the feel of a Goa shack (in Jubilee Hills). And in Bangalore again, a Vietnamese place where I met Shweta, Coconut Grove where I met Saumya, or Church Street Social where Shafique, Pallavi and I socialised. In Mumbai, some pleasant conversations happened In Chili's where Divya Singh was involved, and a mall food joint in R Mall where Bhagyalakshmi and I met. Not to forget Sanjeev Kapoor's Yellow Chilli, where Garima Shah was on the other side of the table.

In Belgium, of all places, we had landed in a Lebanese restaurant, and the waiters served us with a lot of warmth when they learnt we were from India-I think this was 1987, when four of us were doing a Eurail trip. One or two ordinary Greek restaurants in Athens were also very nice and warm.

Haleem and Husain Sagar

Hyderabad has a few quintessentials. Irani chai, for instance. It tastes like no other, and if you have had it growing up, it most likely grows on you. And there are a few Irani tea joints still left. I managed having a chai at Alpha, one of the oldest known (to me) joints bang opposite the Secunderabad railway station, and also picked up some biryani for consumption later. I was on a visit to Hyderabad on some work this time.

I did not realise that Ramzan had started. This is the time to get some Haleem, another exquisite Hyderabadi dish that is available in the holy month. Of course, its main ingredient is mutton. But it is slow-cooked with a mix of various other things, and the the taste, in the right hands, is to die for. Signature dish, like the Lucknowi tunde kababs.

The third nice experience this time was the breakfast visit to Husain Sagar, or tank bund as it is called locally. There is an eatery called Eat Street with a variety of cuisine, which is open through the day. It was deserted at 8, because it was early, and it had rained a lot the previous evening and night. The view was breath-taking, and the rava dosa was fabulous.

Also visited 10 Downing Street (of Hyd., not London) and found the music mellow, a great surprise in a pub- a pleasant one too. The food was also good.

Ruskin Bond- Book of Humour

Before I get to Ruskin Bond, I saw an Iranian movie and was impressed-again. The Song of Sparrows stars an ungainly looking hero- middle-aged, ugly, bearded, and a poor guy, a father with three kids, who loses a job tending to Ostriches, and then gets one as a motorcycle taxiwala in Teheran accidentally His adventures, limited as they are, are all that the film traverses, but HOW! It is amazing how these guys churn out world-class movies which make for riveting viewing so effortlessly, without a huge star cast or any of the melodrama we find in Bollywood. One of the scenes has his leg in a plaster, and his kids fighting over who will draw/paint on the cast- brilliant thinking.

Coming to Ruskin Bond, his Book of Humour is my first Bond book. I was bowled over by his style of writing, and regretted not having read him before. Better late than never. He talks about almost anything with a humour that is simple, engaging and inimitable. From his uncles that rival Wodehouse's aunts, to his own foibles, everything takes on a unique charm in his world. He talks about an uncle who out of habit tries to poison him, and how he gets away with it by switching glasses - a la Hindi films- in one of the stories.

A fun read!

A Separation- Iranian Film

Saw another Iranian film. It was a part of some recent Film festival. My respect for these guys keeps growing every time I see one. This one is about an apparently simple divorce petition from a wife whose husband refuses to emigrate with her because of a father suffering from Alzheimer's that he wants to care for. But the story gets tangled in a web of court cases, when a maid he has hired accuses him of causing an abortion (she is pregnant) when he throws her out of the job for negligence (of his old dad). Her husband, an unemployed and hard-up guy, also gets in and gives it a class-conflict angle.

A lot of twists and turns follow, and the director skilfully presents all sides of the story, without a clear pinning down of the guilt. Everyone is guilty and innocent to some extent- they are all normal human beings caught up in their own dilemmas, beliefs and so on.

One thing that strikes you about the Irani directors is their effective use of close-ups, and minimal dialogue. The actors have to carry the film on their shoulders, and usually, they do.

Certainly one of my good films of 2012!