One of the most redeeming features about the city of Ahmedabad has always been its food joints. The variety and the quality of food more than made up for the mess that we had in the name of a mess at IIMA.
For all the foodies at IIMA, Mirch Masala is a very familiar name and a source of immense joy and satisfaction. It is one of the better places serving Indian cuisine.
Last evening (Thursday!!), went there for dinner after at least 5 and a half years with my colleague, Manish, who's also an IIMA grad. The place seemed the same as ever with the same interior decor with dialogues from films, caricatures and paintings of actors and movie posters, etc. We ordered food like we hadn’t eaten in days.. papdi chat, masala papad, sabzis, dal. And to end the feast were some hot, melting gulab-jamuns!!! Needless to say, ate like pigs!!
We even remembered to take the chhota lozenge type toffee that they give post the meal and had multiple of each.
Reminded us of the times when after a hard or a frust day on campus, we would go across to CG Road to Mirch Masala or Tomatoes or Topaz and reward ourselves with some delicious, yet not very expensive food.
Felt nice coming back..
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Kramer vs. Kramer
I don’t know how many would remember, but there was a case law reference to a case called Kramer vs. Kramer (or was it Cramer vs. Cramer) in the Contract Act in B.Com (H) - First year. While I have no memory whatsoever of what this case law was about, it sure did stand out as one of the names you could remember and refer to in the exams.
There is a movie by the same name with Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman playing Mrs. and Mr. Kramer, which I saw last evening on the flight back from Singapore. For the uninitiated, the movie is about Mrs. Kramer realising one day that she has been unhappy for 6 of the 8 years of her marriage. She decides to go away from the marriage and 'find' her own self, leaving her 5 and a 1/2 year old son behind for her husband to manage and fend for. The movie goes on in terms of how Mr. Kramer slowly but steadily comes to grips with the situation and is able to develop a special father-son bond and life's all good again. The twist is that Mrs. Kramer realises she loves her child and is now capable of taking care of him. What follows is a court battle for custody which Mrs. Kramer wins (despite having deserted her child 18 months ago). However, when the time comes to take custody, she decides against it as she thinks he is more at home with her ex-husband.
Pretty well-done movie with a very strong performance by Dustin Hoffman and a must watch for all young couples like ourselves.
What, however, stands out in the movie to me are the questions raised by Hoffman during the court process - While the woman's right to be as career oriented and ambitious as a man is accepted, why is the man's right to nurture and parent his child considered inferior to that of a woman? Why is it considered that a woman will be a better parent by virtue of her sex, than a man?
There is a movie by the same name with Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman playing Mrs. and Mr. Kramer, which I saw last evening on the flight back from Singapore. For the uninitiated, the movie is about Mrs. Kramer realising one day that she has been unhappy for 6 of the 8 years of her marriage. She decides to go away from the marriage and 'find' her own self, leaving her 5 and a 1/2 year old son behind for her husband to manage and fend for. The movie goes on in terms of how Mr. Kramer slowly but steadily comes to grips with the situation and is able to develop a special father-son bond and life's all good again. The twist is that Mrs. Kramer realises she loves her child and is now capable of taking care of him. What follows is a court battle for custody which Mrs. Kramer wins (despite having deserted her child 18 months ago). However, when the time comes to take custody, she decides against it as she thinks he is more at home with her ex-husband.
Pretty well-done movie with a very strong performance by Dustin Hoffman and a must watch for all young couples like ourselves.
What, however, stands out in the movie to me are the questions raised by Hoffman during the court process - While the woman's right to be as career oriented and ambitious as a man is accepted, why is the man's right to nurture and parent his child considered inferior to that of a woman? Why is it considered that a woman will be a better parent by virtue of her sex, than a man?
Thursday, September 21, 2006
The Jet Age
Today's experience once again re-enforced my belief that it will not be easy for competitors to dislodge Jet Airways from a preferred airline status for its more frequent fliers.
Leaving the City center in Chennai at 1:45 pm to board a flight at 2:30 pm, I was mentally quite prepared that I was not going to be able to make it and would have to take the next IC flight at 2:55 pm.
Even though my driver drove superbly, the best he could manage was to get me to the Airport at 2:15 pm. Unfortunately, for a change, the 2:30 pm flight to Mumbai was on time.
I ran in to the counter only to get the standard reply, from the woman at the counter, that the flight was already closed and there was nothing they could do anymore. On a bit of prodding, she realised my frequent flier status and immediately went to her duty manager. The good man promptly checked the flight status and opened the systems for a minute to get me checked-in. By 2:25 pm I was on the 2:30 flight, which by the way, took off on time as well.
For someone who had been quite impressed by Kingfisher's excellent on-board service and the 'extra-friendly' crew, it was an excellent re-enforcement of why I should put in every effort to retain my JP Platinum status.
Leaving the City center in Chennai at 1:45 pm to board a flight at 2:30 pm, I was mentally quite prepared that I was not going to be able to make it and would have to take the next IC flight at 2:55 pm.
Even though my driver drove superbly, the best he could manage was to get me to the Airport at 2:15 pm. Unfortunately, for a change, the 2:30 pm flight to Mumbai was on time.
I ran in to the counter only to get the standard reply, from the woman at the counter, that the flight was already closed and there was nothing they could do anymore. On a bit of prodding, she realised my frequent flier status and immediately went to her duty manager. The good man promptly checked the flight status and opened the systems for a minute to get me checked-in. By 2:25 pm I was on the 2:30 flight, which by the way, took off on time as well.
For someone who had been quite impressed by Kingfisher's excellent on-board service and the 'extra-friendly' crew, it was an excellent re-enforcement of why I should put in every effort to retain my JP Platinum status.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The first glimpse..
Day before, we had gone for Surabhi's first sonography. Naturally, we were excited at the prospect at getting the first glimpse of our child. Through the day we kept wondering how it was going to be like.
Anyways, the appointment was at 7 in the evening, and as always we reached bang on time. However, as always the doctor was running late and we had to wait a good 30 mins or so. On other days as well a delay in schedule is something which gets to both of us, but this time since it was that much more time between us and the glimpse, it was even more painful.
Since there was nothing else we could do, we waited and tried to kill time by exchanging random notes about the day, what we did, who said what and all the works.
Many people had told us various things about the first view and most of it seemed rather exciting. We had done extensive reading as well, having bought some 2-3 books on pregnancy and its various stages (actually Surabhi had done more of the reading). However, nothing was sufficient to prepare us for the reality.
The baby, or the foetus, as it is called at this stage, was a mere 23 mm long (2.3 cm seems even shorter!!). I had read that the baby develops hands and legs, etc even at some 7-8 weeks or something. However, when I saw the size of the baby, the last thing I was expecting were hands and legs. So when the doctor pointed out to the hands and legs, I nearly fell off my chair (even though I was standing). True to his word, he then pointed out the hands and legs to us. It was a sight. I don’t think I will forget that image for a long long time, if at all.
And if you think that was amazing, hold on. The baby already had a heart and it was beating at a furious rate.. 150 beats per minute they say!! And with every heart beat, the poor thing was jumping up and down and all about. Jaws open, I just continued to stare at the screen for a few minutes at which point the doctor broke my trance - "The baby's just fine. Nothing to worry!!"I am just so looking forward to my "uchhalu" baby!!!
Anyways, the appointment was at 7 in the evening, and as always we reached bang on time. However, as always the doctor was running late and we had to wait a good 30 mins or so. On other days as well a delay in schedule is something which gets to both of us, but this time since it was that much more time between us and the glimpse, it was even more painful.
Since there was nothing else we could do, we waited and tried to kill time by exchanging random notes about the day, what we did, who said what and all the works.
Many people had told us various things about the first view and most of it seemed rather exciting. We had done extensive reading as well, having bought some 2-3 books on pregnancy and its various stages (actually Surabhi had done more of the reading). However, nothing was sufficient to prepare us for the reality.
The baby, or the foetus, as it is called at this stage, was a mere 23 mm long (2.3 cm seems even shorter!!). I had read that the baby develops hands and legs, etc even at some 7-8 weeks or something. However, when I saw the size of the baby, the last thing I was expecting were hands and legs. So when the doctor pointed out to the hands and legs, I nearly fell off my chair (even though I was standing). True to his word, he then pointed out the hands and legs to us. It was a sight. I don’t think I will forget that image for a long long time, if at all.
And if you think that was amazing, hold on. The baby already had a heart and it was beating at a furious rate.. 150 beats per minute they say!! And with every heart beat, the poor thing was jumping up and down and all about. Jaws open, I just continued to stare at the screen for a few minutes at which point the doctor broke my trance - "The baby's just fine. Nothing to worry!!"I am just so looking forward to my "uchhalu" baby!!!
No Sorry
As I was choosing the name for my blog, I thought quite a bit on what would be most appropriate. It was a tough decision as they said that I couldn't change it later on and hence would be stuck with whatever decision I made at this juncture.
'No sorry' leapt out to me after a few minutes, going right to the start of the queue as my mind jostled with various other ideas. I seized upon the opportunity considering the deep rooted relationship my life has had with the term. It is something which represents my aspiration in life.. to have a life which when I go to the other world, I can sign off on with no regrets.
Now I know that’s something which is rather difficult to achieve or even impossible. There already are things in life which I wish I’d done differently or situations where I’d behaved differently. Yet, that does not stop me from my endeavour to make the rest of my life 'no-sorry'.
There's another history behind this term, and something which again is very deeply ingrained in my character. But that’s a story for another day. Right now I wanna write about something else and hence will end this introduction here itself.
'No sorry' leapt out to me after a few minutes, going right to the start of the queue as my mind jostled with various other ideas. I seized upon the opportunity considering the deep rooted relationship my life has had with the term. It is something which represents my aspiration in life.. to have a life which when I go to the other world, I can sign off on with no regrets.
Now I know that’s something which is rather difficult to achieve or even impossible. There already are things in life which I wish I’d done differently or situations where I’d behaved differently. Yet, that does not stop me from my endeavour to make the rest of my life 'no-sorry'.
There's another history behind this term, and something which again is very deeply ingrained in my character. But that’s a story for another day. Right now I wanna write about something else and hence will end this introduction here itself.
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