What I Ate With Whom

 I distinctly remember Khao Suey with Savitha in Indiranagar.. first time I had it.

Vietnamese food in Indiranagar again, with Shweta Sinha.

Dosa with Shweta Agarwal in C.P.

Chinese with Meghna Sinha at Yuawatcha, BKC.

Chai and something with Nikita Ray, in C.P.

Wine with Padmapriya and Jasmine at their place in Delhi.

Pizza rolls, with Bhuvneet Raheja in The Big Chill at C.P. in Delhi

Kuremal Kulfi with Prachi Jain

Nishka Rathi and Vikram.. biryani. Ashutosh too. In Mumbai.

Veg a la Kiev with Akansh at Olypub, Kolkata

Remember I had a cake with Siri, Tosha and Abha at Grandmama's Cafe in Phoenix Mall, Mumbai, after dinner- it was close to my birthday.

Coffee with Sheetal and hubby Kausshal at a CCD on Marine Drive, near Churchgate. After a pizza at Pizza by The Bay with her!

Suleimani chai with Shatakshi and Varun, at a terrace cafe on M.G. Road Bangalore.

Biryani at Paradise in Bangalore, with Pallavi Bajpai. 

Biryani and Irani chai with Pratima Gaikwad at Nawab's Hyderabad a few times.

Chai with Anushka Mishra at Church Street. After a round of bookstores.

Fish and Chips with Suhasini Barman, my new friend in Kolkata, at Cha Bar, Oxford Bookstore.

Coffee with Ananya Ghosh, another new friend in Kolkata, at CC 2. 

A drink at Lord of the Drinks with Pratishtha Batra, global citizen.

Likewise, with Nidhi Kanungo at Sheraton Indore. 

A drink with Kedar Muley and team at The Irish House in a Thane mall.

Chhota samosa and chai with Jogeswari at the Golftripz office.

Wine with Vrinda Khanna and her Dad, at her place.

Lunch with Rimjhim at her place in Bangalore.

Lunch with Vandana at NMIMS campus. 

Coffee with Archana Singh, friend from childhood, at Bangalore Club. 

Siri Adi and her Dad. Coffee he made at home, at Kharghar.

Bengali meal at Ananya Nandi De's place, NOIDA. With her husband Raka and son Hrishit.

Poonam Bhatia's place in Mumbai, drinks with her husband Ashwani and dinner. Shraddha Nigdikar was also there. 

Drink with Bhagyalakshmi and Venkat at TOIT, Pune recently.

Dinner with Shraddha and her parents in Dadar, her place at the time.

Lunch with Anshita, husband, Gowri and Sreeram, Ishita and Anurag, Aashish and Anusha, Rupam Verma at Orchid, Bangalore. (pic below)

Mexican food at Taco Bell with Jaya Dulani at C.P., Delhi

Essex Farms restaurant, lunch with Sharmistha Singh and Sunil Kataria, near IIT Delhi

Surbhi Mehta Chadha and hubby, Cha Bar in CP.. sandwich and chai.

Pizza with Abha at Nehru Place.

Lunch with Kanika Mhendiratta at India Habitat Centre, our first meeting.

Divya Singh, coffee in her office building, Sikandarpur. Our last meeting. In Vashi earlier, Burger and Pizza.

More recently, Dimsums with Ananya Ghosh and Sayantani Saha, in Casa Miami, Kolkata.

Diwali Chronicles

 No match for Chronicles of Narnia. But significant for us. Spent a few days in Hyderabad with my sister, BIL and niece. Highlights were a meeting with Pratima for a biryani as planned, and a couple of outings for lunch (at Peshawar with a friend), and dinner. Also a lot of biryani at home too. 

And celebrated Bhaubeej/Bhaidooj. 

Soda swag, before Biryani at Peshawar, Lakdi ka pul.

Nawabi style. Chai with Pratima.

Global Citizens

 My wife and I have lived in multiple places, and visited a few countries.. more than twenty, I am guessing. So some reflections about the places, though we are not particularly attached to any place.

Bangalore- great weather, great filter coffee, and many old friends.

Lucknow- good memories, professional and personal, bad weather, great kababs and biryani

Hyderabad- Great biryani, Irani chai, friends and some relatives too.

Delhi- bad weather, good metro service, bad traffic, good friends, positive attitude

Mumbai- bad traffic, efficient train service, professional workers, friends galore

Pune- Bad traffic, good bakarwadi from Chitale, great cultural scene, lots of relatives

Kolkata- Bad weather, good food, new friends who are nice, Chai addas, celebrations with gusto

USA- Some good friends, no domestic help, good National Parks, roads, no railways or autos..

Vietnam- Friendly people, no English, Ha Long Bay is world class

Cambodia- Cheap, Historic, nice buildings

Sri Lanka- Green, beautiful, good beaches, people

Greece- Chaotic, friendly, historic, Sea is amazing, islands too. Good food- Moussaka is my favourite

Amsterdam- Fun place with unique features

Rome, Venice- Good for long walks, bad traffic, Gondola ride like a Shikara in Dal Lake..

Gourmet Meals versus Biryani

 Gourmet Meals are

Expensive

Hard to find

Not Filling- small portions

You may or may not like it- many variables

Looks good

Biryani

May not be as expensive

Is filling

Easier to find

I like it, mostly

Looks are not everything

Wonders of My World

 I don't buy the fact that there are just 7 Wonders of the World, and that too, just monuments. My list would include people I am grateful to- just for being in my life. And that's going to run into hundreds, obviously. I have had a long life...

1. Parents, aunts, uncles, cousins. We were a large family, with my mother having several sisters and a brother, and my father with two brothers and some cousins. So we had a ball, meeting in vacations or get-togethers, weddings and so on. At Nagpur a few years ago, we celebrated the 75th birthday of our seniormost maternal cousin. A great event.

2. Teachers- starting from the nuns in class 1, to high school teachers at Hyderabad, or profs. at IIM Bangalore in India, and at Clemson University, USA, they played an important role in shaping me.

3. Colleagues at work in companies, or academic institutes. They have been a source of joy, and learning. Including my non-teaching staff, teaching assistants and almost everyone who worked in various offices- even accounts!

4. Classmates in school, college (we have a group called Hum Nahi Sudhrenge), IIM Bangalore buddies, and a couple of Ph.D. seniors and mates at Clemson-Ron Green being one, Masoud Abessi another

5. Students and ex-students..mostly the second, as I have graduated to admin. roles these last two-three years again. I am amazed at having so many wonderful people just a facebook post or WhatsApp message away. We also meet when we can. You guys are amazing!

6. Food and Drink.. with people you like. You can never have enough.. just like Lays says in its ad.. so much to explore. Just having Moong bhajiya in today's rain, or a Biryani at Hyderabad (with Pratima, my biryani friend), or sipping a cocktail- Ravi and I made a few in Calicut when I lived there. Had a coffee with Prabhakar at UB city recently, and shared many stories.

7. Fun and Games- Karaoke, Golf or Antakshari ..music in any form, actually.

Ok, managed to classify them into 7, after all.. am I forgetting something?

Calicut Biryani and More

 You wouldn't associate Calicut with biryanis. But thanks to my friend Ravi, who was my culinary guide, we tasted the Kuttichira biryani, a speciality of a locality near the beach there, and lots more. This is what friends are for, right? Pics from a couple of eateries that we visited. And more.. 

A dhow.. these are made at Beypore near Calicut, and were used for trade with the Gulf countries.

At IIMK.

Views from my hotel 7th floor.

IIMK, above and below

Weekend Pinks

 Whatever is the opposite of Blues, I mean. Pinks, Greens, or Reds. Had a nice weekend punctuated by a play at Rangashankara, food, random coffee, a new Biryani from Dindigul, and some home-made Keema biryani. Also friends, and book shopping. And karaoke sessions. Aadmi ko aur kya chahiye? (What more can one ask for?). Evidence of some of these-

Hyderabad and Its Influence

 It's a place I spent a lot of time in, and in my formative years too. Therefore, it's had a lot of influence on my food habits. Particularly the love of biryani made there, and Irani chai, and bun-omelettes consumed regularly along with a variety of other snacks, like the small samosas with onion filling.

But beyond food, an attitude towards life. Just as the Goans have their Sussegaad (and I appreciate it), a Hyderabadi also has a unique attitude that is probably described by this phrase better than any other- "Light lelo yaaro.." Nothing is to be taken seriously beyond a point, because...

I think it particularly comes in useful in adverse circumstances which everybody faces in life at times. Looking at it and taking it lightly helps nullify the severity of whatever it is, and keeps you hopeful and balanced, I think. I am grateful to Hyderabad for this and much more. 

Explaining Corona to a Hyderabadi

Hyderabadis are quite rugged, and have survived the plague, Irani chai hotel waiters, and the like. It's not easy to get them to panic. Here is a brave attempt.

Panicking Man (P.M.): (trying to get Hyderabadi to panic)- Kya karre miya? Itta bhi light mat lo..Bahar nakko jao bole na aapku?

Hyderabadi (H): Magar kaiku bolre, bolo na?

P.M.: Ek virus rehta babu, Corona naam ka, unhe jump maarke aapku pakad leta, iske waaste bolre miya..

H: Hau? Yeh viruson ku koi kaam nahi hai kya? Kaiku to bhi idhar se udhar koodrein? Ek jagah nahin baith sakte?

P.M.: Aisich dikhra, aapke jaisich.. ek jagah aapku bhi baitho bolke bolre..ghar mein baithke biryani kha sakte na? Bahar mat niklo bole, uttaich.

H: Chillar kar dere na? Ghar mein baithe to ab tak biwi chillari thi, baahar niklo, kuchh kaam karo bolke. Ab bahar gaye to musibat. Magar biryani kaisa banate? Gosht to lana padinga pehle, markit se..

P.M.: Nahin miya, home dilivary karte katey sab logaan, gosht bechnewale bhi, aur chawal bechnewale bhi..

H: Aisa? Abbich phone lagatun unku.. Begum, tab tak zara chai-ich pilado na,..

..and though he refused to actually panic, the Hyderabadi settled down on his diwan, and waited for his chai..

Once a Hyderabadi Always a Hyderabadi

I don't have to tell you I grew up in Hyderabad and thereabouts. The environment, people, culture, sort of seeps into your blood, as many Hyderabadis will testify, if you ask them. Anyway, I will not wax eloquent- baataan nahin karte, hum Hyderabadi- and instead give you a peek into some of what Hyderabad does best-

The blend of the old and the new- a view from behind the metro station (above), and the station itself.

The last one is only to highlight one of the many bowlis..before Gachhi Bowli came along, it was Putli Bowli that was well-known to Hyderabadi public..phir yeh IT wale logaan aake sab bigaad diye :)

Staying Loyal

This is not about relationships-go look for an agony aunt-but about loyalty to organisations/jobs.

What makes people want to continue to work for an organisation, say after 2-3 years?

Learning
Inertia
Good pay/perks-golden handcuffs, as they are known sometimes
Challenge
New responsibilities/promise of promotion
Emotional attachment to people in the organisation
A bond signed in return for something like training given, study leave granted,..

In my case, there were any or many of these whenever I stayed back for more than two years. I have stayed more than two years at Kirloskar Institute (18 hole Golf course), IMT Nagpur (great people), and at IIM Indore (Poha, kachori and jalebi being the Sev-ing grace)-close to my fifth birthday here now. At Vignana Jyoti, too, which was a startup B-school in Hyderabad, and the biryani was irresistible. Yes, Biryani can be a reason too.

The Making of Hyderabadi Biryani

This is not dumb, but Dum Biryani.  This is how it's made in Hyderabad. A friend made it in Indore this time though, and these are pics describing the process briefly.

 The finished product is above. But let's begin at the beginning. First, make flavourful rice with spices added to water, which is boiled, and rice and salt added, and cooked about 80%  in the open vessel so that the rice is non-sticky -drain extra water (left, below). Fry onions till brown, and keep aside (right).

 Cook chicken (again, slightly less than fully cooked) after marinating it in dahi (curd) and spices. It should have some gravy, similar to a chicken curry. Have some ghee handy.

 After these are all ready, comes the interesting part. Put a layer of rice, followed by chicken and fried onion, and some ghee, chicken again, and all the rest, until you come to the top of the vessel. Sprinkle some garam masala and some saffron mixed with milk, and seal the vessel-use a clean wet cloth, or some wet flour as the seal. Let it simmer after putting it on a hot tava, for about 30 minutes. Enjoy with raita and mirchi ka saalan, a spicy green chilli curry.

One of the secret ingredients is Shahjira!

Restaurants- My Michelin Rated ones

Hilton- at Osmania campus, Hyderabad- Irani chai, biscuits, bun-omelette. At that age and in those golden days, the best of the best. There were several similar joints in Hyderabad at the time. Kohinoor on MG Road in Pune is another one with similar things on offer.

Raj Bhavan in Davangere, Karnataka. We spent many evenings there with family, dining at leisure. It was a garden restaurant, which meant that the kids (small then) could roam around and we could hold a conversation or admire the garden.

Taj Mahal at Abids, Hyderabad. A simple veg. platter (thali) which was tasty, filling and within budget. Kamat's at Koti next to Women's College was another.

Lucknow chat place, the name of which I forget. Great chat and mithai. I think it was in Aliganj. Also, the gilawati/Tunde kababs and biryani in Hazratganj and beyond-the film Dawat-e-ishq rekindled some of those memories.

Alpha restaurant, Garden restaurant in Secunderabad area were among the best for biryanis when I lived there. Paradise, too.

Bharwan da Dhaba, Amritsar. Makke di roti, and Sarson da saag.

MTR and Maiyya's, and lots of darshinis in Bangalore.

Savji restaurants in Nagpur for fiery stuff.

Nanking, an old Chinese restaurant in Secunderabad.

The Bong Adda in Belapur, new Bombay.

and of course, food eaten anywhere in good company, accompanied by nostalgia, laughter...

On Being a Hyderabadi

I call myself a Hyderabadi because in my tender (!) formative years, I spent my time in and around Hyderabad. Picked up the lingo, which is pure fun to listen to (I know purists may disagree), and speak. Also picked up an easy-going lifestyle, which after Goa's sussegad is probably the best way to live (again, workaholics or generally disagreeable types may choose to disagree).

Eating Hyderabadi biryani comes next. You can't take the biryani out of a Hyderabadi. It has to be accompanied by Mirchi ka Saalan to make it completely fulfilling (why do I hear folks salivating?). It can be eaten at any time of the day, or night. Irani chai, likewise. And during Ramzaan, haleem is added to the regular menu.

Movies in a Hyderabadi cinema hall used to be a treat. Great theatres, numbering about 100, rivalled only by Bangalore at the time. I still remember seeing Anand (and Damaad) in Navrang, and Sholay in Ramakrishna 70 mm (at this time I was in Hyderabad Public School), Don in Tarakarama, and Chitchor in Ramakrishna 35 mm. There were a few theatres that only screened English films, like Sangeet in Secunderabad and Skyline in Basheerbagh. Probably Tivoli as well. When I was at Osmania engg. college, we used to return by a midnight local train to Jamai Osmania station, and walk back to our hostel after a late-night show. I must have seen enough Hindi films to do a Ph.D. on them.

Abids was the main shopping area at the time, though shopping was not my forte. The Birla Mandir came up on what was called Naubat Pahad earlier. Masab Tank where my Uncle and cousin stayed was a regular haunt. Tarnaka where my aunt lived was another. There was a Fever Hospital somewhere near Nallakunta where I also lived briefly, and an Erramanzil on the way to my school's earlier location. I saw a comic play called Adrak ke Panje in Hyderabadi at the Ravindra Bharati, a landmark, and it was hilarious! The film Karz released when we were about to finish college, and we saw it to celebrate the end of a chapter of our lives.
 

These are a few of my Favourite Things

Exquisite PJs..my first love.

Newspaper. From the days when writer quality was excellent.

Mirchi bajji..all Andhravadus like this.

Sabudana khichdi/vada..all ghatis are fond of this.

Single Malts- an acquired taste.

Tea- Fits me to a 't'- Irani chai is the best.

Biryani- inevitable Hyderabadi addiction

Humour- Love it. Ultimate test of people. Wodehouse and Asterix, ah!

Books- mystery, non-fiction.

Pics- They tell a story.

Chats. FB is fine. Real ones are even better.

Cinema- Bollywood -with all its warts- comes first. Next is world cinema, Bergman, Irani films, Japanese films, Hollywood,..

Gaane- especially Kishore Kumar.

List of Things To Do

No, there is no bucket in sight, so this is not a bucket list. Not even New Year in sight, so it's not a New Year list of resolutions either.

Just a list of things to do, not necessarily soon.

Visit New Zealand.

Eat biryani.

Cook something nice, tasty, zesty.

Learn to sing better.

Shop less- am already getting good at this.

Travel more, explore places old and new. Starting with my backyard.

Keep in touch with friends from the past, over the last thirty years. That includes students who are now in THE LIST.

Make new friends. This is going well.

Talk less, listen more. Difficult, but doable.

Eat less, think more. Doable?

Go to Shrivardhan- a secret getaway, no longer secret!

New Happiness Measures

No half-measures allowed. Happiness is too important to be left to the unhappy. So here we go, acquainting the world with these brand new measures of the big 'H'. Get ready to measure and be happy.

1. How long the batteries last. If your laptop and mobile batteries last longer than the next guy, you are, by definition, happier...than him or her.

2. Muscles/square inches of body in case of boyfriends. If you are a girl.

3. Beauty/square inches of body for girlfriends, if you are a guy.

4. Furniture/square inches of home space if you are a 'settled' female.

5. Amount of beer/other liquids per square inch of home space if you are a 'settled' guy.

6. Number of facebook friends you have, if you are 'settled' or not, man or woman. This is non-discriminatory, and totally democratic, unlike 150 countries in the world.

7. Number of biryanis you cumulatively ate in a lifetime, if you are a Hyderabadi. Pseudo-biryanis to be deducted from the total.

8. Irani chais, ditto.

9. Number of commuters you abused, if you are a Delhi wala driver-male.

10. Number of item numbers you managed in a year, if you are a female actor, even a lead one.

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.

Hyderabad Blues

Actually, there aren't any blues, just that the title sounds catchy, coming as it does from a popular debut movie made by Nagesh Kukunoor, a Hyderabadi with a stint in the U.S.

We were celebrating our annual IMT alumni meet as we do every year, and this was at The Green park hotel. A good number of our alums work here, in companies such as Ramco, Deloitte, ICICI Bank, Asian paints, Dr. Reddy's Labs and so on. Some are venturing out on their own too. It was a pleasure talking to some of the young minds and trying to understand their views about life and career. And get some feedback on how to do things better back home.

About five of us faculty from IMT Nagpur came here for the meet, and made the necessary pilgrimage to Paradise restaurant for the mandatory Biryani and kababs. They tasted wonderful as ever. As if to welcome us, the skies opened up in the evening too, bringing us some coolness- not that we lacked in it ourselves (ha, ha).

The next two weekends will see us in Delhi and Mumbai meeting even larger numbers of alumni, rounding off the five chapter meets. IIMB seems to be doing what we are too, and they call it Anusmaran. Cheers to more meetings of the minds. This is even better than the IPL.

With Love to Russia

There was a James Bond movie titled From Russia with Love. I took the title and twisted it a little, but primarily, this is to express my surprise (pleasant one, of course) at the readership from Russia (for this blog) crossing the readership in India and that from the U.S. for the current week.

Not very clear about why this happened, but I am quite happy about the fact that it has happened in unexpected quarters. I only knew Raj Kapoor's films were popular in Russia some time ago.

Visiting Hyderabad on some work, met two alumni of early batches of KIAMS for a long chat. One of them had helped write a case about her company called Golftripz, which pioneered Golf tours for Indians wanting to play abroad. Hoping to eat some authentic Hyderabadi biryani as I am in close proximity to one of its major purveyors, Paradise restaurant.