The White Tiger

Simple, straightforward and different - Aravind Adigas The white tiger do warrants a read just for the fact that it is different from most of the other Indian novels - here you will hear the story of Balram Halwai and his journey from rags to riches.

 

Balram Halwai is an average Indian - born in a village and raised and conditioned to be servant - this is his story - the story of entrepreneurship and breaking free, the story of how he transformed himself to become one among the entrepreneurs who made their life - the story of Truth about India, as Balram says.

 

The story unfolds in a series of letters, written to Chinese premier, and follows the path he took to reach where he is today. There are lot of remarks in the book which will leave behind an impression - "In the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days there are two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies." - like this.

 

Adiga have succeeded in capturing the outlook of the poor man about the ways of modern world and the quest of the poor to make it to the rich, and as a side story, he puts light on the true condition of the politics and business - a place where money and power talks.

 

The author paints the difference between the 'darkness' and the modern world - the entrepreneurs paradise, the call center heaven, the IT city - places like Gurgaon and Bangalore, and he have done it with remarkable effect.

 

There is no boardroom drama, there is no cut throat business competition, there is no glamorous world of fashion, pubs and high society, but there is a stark naked world of truth - a world where pot bellies are made and cash and shrewdness rules the roost.

 

Give it a try - I liked it.

Boca Grande

I love this place - it is as simple as that.

Boca Grande is situated almost diagonally opposite to Koramangala police station (bangalore), so near but away from the crowd. The place is kind of hidden from the view by the trees, and if you really don’t look for it, you may lose it easily.

Parking is not great, but passable, and there are by lanes if you find that there is no free space in front of BG.
The place is spacious and have lot of seating options - the simple task of deciding where to sit - do u want to sit outside, under the tree, or do you want to lounge on those sofas or do you want the wooden benches or do u want some nicely lit corners – it is as tough as choosing something to eat.

The service is nice - they don’t hover near your table or keep asking for orders - they serve you the food and let you continue in your world - the pin up "Don’t look at time, it comes free with the food" says all. (they have got lot of nice and interesting quotes on pin ups)

The selection of food is equally good and tasty - and for a change, vegetarians are not left behind for choices. The Chicken ceasar salad I ordered was nice and the garden salad my friend ordered didn’t disappoint at all. The chicken and mushroom soup was good, but not really impressive, but the potato wedges where quiet good and crispy, without being too much oily. They make some good pizzas, and the Chicken Cordon Blue and grilled chicken with saltimbocca were impressive. The Chocolate milk shake was thick ad creamy, but the litchi milkshake was a tad too sweet for our liking.

They have some awesome desserts and thick and creamy milk shakes and for chai lovers, they do have good verity.

The place is ideal for an unwind session with friends and they do have board games if you are in a mood for a group game. All in all, a place worth dropping in - if you are in and around Koramangala and need a place to while away some time, away from the rush, this can be your ticket.

Oh, and before I forgot, they have a designer dress boutique inside-Irah – some nice designs on display, and they do extensive customization.

thnx winnipoohie, for introducing me to this place.

Gato Negro Merlot

When friends deicide to catch up over a lazy evening, what is better than to have a bottle of nice wine to make the evening more appealing?

Couple of my friend decided to have a mid week break as the Wednesday was a holiday. Now, it have almost become norm among my friends to let me choose the wine and we paid a late visit to Madhuloka, our favorite liquor boutique on Tuesday evening.

After some hunting around, I decided to try 2006 vintage Gato Negro Merlot, a medium bodied wine from Chile.

Gato Negro is one of the oldest brands from Chili, produced at the San Pedro region. Chili does produce some exceptionally good wines, so I had no qualms picking it up from the aisle.

Shyam did the honors with the bottle (we did manage to misplace the wine opener this time, and luckily, I had my Swiss army knife and he used the cork screw of the knife to uncork the wine :P ) and I must tell you, the wine proved very good value for what we paid.

The wine is medium bodies, with a well rounded taste. The wine have a fruit forward taste, and is predominantly pleasant jammy in taste. I believe the grapes grown in Chili is less acidic, owing to the sunny days, and it sure helps the Merlot to retain a smooth, velvet like experience. The wine went well with thandoori chicken and cheese, but however, the channa masala spiced up with pepper was not exactly a good match. 

At 545 INR a bottle, the wine is not at all expensive, and I found it better than some pricier wines. The wine goes well with or without food, and is rich in flavor, but not overpowering. I won’t place it among the best out there, but it is one among the best entry level wine out there. If you fancy a easy on pocket, easy on palate merlot to make your evenings merry, this may be your ticket.

 Wine, friends, poetry and a cool night sky, what a combination.
(I miss you Reggy Mina, and you are remembered fondly)

Fire Wok - review

Last Saturday me and my fried decided to checkout the restaurant 'FireWok' at Polynation - the food court of Oasis mall, one of the new entrants into teh already crowded mall list of Bangalore.

First things first - Oasis is bang on Koramangala 80Ft road, and it is impossible to miss it - once you reach the mall, parking is easy - they have parking spaces at each floor, so if you want to head to food court directly, you don’t have to park your bike at basement or ground floor and have to catch a lift. We parked out bike on 2nd floor and decide to give do a quick check out @ lifestyle before heading to Polynation.

Polynation have some well knows outlets such as Madras Curry House, Yellow Chillies, Tandoor, Fire Wok, Cream&Fudge Factory, Doughnut bakers and Pizza corner. Our main aim was to try the Noodle bowl @ FireWok, so we headed straight there. The ambiance is ok, and tables near the glass wall give good view.

The concept of noodle bowl is - they have three varieties of noodles - Flat, regular and rice - you can take a bowl and pick you choice of noodles - u can mix them also - and then you can pick the vegetables you like from the vegetable counter – once you fill your bowl with noodles and vegetables, pass it to the chef, pick the spices you want from the list, and pick the sauce of your choices. If you want chicken, paneer or prawns, they will add it - and they will cook it the way you asked them.

I picked up rice noodles, spring onions, carrot, bean sprouts, mushroom, fungi, and an assortment of some other vegetables i didn’t much cared to identify, and asked the chef to add chicken, ginger, garlic and crushed black pepper, black pepper sauce and oyster sauce.

The service is fast, before we had time to decide whether we want to order starters or not, we got our main dish. The dish tasted more or less like I expected, but a l'll less on salt. It was not much oily, but then it was not exactly superb also. Priced at 135 a plate, the bowl is a good option if you are really hungry, but don’t go there expecting the authentic Chinese taste - it is more like commercialized Chinese taste.

Ps: after the lunch, we had ice creams from Cream&Fudge factory - they really do make superb ice creams... I tried a combination of one scoop cookie dough, one scoop caramel, macadamia nuts, gummy bears, chocolate sauce and caramel sauce - yeah, perfect recipe to forget all the calorie count, but take it from me, you will never regret the decision... :-D

Never let me go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Imagine sitting besides a pond still and deep, nestled in the middle of a tranquil landscape, with a gentle wind to give you company - this is almost what i felt when i was reading 'Never let me go' by Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel was more of a poem than a novel. The style so subtle and masterful, that it overpowers the substance at many places.

When you travel with students of Hailsham from the innocent dorm days to their last days, you get a feeling of an urge to explode, to run down the street screaming, to reclaim the personal life from what is to what it could have been. The novel is simple and deceptively sad, and a journey from hopelessness to more hopelessness...and when you encounter the breaking point at last, you feel an emptiness... an emotion which cant be described using words...

the relation between Kath, Tommy and Ruth is strong and deep and the effect of it in the story is like a tide, which strikes you with full force when Ruth passes away... the mental agony each one goes through, the state numbness which tides over Kath when she have to do anything but break the silence... I am at loss of words...

The book is not about science, it is not a science fiction... it merely uses a concept to weave an intricate story - a story so beautifully intricate that the concept (or medium? ) on which the story is build is reduced to nothing but a spectator...

Man, I fail so miserably when I try to describe this work. I should have known my limitations before I set out to write a review to this fantastic piece of novel with an intriguing poetic beauty.

Go and read this book if you are in mood for something stirring, something pulling the strings of your heart... and don’t try to analyze this book with reason or science - that will be the worst thing you can do to this work of art. Not recommended for time pass reading or perk up reading... it may even bog down you mood a bit...

Restaurant review - Kanua

I am a lazy guy generally, but if i set my heart on something, i don’t mind going that extra mile to get that. I have heard a lot about this place called Kanua, but have never gone there till last Saturday.
By noon I finished my work at office and called up my friend Jubi and said that we will go to Kanua. No particular reason - I just wanted to go there. Soon, we found ourselves eating the dust @ Sarjapur road, hunting for the place. The only thing I knew was the name of the place, so after some unsuccessful attempts, stopped at the nearest cafe and got the address from net - and ironically, the place was just two lanes from the cafe we stopped.

We reached the place, after wading through crater sized potholes and clouds of dust, and what welcomed us was an industrial warehouse. I really got confused for a moment, but then the watchman came to my help and told me that the restaurant is on the top floor.

The restaurant is on top floor of a three storied building and is sports an antique but spartan theme. The walls are only half height, so if you are lucky and you manage to get a side seat, cool fresh wind will keep you company.
We where really lucky that we got one of the most comfortable seats - and even before we tasted any of the food, we both liked the place - roomy, airy and not at all stuffed.

The menu is authentic mangalorian and they don’t use artificial colors and chemicals. You get to taste lot of old and authentic dishes here which are tough to find at most of the places and let me tell you - it is not at all easy to decide what to feast on.
We helped ourselves with Soorna Kachri (sliced yam fries, with tangy tamarind chutney dip) and I got an excellent glass of sugar cane juice - with hints of ginger and lime, it is undoubtly one of the best I have ever had - though I cannot say the same for the lime juice my friend picked up.
It was time to order the main course, and after much pondering over the menu, we settled for Soorna Paachi ( yam cubes in medium spice gravy) and Zalke Randhei (excellent seer fish in a semi thick gravy). Though the menu says Soorna Paachi is a 'mouth watering, eye watering' dish, we found it more moth watering than eye watering. When you order a main curry, you can choose from Rice, Panpole, Tava roti or a preperation of rice balls (sorry guys, i forgot the name - time to upgrade my RAM, i think) to compliment the curry.
Panpole is fluffy soft pancakes made of rice, and it was our unanimous choice. The curries arrived without much delay, and was a treat. The fish was fresh, with good texture and the yam curry was a treat on the taste buds. The portions are large, and we had difficult in finishing them and eventually ended up getting more than half of the yam curry parceled.

The place is a bit out of the way, and is a bit hard to find. The ambience is good and the seats ranges from good to excellent, depending on the place you get to sit. The food is excellent - the best mangalorian cuisine i have tasted in Bangalore - and the food makes up for more than the drive you have to take to reach the place. Must visit - if you like mangalorian cuisine. Will I visit the place again? I already visited the place again on Sunday with more friends, and they all enjoyed it. :-D

Kanua
Near Wipro Headquarters
Kaikondanahally
Sarjapur Road
PH: 65374471
(Advanced booking needed if you plan to catch up on Friday, Saturday or Sunday dinner)

Witch of Portobello - a review

Finished reading witch of Portobello last Saturday.
My first impression - It is different. The book is different, and really didn’t left me with the feeling usually associated with books of Coelho, but if you discount that fact, this is a fantastic book. I have heard some of my friends saying that this book didn’t measure up to the usual Coelho standard, and I have only one thing to tell them – read it with a clear mind, not with a prejudiced mind, and you will enjoy it.

I like the way the narration goes - no dialogues, no letter, not even a straightforward narrative; but a series of first person accounts - like a collection of beautiful beads connect by a carefully woven silken thread. Only by the end of the book we realize the existence of a narrator, who decides to let unfold the rather unusual story of a rather unusual heroin - Athena, through events, impressions and memories of people who knew her. These showcases more than one Athena - each person paints a picture different from the other one, and we readers are left with liberty to paint the picture with the help of our own imagination.

Read it, for it is a different experience. And don’t read it with expectations or prejudices - open the book with a clean mind, and you will be rewarded.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A story of family, friendship, fate and endurance - a chronicle of almost 30 years of Afghanistan,a peep into the life and sufferings of common women and above all, the craft of fine art of storytelling - The thousand splendid suns is fantastic.

Khalid Hossaini is a master of story telling. Once you start reading the book, it is very tough to put it down - the story just flows, like a small stream through a serene meadow. The book revels the transformation of Afghanistan from the cradle of art to the grave of human emotions, and offers us an insider’s view of the state of affixers of women of Afghanistan.
The book revolves around the life of Laila and Marium - two fine women from different roots, and their struggle for survival, and the journey of their life through marriage, domestic violence, foreign invasions, famine and the enduring bond of friendship, love and affection. If you like finely crafted stories, give this book a try. You wont be disappointed.

Barbeque nation @ Koramangala

I have been to Barbeque nation at Indiranagar, and i quite love the experience. So, when they opened done of their branch at Koramangala, which is near to my office, i was all eager to try it out. So, yesterday we all - a team of 6 - went to have a barbeque dinner.

I called early to book a table and after making the booking, when i reached the place, there was no mention of my booking. But they promptly gave us a table, so, though it was a small hiccup, full marks for giving us a table promptly.

Food fare is quite the same, four vegetarian skewers and four non vegetarian skewers, and some thandoori verities. The mushroom tasted a bit different than what they server at Indiranagar, but other than that, all the dishes tasted consistently good. The lamb sheek kebab was a bit dry, but rest of the palate was fine.
I had a glass of Sula reserve with the starters - it is high time they start serving some imported good wines. Not that Sula is not good - make no mistake, Sula reserve is one of the finest reserve you can buy in India, made by an Indian winery, but I would like to see a bit more choices.

After feasting on the starters, we where not in mood for the buffet - but the spread was good nonetheless. I had a bit of fish in lemon and butter with soem breads, and it tasted good.
The Gulab Jamuns was really wonderful, and same with the burgundy caramel. By the time we finished the dinner, I was barely able to walk back to my bike. A very filling experience indeed.

The staffs are really courteous, and makes sure your grill never stays empty. The live band was nice, they did some good numbers (and one of them - my favorite - who the fu*k is Alice). If you are looking for good grills plus a good dining experience, head out to Barbeque nation, but make sure you call up and book you table in advance.

Goal...

I was thinking about watching this movie for long time, and at last, when I got some free time yesterday, i decided to watch it.

For those who want the short version of review - if you like football, or if you like Johnny boy, go and watch it. it is worth a watch.

Now the long version:
Goal is not Chak de. In my opinion, comparing Goal and Chak de is like comparing oranges and apples coz both are grown on trees. The only element they both share is the sport. Goal is a good movie in itz own regard.
The story is kind of ok, and sometimes, predictable. But that doesn’t make this movie boring. What glued me to the screen is the technical expertise with which the football matches are choreographed. It can’t get real that this - you will never feel that you are watching a made up match, and we really feel the thrill of watching the match. The scene at the locker room – where the coach shows them the posters and the mirror, man, I like it.

I like two songs - the dhan dhana dhan goal (the scene where all the players sing this before starting the match is just awesome - you feel the spirit when you watch the scene) and Ishq Ka Kalma. Billo rani is okeyish - no great shakes.

Watch it, for the movie it is. Chak de used sports to portray patriotism; Goal used patriotism to portray spirit of football. I am glad to see movies based on sports - a change from teh run-of-the-mill love stories and thrillers.

Goal gets a 3.5 out of 5 rating from me. (And if anybody is wondering which is my favorite - chakde or goal; it is Goal without doubt)

Review - Chateau Indage Figueira

Chateau Indage, one of the largest wine makes in India launched a premium port wine - Figueira, lately and I picked it up last day, with a packet of roasted peanuts from Foodworld.

Though I love wines, I have not tasted much port wines, and so, I was a little skeptical of the taste and pairing, and since port is considered as a dessert wine, decided to have it with roasted spicy peanuts.

Figueira is a ruby port, produced from the grapes from the Sahyadri Valley in the Chateau Indage vineyards. Some other famous wines from the same valley are Chantilli, Riviera, Joie' and Vin Ballet - just to give a rough idea about the quality of grapes.

The color is ruby red, and the aroma is quite strong. The wine packs 18% alcohol, and is quite strong. The first sip gives a nice burning feeling, quite unlike the other wines. The wine tastes smooth and not overly sweet, and leaves a nice after taste.
If i have to pick up port, I will definitely choose Figueira over the other cheap, sweet ports.

And oh, the Peanuts’ went well with the wine.

Curry Spice - Restaurant review

Yesterday my plan was to meet a friend after office, but it didn’t materialize -
and i was not in a mood to go home and pass a quite evening. So i went to see
Sooraj and hanged around with him till 9.30 at his shop. After closing down, we
both went to checkout Curry Spice.
Curry Spice is situated at Indiranagar 80FT road, and looks like a rundown or
not-so-well-kept place from outside. Don’t let it fool you - what wait you
inside is one of the best fare I have ever had in Bangalore.
The interior is cozy, and main stage is taken by two huge LCD screens playing
sports - something you wont expect in a place like this. The service is prompt,
and with every drink you order, you get a complimentary plate of snacks on the
house.

On Sooraj's recommendation I tried stuffed mushroom tikka - they where just awesome. Soft, supple mushrooms filled with a bit of fiery green chutney filling. For main course, we settled for a bread basket of assorted breads and paneer tikka masala. When the food came, we where immersed in some serious discussion, but when i put the first bite in my mouth, i suddenly stopped talking - the paneer tikka was that good. Right amount of spice, a slight sweet after taste and soft and juice paneer done to the right extent - I can say with confidence that it is one of the best vegetarian food i have ever tasted in
Bangalore. A dine out at curry spice for two will set you back by around 350 - 400 with out drinks. I find the wine and breezer priced slightly high, and not sure about the other drinks. They offer a verity of cocktails and mock tails, but again, I didn’t try any of them - so, i cannot tell you how they fare. But if I can go by the food they offer, there bar wont let you down.
Spotting the hotel is easy - it is bang on the 80 Ft road, just above theMaruthi driving school and parking space won’t be much of a problem.
My rating - 7.5/10 - I will keep visiting the place again.