Way to Valentine’s..

Although it is not in any way an Indian festival, but Valentine’s Day has managed to create a buzz of it’s own among the youth of the country for quite some years now..

Now, Indore is the food capital of India so what comes to one’s mind is set a fancy meal and be done with it (frankly you’d hardly find anything else that can be done here, it’s all about food).. But that you can also arrange for any normal day of the week… So how to make Valentine’s Day memorable… hmm..

Here I have 8 steps to make your Valentine’s Day special or any other day as special as Valentine’s Day..

(Since I’d expect my Valentine to do this it might seem like the steps only for a boy to carry out; but it isn’t so.. Any girl can do it for her boyfriend too <I just might :D>)

 

1. Flowers

Source: Google

Start off the day with an aroma of joy. Pick up your date and present her with a beautiful bouquet of roses or any flowers that she likes. Now, you can just take them along with you when you go or have them delivered to your Valentine’s address (If that’s ok by her family that is)… There’s places like “Flowers and petals” that take online or telephonic orders and then you can send along these flowers and a little card with a heart-felt message and that would give you a jump start.. Waking up to something as pure and pleasant as flowers definitely would make her feel special.

 

2. Breakfast

Source: Google

Ah! Indore.. Food.. Poha.. Jalebi.. Sev.. All these are the words that come to your mind as soon as the word breakfast comes in front of you. But why just this; get special breakfast set up for your Valentine. Set it in a garden somewhere or take her to a roof top and make a special meal just for her. If not that just go for the usual. Take her to Chappan for poha and jalebi or a Jain Mithai Bhandar outlet or an Apna Sweets outlet somewhere. Nothing beats the classics. But don’t just stop there make that breakfast special do something special with that plate of poha. Use your creativity and make a special topping of sev or some such thing. Make her feel special.

 

3. Movie / Shopping

Source: Google

After a good plateful of breakfast next go to a Mall. Personally, I find Malhar Mega Mall or C21 Mall to be the best because you get almost everything you want there. You’ll find the best of food and the best of shopping and just about everything. Since it’s Valentine’s Day, NO is a taboo word so if your Valentine wants to go shopping or watch a movie you’ll have to just say YES and participate with enthusiasm in whatever it is that she chooses. So go to a multiplex for a romantic movie that has been recently released or even better download her favorite romantic movie and watch it on your laptop or television in the privacy of your home and spend quality time together.

 

4. Lunch

Source: Google

So, after a good cuddly movie session you’d probably be hungry and that breakfast would seem to have happened ages ago. Now, if you are at the mall, you wouldn’t have to struggle to find a place to eat. You’ll have a Domino’s or 10Downing Street that has an amazing ambiance and great music and amazing food or Chawla’s for a good Ala Carte menu lunch with the wonderful flavors of north. But if you’ve to head someplace for lunch I’d suggest you better make prior reservations at your or your Valentine’s preferred restaurant be it Vidorra or Café Mocha or Sayaji or Radisson or Café Terezza or MARS Café and here at MARS Café you can get a customized decoration done for your Valentine and surprise them further.

 

5. Recreation

Source: Google

An excess of anything is always harmful, even if it is love. So take a break and do something recreational. Either you can go to a spa and get couple massages or play something. Personally’ I’d rather play because it’s just more relaxing and let’s out the energy and makes you feel good. So I’d rather you go for bowling someplace or a game zone and set yourself free to those video games and other games like Air Hockey or Foosball. Anything that both of you can play and have a fun time. Let your inner child out.

 

6. Drive

Source: Google

After a games session where you might have gotten a little competitive it’s essential that you spend some time with each other and let them know how much you love them and what better than a long drive to do that. One of the best things about Indore is that you can take your Valentine for a long drive either on a 2-wheeler or in a 4-wheeler, the city is just the right size for that. So, if you have a car and are heading to the highway for a long drive you might just want to make a stop at Tinkus or Lotus Hut or Mukki or a Café Coffee Day outlet and get a cold coffee or juice in a to-go cup and you are good to go. Go for a long drive towards Dewas or Ujjain or Mhow or the amazingly lit Super Corridor. The roads in the evening just look breathtaking under those lights.

 

7. Dinner

Source: Google

After a romantic long drive make it perfect with an amazing dinner. With this cool weather I’d suggest a rooftop candle-light dinner either Mediterra (Sayaji) or Nihao (Radisson) or Stars n Sky (Hotel Infinity) or Red Maple Mashal. But if you’d prefer to sit indoors you can try out Hotel Waterlilly or Sheesha Sky Lounge or Hotel Shreemaya or Indiya Oye (Radisson) or Mainland China and there’s just too many more to mention. But you’ve got a faint idea of what type of places should you visit with your Valentine for a dinner date. But since its Valentine’s Day I’d keep reminding you to make prior reservations and then be on time for dinner otherwise you might just end up with cancelled reservations or wait for a long time before you are escorted to your table.

 

8. Desserts

Source: Google

Now the end is the most important part of anything. You must, must have a happy ending. That’s very important. So, to seal the deal, you have to have a perfect sweet finish to all that you planned and did all day long. Either you have signature desserts at the same restaurant where you had your dinner or go to an ice cream parlor like a Top n Town outlet or a Baskin Robins outlet or Mhow Kulfi for a mango kulfi or Cakes n Craft or BakeWell for pastries which are absolutely drool-worthy.

 

Then like a gentleman drop your date home safely and before heading home make small talk, an abrupt end to the evening might just ruin it all. And just like that ends another wonderful day full of love, laughter and happiness. All you need is to spend time with the one you love and then there’s nothing left to do.

Newtons 3rd Law & Absolutely Everything ….

Most popular of the laws of physics and the most easily understood by all is Newton’s 3rd Law which states “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction” . But this is true in each and every area of life.. From people to food to language to grammar; this statement is just so true..

Take food for instance. Say you like to eat Manchurian or Chilly Paneer you’ll get that both with or without gravy. Coffee or Tea, the most sought after drinks, are loved equally whether it is served hot or cold.. If it is put in the Menu Card then somebody did demand for it! May be the same person asked for the opposites or two different people having completely  opposite choices.

Same is true with the language and grammar that we use every single day.Be it any sort of language; English/ Hindi/ Marathi or even the programming language.. You find an ‘equal & opposite’ scenario there as well. If you have words to compliment or praise somebody, then we also have words to abuse or insult as well. If you have a certain code to create a computer program, then there’s also one to hack another or the same program.. Take proverbs for instance, we have equal and opposite proverbs everywhere. One of the most widely used proverbs is “Actions speak louder than words” but it’s opposite proverb being “Pen is mightier than the sword” . Both proverbs have completely opposite meanings, first one suggests that just saying does not help you must put your words to action; while the latter clearly asks one to keep their cool and let their words do the talking.. Totally opposite but both so true. Another such example is

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” vs “Seeing is believing” 

OR

“Practice makes a man perfect” vs “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”

OR

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder” vs “Out of sight, out of mind”

Our language is filled with so many such equal and opposite pairs, think of one and you will come up with the opposite.

Similarly we too are surrounded by people who are totally opposite from one another but might be equally important. Be it two friends or you and somebody you are in a relationship with. One of your friends might be a pure vegetarian or a vegan and the other a hard-core non-vegetarian. Do you ever think about choosing one over the other just because of that?! One of your friends likes the quiet life whereas the other is a party animal.. So what! One is a professional singer and the other one is tone-deaf.. One acts silly and naive irrespective of how old they are and the other one mature and sensible even if they are the youngest member of you group.. We all know such people and such people tend to get along with each other really well.

They say Opposites Attract and this might be true to a large extent. One does fall for someone who is not very much like themselves.. In a relationship, usually, the couple is that of a male and female; opposite gender; equally important. Every person does know somebody who is completely opposite from what they are like and still share a happy relationship with them. One always wants to be challenged in one way or another and there comes the role and the importance of the opposites. This is probably the reason why they say opposites attract, even in love, one finds the need to be challenged all the time or it just becomes a dull and boring responsibility.

Whichever area of life you think about, you will find a pair of opposites and realize how important they are for each other.. Like J.K Rowling put it in her very famous novel – “Neither can live while the other survives” – This is exactly true for opposites just like Newton’s 3rd Law is true for everything..

Food Connoisseurs Luncheon

The most awaited day for the 15 bloggers whose names were announced via Instagram, making them a social buzz all around the city, was organized on December 20, 2015. The spectacular idea of conducting a bloggers meet was so fresh that it created a buzz all over the city almost immediately and the idea of such an event was the brain child of one of the most creative and one of the most popular youngsters of Indore, Mr. Rakesh Dawani.

So, this day started off as quite a normal day until it was lunch time. So we start at Vidorra, one of the finest roof-top restaurants to dine-in in the city. The weather could not have been better than this for such an occasion. Although it is so chilly around these days, it was a nice, warm, sunny afternoon. What more could you have asked for with such an event just about to unveil the best of what it had in store for us. Us, the privileged bloggers of the city (at least that’s what we’d like to believe…)

Since everyone was meeting each other for the first time, we started off by introducing ourselves. Although we knew all the names, we were now able to match the names with their respective faces. And also acknowledge certain new faces. One and the most prominent of all the faces was Chef Lucky. Chef Lucky owns a joint called “Paratha on Wheels”, which is one of the most talked about place of the city, especially known for its experiments with fusion of various dishes. We were not quite certain about why Chef Lucky of all the chefs of the city was invited but towards the end we were really glad he was there with us. Then after a brief introduction with one another, we went and seated ourselves at the table. The seating arrangement was perfect. A U-table arrangement made it really convenient for the staff to move around and serve everybody, we could interact with each other without much trouble and we could also see and interact with Chef Lucky as he went on educating us about the variety in food and its origin.

Now, we were supposed to start with the soup course but us non-vegetarians were served with “Fish Kebabs”, something that was said to work up our appetite. Then we were served with “Chicken Coriander Thick Soup” which had shredded chicken with coriander leaves to add to the flavor. Soups are always a delight in the cold days and when you have this much chicken to chew upon, it’s ever so good. The vegetarian course had
“Sop Malay Veg Soup”, which I did not eat, but looked like a real treat with all those vegetables and noodles mixed perfectly in the bowl.

Then we went on to eat salads. Healthy as salads are, if they are as warm, fresh and delicious as they were, the nutritional values would hardly be my concern. We had the “Chicken Chinese Salad” with shredded chicken pieces and lots of colorful bell peppers and other vegetables that gave it a wonderful look. Little spicy, but then what’s life without some spicy or in this case salad. We also had “Mushroom-Broccoli & Lettuce” salad as straight forward as the name suggests just plain regular salad to go with your other salads. Then another treat to the eye was the “Cottage Cheese and Pineapple Salad” looking like an iceberg and so refreshing to taste. And in the non vegetarian warm salad, we had the “Chicken Pate Salad”, wonderfully presented in the dish; it was a warm paste of minced chicken in cabbage wrapping. Yummy as it sounds…

Then from the Salad bar we proceeded to the vegetarian and the non-vegetarian starters. It was a variety of cuisines and so much to eat that it blew our minds away. There we had the usual stuff we eat, like the starters from Tandoor, we had the Falafel and a variety of cottage cheese starters. Amongst the variety of non-vegetarian starters we had Egg, Chicken, Fish and Mutton starters. Amongst the many that we were served, “Goong Phad Kapparo” which was a particular type of prawns was just amazing. Prawns are not quite easily found in every restaurant in Indore but they are always a treat for someone who loves seafood, and those which we were served were no less. Another starter that I think requires a special mention is something called “Mutton ka Panjaa”. Although the name is not exactly what one would want to hear, but once you have it in your plate, it neither looked like a Panjaa nor gave you second thoughts about eating it. Mutton ka Panjaa does not need many adjectives, it was absolutely flawless. Cooked just the right amount, served with the right amount of gravy, perfect blend of spices; there could not have been anything wrong with that dish.

After having about 19 dishes, we most definitely needed a little break from all the food and drink and the ever so tempting aroma all around us. So we got away from all of it for one long session of getting clicked. There were just flashes and props and boards all around and the warm breeze set the mood right. We had pictures clicked in groups, with the chefs and also everybody had their photos clicked separately with Mr. Dawani. The photo session was a nice little break (and by little I mean an hour long) from the food that we’d been eating for the last 2hours or so. After the photo session we go back, ready to dig in the delicious courses to be presented before us but we have a little surprise waiting for us. We were offered a variety of Mocktails, with their different colors and glasses and those cutely cut lemons and cherries on the rim, they were so irresistible. We had soda-based mocktails, ice-cream based mocktails and also the juice-based mocktails. They were all just to refreshing and delicious.

Then we finally started with the main course. Main Course comprised of gravy, staple and the bread basket. Thank god we did not have a lot of variety in the main course. Had it been a lot, all of us would’ve probably fallen sick because of over-eating. So, in the gravy, we had 3vegetarian and 2non-vegetarian gravies. Out of the two non-vegetarian gravies, which were “Mutton Bhutti ka Neelgiri” and “Shaoxing Wine Chicken”, I liked the wine chicken better. Maybe the cashew nuts gave it a better taste and look, but I cannot belittle the Mutton gravy. The green gravy too was so good and with perfectly cooked Mutton, it tasted even better. And as for the vegetarian gravies, I did not eat much but the Paneer looked really mouth-watering. Then we also had the staple which had “Nasi Goreng Istemwa” which were coconut flavored chicken rice. This one belonged to the Indonesian cuisine, whereas the other one, “Shitake Mushroom and Leek Noodles” were from the Chinese cuisine. These noodles had a little burnt taste about them but that did not make them taste bad at all. In fact, it gave it a nice, different flavor.

Finally, we attacked, with whatever little strength and empty space in our stomachs was left, on the desserts.

There were two of them. First we had “Hot Chocolate Rolls with Vanilla Ice-cream”, these rolls because of being warm were not as crispy but nowhere less in taste. It was not as deadly a combination of hot and cold but still pretty good. And then, we had “Coconut Pancakes” I had never had a dessert as perfect as these pancakes ever, before that Sunday afternoon. There are not words that would be sufficient to describe how much I loved that dessert but all I can tell you is, after having all that food all afternoon, I asked for a second serving of the pancakes. If that does not tell you how much I enjoyed those pancakes, I don’t know what would. Then when we thought that it was all over, along came another little surprise, “Paan Shots”. Plain old Paan that people usually eat after a mean we drank it. It was another wonderful surprise.

 

With that we concluded a successful food blogger’s meet, conducted of the very first time in Indore. Meeting new people, from different walks of life, brought together by their love for food and the love for writing; it most definitely was a once in a lifetime experience. All I’d say is that it was a fun, food-filled experience.

Always keep a check..!

There is only one person who is responsible for everything that happens to you or around you; no matter good or bad. it is YOU. Anything you feel or experience is a result of a certain past choice/ emotion/ fear. You always take credit of anything good happening to you; so be brave enough to take 100% responsibility for anything  that is, say, not so very good…

You don’t quite easily rely on just anybody to get through with your important things, right? You would just not give a cheque to anybody you just know to deposit in the bank or leave it lying around on your desk. You tend to keep it safe with yourself. Similarly, you just cannot rely on others for the little things.

“You know, it’s the little things that matter ” is what we’ve all heard at least a thousand times (some of us would have said it a  thousand of time… :p). But well, it is true. It is the little things that matter the most & are equally important. If you are the CEO of a certain organization then nobody would expect you to go and purchase the stationery or go for furniture shopping. But as the CEO the least you can do is check whether these things got done on time. After all it they will create a part of your impression as well. So you need to check if things are in order. Keep a regular check on the things that concern you, only then can you correct anything that might be wrong and rid yourself of any future harm.

A check does not always mean that you have to be the boss of somebody, at home if maybe you asked your mom or your wife to cook you favorite meal; then the most you can do is ask whether every required ingredient is available or not. This would basically serve two purposes- A) Your mom/ wife would be really happy that you tried to help. B) You’d most definitely get to eat what you wanted to..

So, take some time out of that busy schedule of yours and check on the things that concern you because only YOU would be affected by it’s being or maybe it’s not being…

You See, she really likes you!

It was the Spring of 2012, She was a regular college girl, doing what every college freshmen does; going around checking out people, getting the updates on what was new and happening when she first came around to noticing Him.
On the sports page of a national newspaper, there he was, making his country proud. He had just won a quadrangular series in Australia. Posing for the camera, showing off the trophy his team had just won; he looked adorable. She just couldn’t get her eyes off of him. Those eyes, his smile was just about enough to sweep her off her feet. She was LOVESTRUCK!
However she felt, she couldn’t even explain it to herself. It was infatuation; but was it so? Then he went on to captain the squad for the world cup tournament that was to be held in Australia again. He did play a captain’s knock and led his team all the way through to the finals where he showed his cricketing brilliance and played a knock of unbeaten 111 runs. He was bestowed with the honor of lifting the world cup trophy.
Still debating whether it was just plain old attraction or something more, she kept on admiring him in the months that passed.
Now, he started his domestic cricket career and she just kept admiring him. Be it his performance on the field or some promotions or brand endorsements, she just could not let go off him. He had such an impact on her life that no one ever had before. She went to see him every time he was in town. Irrespective of the distance, crowd or the weather, she would do just about anything to get a glimpse of him. To let herself know he was real. Every time she got close to having a chance to talk to him, she would be all jittery. Her wish to get to know him would be overpowered by her nerves.
She followed him on social networking sites, collected every piece of information she could about him and that only made it certain that it was no infatuation. She liked him for real. She even started dreaming about him.

But he had no clue about it. After all he was a celebrity and girls kept going gaga over him now and then. Not a big deal for him. But having him as a part of her life, she had completely transformed; subconsciously. Every time she looked at him, her heart skipped a beat. Oh how many times did she try to e-mail him, even wrote in the text box but was unable to hit send!

But now, after 3 years of all of this, day and night, she has made up her mind. This time it is either do or die. She turns on her computer, opens the link to his page, moves her fingers along the keyboard and types ‘Hi’.

You see, she really likes you.

Innocence

Innocence is brilliant but is it permanent? As kids we are as innocent as we can be, both on the inside and outside. As we start growing up it is overpowered by various other emotions but it still lives on within some part of our heart and soul.

No matter how hard we try to put ourselves forward as some brave lad or a strong woman, that tiny innocent being comes out once in a while, shows itself most prominently when we need it most desperately.
Innocence can not always be related to being naive. The heart wants what it wants and after one pushes himself to a certain limit that innocent version of them comes out and emotes what they really feel. Be it happiness, sadness, excitement, anxiety, sorrow or loneliness. No matter what you feel, after a certain limit you start approaching your innocent-self, subconsciously. Be it when you are happy or when you are disturbed, you will always show what you really do feel, and that is a relief in itself; knowing what you feel. Once you know then it’s just cakewalk.
No matter how old you grow; never believe that you are alone. At each and every point in your life, whenever you need someone, you’ll always have yourself to accompany you and that tiny, little you will solve your problems without even making you realize what it’s doing.

Go on. Never quit.
Don’t stop believing!

The Raj-factor..

To the people who like to stay updated with the American sitcoms, Dr. Rajesh Koothrapali is a famous character but to many more it is more than a mere fictional creation.

With this concept of cliques that is famous all across our nation, every group has a Raj of their own. That person might not be necessarily be from a foreign land, but can also be someone who feels like an outsider. Somebody who is not very comfortable with certain social paradigms.

As the concept of cliques popularizes, more is the number of Raj i.e the level of social anxiety among individuals is on a constant uprise. Everyone from ages 5 to 50 want to be a part of a certain social circle. And not just be a part, also remain in it, which in turn makes them anxious, subconsciously.  No matter whether they put themselves forward as someone confident, every group has a Raj of their own, someone who would be successful at being smart and silly at the same time!

Anyone who feels sorry for himself has the Raj-factor in them, because at a certain level they feel lonely and hence feel sorry for themselves. This somebody would surely be good at whatever they do but would always consider themselves a tad-lesser than everyone they’d know.

Anyone experiencing a certain level of social anxiety has a certain level of Raj-factor in them. For all the joy and laughter, fun and frolic that this modern society requires; along with that X-factor one should also have the Raj-factor so as to remain content. The X-factor along with the Raj-factor would definitely be a formidable combination and you would then be the heart and soul of your clique.!

Introvert, eh? Fascinating…

When you feel blue, what would you rather do? Spit it out in front of a beloved friend or keep analyzing your problem all by yourself?

Most people, like myself, would rather keep it all bottled up inside and quietly bear the pain, But to those who can talk to others about their misery or what ever they have been troubled by, I envy the most.

Instead of those poems and declamations that we forget in a few months, what we should be taught is how to express ourselves; verbally. Anyone who can read and write can express himself in a written manner. But what about those of us who keep everything within themselves and can never muster up the courage to express out loud! We are mostly referred to as ‘introverts’ or people go as far as to calling them ‘anti-social’. But all we need is a little support from these supposed ‘extroverts’ so, like them, everyone can express themselves freely.

Why do people have to go and badger someone who does not find it comfortable to talk too much? Did anyone ever try to find out find out why somebody does talk a lot!? This sort of badgering only make them seem judgmental, and no one usually likes to be around such people. If you know you are being judged upon, you get over cautious and to the introverts this is the last straw.

In this modern society of ours, I believe, everyone is an introvert but most of them have masked themselves as extroverts just to fit in. But to those, like me, who can still not pull this ‘extrovert’ thing off, my heart-felt sympathies. But we must never give up trying or believing in yourself. One day, who knows, we might just switch sides.

The Chosen One.!

To be singled out from the lot can both be good and bad according to the situation for which you are chosen. But irrespective of the situation, the struggle never ends for them.We all know how much trouble our beloved Harry Potter had to face before we reached the last chapter of the series.

In the modern world, be it any academic field or a sport, the corporate  world or one’s peer group, there is no end to their struggle. In case of academics the chosen ones always have to keep working hard to retain their top spot or sometimes just to pass the grade. A chosen sportsperson has to keep up the struggle till their body has strength to play. Struggle to be a part of the team, struggle to retain  a top national position, achieve top international spot. There is no end to what you can achieve and hence you have to struggle, otherwise you’d be forgotten.

But the chosen ones I pity the most are those who are chosen in the field of life! life never gives them a break. It’ll take away everything from them that they have and then sit back and watch them trying to survive. If someone does survive then life tries to complicate their world by messing up whatever they accomplished through the course of their previous test of life.

Life might take away somebody’s parents or in a few cases take away one parent and leave the mean, indifferent one to see how one copes with it. Then they’d let them be bullied by family into doing, not what is their choice but, what is in favor of the family (irrespective of the fact that it does not help that person in any god damn way!). Then after years of putting up with such crap, if one does manage to rise up on their own, in a sudden turn of events, life takes away whatever they’d accomplished; leaving them at the mercy of that mean parent. There is no end to this viscous circle.

But what I believe is, if one wants to survive such obstacles the only helping hand is hope. never loose hope. Believe in whatever is your gut feeling or your instinct. Never let go of the faith that you have. And always remember night is darkest before the dawn and each night is followed by day.!

Are our choices really our!?

You’d never meet a person who’d say NO! to success and prosperity. everyone wants to be ahead of where they are now. then what holds us back? Is the apparent answer always accurate?
No doubt that our parents are our well wishers and what they choose for us would most definitely be in the best of our interest.

Earlier, in India, there were believed to be only two respectable career options; engineering and medicine. Out of which particular branches of engineering were not opted for by girls. but now, career choices can go as far as the horizon. The new generation might not rebel their parents but would go ahead with their parents’ wishes halfheartedly.
The choices made for us might be wise but are they really right for us?
The ones who pursue engineering do so either because they know no other option or they don’t have a clear goal set in their head or maybe just because their parents want them to become engineers. Then they might either go for MBA or finally are able to choose what they want to do.

No one holds us back from choosing what we want. Not our parents; not our teachers; not the society; it’s just us!
The true and honest answer to what we really want to do lies deep within our hearts. But then the reality around us forces many of us to do what we don’t want to.. make the obvious choice!
Everybody wants wealth, success and prosperity in their life but if you do what everybody else does you’ll only get what everybody else gets. Only a few come out of their league and follow their heart. These are the ones who stand-out because they risk it to get the biscuit, which they do get, not always immediately but most definitely.

Every person has unlimited potential within them, waiting to be unleashed so that they can conquer the world. But you need courage to stand-up to, not what is wise but, what is right for you!
Follow your heart; it can take you miles ahead of where your mind would take you. And that place will definitely be better!