Yes that is what i decided to become one, even if that meant I ran the risk of putting in a few extra pounds :) and I was sure of becoming poorer by a few thousand Rupees :D.
The reason being that, its been a long time since I have given myself the permission to enjoy and I just wanted to get away from this maddening crowd who speak about "Recession" and predict "doom" on a daily basis.
Now that I decided to let myself loose for a week, I now had to decide the cuisines on which I was going to feast upon. This was a much more difficult task than giving myself the permission to enjoy as my love for food cannot be put in words and hence the selection process always is mighty difficult.
After much deliberation and a lot of pain I made the final list. I was going to go for Lebanese, Mexican, Japanese and Italian
So how did it go?
Started off with Lebanese, which is very very close to my heart. It was the first foreign cuisine which I tried and i cannot forever forget the experience of munching on Falafels and loads of Humus. So it was a very emotional feeling when i stepped into the restaurant which although claiming to be Mediterranean, is in my opinion more Lebanese than Mediterranean. For all those foodies out there you can look at Chicken Sharwams, Grilled Chicken Wings (as opposed to the usual Batter Fried Wings) , Grilled Fish, all with Pita Breads , Falafels n Humus, apart from the Lambs and Tunas. I went for the Grilled Fish along with a Tuna Salad and a Herbal Tea.
If Lebanese has Pitas, then Mexican has its own Tortillas and if Lebanese has hot Sauce, Mexican has Salsa ( in various flavors) and if Lebanese has Cream, Mexican has Cream + Cheese. No am not rating any of the cuisines for I love all of them, but I am tryin to showcase some of the similarities which I have noticed across some of these cuisines. I personally went for Seer Fish grilled in Barbecue Sauce with Rice and Chicken Soup ( for my Soul :D ) along with Lime Margarita. In case if you are venturing out for the first time, make sure u don't miss out on the Burritos, Fajitas and the Quesedillas.
Pizzas and Pastas have become so so famous and popular throughout the world, which leaves hardly anything on the table for me to add, but I would sincerely suggest people to look at Italian restaurants as opposed to the restaurants which sells Pastas n Pizzas along with "N" other dishes belonging to "M" odd cuisines. The reason being the authenticity can only then be appreciated. My personal favorites Include Lasagna with Sea Food ( I must confess here that I m a huge fan of Sea Food :D ).
Finally to Japanese, which is markedly different from any of the aforementioned cuisines. The sight of a Sushi with a Raw Halibut or Raw Tuna could even put off some of the hard core foodies. (Andy Murray who now is a fan of Sushi was so apprehensive of it in the beginning). The best thing would be to get the mind rid of any "Blocks" and "Prejudices" and to get there with an Open Mindset. Once you get there with that mindset then it becomes that much more easy for you. The Saashimi and the Sushi will then taste nothing but delicious. I personally went for the Sushi with Saashimi( Halibut, Tunas, Shrimps ) and Miso Udon ( Udon is Japanese for Noodles ) with Shrimps in it. Dont forget the Tempuras if you are interested in fried items.
The journey has ended and now it is time for me to tighten my belt( literally I would say) and to shed off those extra pounds. It is a sad thing that I cannot afford all this on a daily basis, even the low fat versions of them ( low fat versions are in fact costlier). Either I need to earn huge to make this affordable or I need to get hold of a girl who is an expert Cook :) .
P.S: This is one blog which you can check out as it contains some highly valuable information for you. http://yummyrecipies.blogspot.com/. Readers are welcome to share their personal experiences here :D .
Stripes are back in Fashion: Stripes which were previously considered as a design favored by people who were mentally disturbed are now back in Vogue. British designers are busy designing dresses with stripes says a news Item.
Well, believe that Stripes are going to remain in Vogue for at least a couple more years :) , any second opinions ???
Equity Markets bleeding, Commodities tanking, Inflation rising and grimness prevailing might be the situation outside, but step into my room and the atmosphere is of sheer joy, thanks to my wonderful room mate. U might ask me whats so special about him? I must say that he is one of the finest story tellers that i have ever met.
I am really feeling bad for not having met him when i was a kid for it would have been really entertaining then. OK, no more making u wait, here we go, i am listing the gems.
It was a bore and dull evening until my room mate decided to change that with his wonderful story, It was about his story at London Airport, He started off by saying that London Airport is really big and since i have not seen London Airport i did not do anything but to acknowledge it, and then he went on saying that, with 200 terminals it is so huge, I was now shocked, however big an airport might be 200 was a colossal number, but still did not say anything and quietly heard through the rest of the story. Part-2 of this incident was even more funny, he narrated the same story to another set of people the next day and all of a sudden the terminals count became 300.!!!!!!!!!!!. I was dumbfounded, How could construction happen so quickly??? well then i checked it out and it seems that now Heathrow has only 5 terminals,
Surely my room mate cannot be wrong,they must have closed the rest down :)
Second one was when my room mate gave me the most amazing explanation ever given for the rise of USD(US Dollar) against the INR (Indian Rupee). I was having my dinner when he came in and asked me " Did U watch Bill Clinton's speech?", I replied "NO", then he went on and said " It was a great speech and with this Wonderful speech, Clinton has brought an end to the political Instability prevailing in the US and because of that the USD has started to rise".
Never I knew that US was in Political instability" nor did i knew before that " The speech of an Ex-President in support of his party candidate was good enough to move the currency of a nation against other currencies".
Third one was when he enlightened me about how Human Body works. "People moving from Tropical Countries to America and other cold countries can withstand the first winter easily its only from the second winter that these people will start to feel tough" Before i could ask "Why" he came up with the explanation, its because our blood will be hot and hence we wont feel the cold during the first year, but over a period of time it becomes cold and hence we start to feel the chillness from the second year onwards.
I drew a blank face and i did not know how to respond to this. I somehow managed to ask him, Who told this ?, Pat came the reply " A Doctor" but please do not ask me the name of the doctor, for he never revealed that to me " :)
Now don't these incidents justify the title??
I became a victim of my temptation today.I decided to go to sleep yesterday after Watson's dismissal thinking that the Mumbai Indians will win the game easily. Today morning when i woke up it was again proved that it is a game of Glorious Uncertainties.
I now got tempted to watch the Highlights show and in hindsight it was me succumbing to the temptation which cost me dearly in the end. The highlights got over by 8.30 and it was time for me to start to work.
I had to now take a bus as the train which goes to my place had already gone and it will take an hour for the next one to come.
I walked to the Bus Stand and to my surprise there were no buses for my place. So my begging session started. I started to beg the conductors of the express buses which do not stop at my place to make an unscheduled stop. Finally it did pay off as well as one conductor agreed. Aah i was happy and boarded it immediately( although the cost of the ticket was almost twice the normal cost).
The bus was a video coach and the moment i boarded it i looked up to the TV to check what was the movie being played. Oh My God :( they were playing a Vijay movie. The bigger shock was that the movie was "Thirupachi" directed by a director whose upper chamber is empty.
Now i was cursing myself for having watched the highlights show. Consoling myself, i decided to watch the movie as the journey would take more than 30 mins. And I did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Scene after Scene with not even a grain of common sense. Horrible acting(??) or to say the least by the lead characters with the Hero hogging the limelight. Background music which reminded me of a marriage function and of course stunts which made a mockery of Gravity.
If u r wondering whether i am saying this out of bias, well here is a sample.
The hero comes out of a house in disguise, well dont imagine too much.He simply applies sandal all over his face like a lady who is undergoing a facial and bashes the sidekicks of the villian without getting even a single punch. And then comes the most comical part he pierces a lemon with a sickle and then says that it is God's action and not his. I just could not tolerate any more and luckily and thankfully i had reached my destination.
As i was walking to the office i thought of a genre to slot this movie and i came up with the Term "Torture Comedy" a variation of "Tragic Comedy" invented by Shakespeare.
Train travel is always a great experience by itself. Put in a few college students preparing for their exams in the same compartment as you, Voila!!! You have got the recipe for the best journey. I was privileged enough to travel with a few such fellows today and i went down the nostalgic lane
//I started to think about my own preparation and wow i could not control my laughter(Mind you, i was never laughing during that time.)
This was how my preparation used to go
Advice to Myself: "Gower, dear Past is Past. So don't worry about this one. Plan your next one properly. So how many days you have for the next one?? 4 days. Oh thts gud. So you have enough time to prepare. GREAT. Start preparing from today evening"
Clash within me:Tht day evening will see a terrific clash within me with the prosecution and the defense putting forward their arguments.
Prosecution " Go ahead start preparing"
Defense" Dont worry man you have 4 days to go. So we can start tomoro"
And the case ends with me awarding the case in favor of the defense
Brisk Start: The next will start briskly with me starting off briskly with the briskness lasting for about an hour
Dull Phase: This is the phase in which i would be for most of my holidays,Oops Study leave. This phase would follow the brisk start and extend till the day rather night before the day of the exam. This phase would be punctuated by calling friends( who always used to be better prepared than me) and sleeping for a good amount of time.
Desperate Phase:The most exciting phase in which i used to flip pages at the Rate of Knots and still would have not completed the 5 units. This would also involve me seeking KT(Knowledge Transition) from my friend during our bike Journey to the college.
Climax: This would have me thinking like Einstein to frame the answers for the questions which i don't know( Most of them will fall into this category)
Then i would come out thinking that this should not happen again. But then the Lazy man inside me is the most powerful as well so The same cycle will repeat itself.//
Coming to these students they were no different from me. Well, I said to myself "Students will be Students"
IPL has been an average fare at best. So what about the commentators?? . Lets look at each one of them Individually
Greg Chappell: The most boring of the lot. Does not commit too many mistakes and most of the times is very frank with his opinions and correct with his analysis. No wonder he could not sustain as the Indian Coach.
Verdict: Take him out and replace him with Sidhu to boost up the entertainment.
Tony Cozier: Again someone who is not too entertaining. An average entertainer at best Tony Cozier has failed to spice up the event with his commentary.
Verdict: Can be dispensed with and replaced by "Venkatesh Prasad"( who i guess will receive the marching orders sooner or later)
Robin Jackman, Rameez Raja and L Sivaramakrishnan: Passable is the best word which best describes their performance as a commentators.
Verdict: Can be dispensed with
Ian Bishop: The "Professor Commentator" is fit only for the longer versions of this game and does not fit the bill for T20s.
Verdict:Send the professor back home.
Ravi Shastri: Wonderful entertainer. Whether it comes to wooing the crowd by speaking in the local language at the toss or speaking about the Cheerleaders he is excellent. Not to forget his loyalty, which he expresses by praising Lalit Modi at least 10 times in a game and keeps on asking the players about how it is to share the dressing room( Going by these commentators,I guess IPL is more about sharing dressing rooms)
Verdict:Get him some incentives
Sunil Gavaskar:Loyalty thy name is Sunil Gavaskar is the feeling one gets. "Well there is Lalit Modi", " Here is lalit modi", "Lalit Modi enjoying the action", "SRK is happy" and he speaks some cricket too in between.
Verdict: Bonus Candidate
Aamir Sohail: "Husky voice and Loads of Nonsense(read as entertainment)" captures Aamir Sohail. One example for that:" Wasim Jaffer holds the key for Bangalore"
Verdict: Bring on more such people. We want entertainment
Ranjit Fernando: Keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats by not completing the sentences at all. His way of structuring a sentence is "Start, pause, Start, Pause, End "
Verdict: Go Ranjit Go, Keep Going
Pommie Mbwanga: If he were a radio commentator then the listeners would be made to think that playing cricket leads to Hypertension.So excited he gets. I dont blame him. I guess his pay packet is linked to his ability to keep viewers engaged even when there are no contests, for which he goes crazy over trivial things. A loyal IPL servant.
Verdict: If he develops some of Aamir Sohail's trait or Arun Lal's to be more precise then it will be great.
Arun Lal: Undoubtedly the best of the lot. Seems to me like there is no limit to the humor which he can provide. It does call for an ability to keep uttering nonsense stuff and carrying off without improving at all. Arun has it in plenty. I wont quote a lot of them for then the length will become too much. All i will give is one statement made by this gr8 commentator.
(One of my friend gave the beginning of a story and asked the readers to complete it. Well i will be slightly different. I will give a sentence. Now you have to tell me the meaning of that , If u can)
"The bat speed on that occasion proving to be disastrous"
Verdict: 3 OR 4 more Arun Lals will make IPL a very entertaining watch for the TV audience.
The above list is based on the entertainment quotient alone. Sensibility and understanding of the game are not considered as the game itself is designed for Entertainment.
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