TURQUOISE CHILL

This morning I came upon Mani Square, the latest mega retail space being readied for opening. It claims it will be the largest mall in Kolkata when it opens. On the way, I couldn’t help notice the outdoor assault of the Kolkata Knight Riders cricket team campaign. Apart from that, the likes of Reebok also getting in on the bandwagon and advertising their Kolkata Knight Riders merchandise. It has Shah Rukh Khan pushing it as the 12th man uniform. Also cashing in on the popularity of the IPL and KKR teams was a hoarding of Amul. I remember the Brand used to use this form or advertising a long, long time ago and I would look forward to seeing what the Amul hoarding would say about the latest political situation, or outcome of a game, or any current affairs topic that had made headlines.

Last evening after a lot of deliberation I finally went out to FIRE & ICE. They've changed the alignment of the seating a bit, more to make for a more distinct and isolated smoking section. Otherwise the food is still great and the service excellent. Try out their Pepperoni Pizza. A meal for two here with alcoholic drinks would cost about Rs. 1000. On the way back I noticed the huge Foot Overbridge at Park Circus No. 4 Bridge crossing displaying the entire Royal Challengers team. Yes Mr. Mallya only if your team was performing as well as the billboard. While clicking this picture and elderly "uncle" in the car next to mine was wondering what on earth I was doing. I initially lowered my window and stuck my hand out to click with my phone. But that didn't seem to capture the picture as well as I had wanted it. So I unzipped my bag and pulled out my camera and started clicking away. Sometimes with the flash sometimes without and sometimes in auto mode and someti...

The Krazzy 4 are Irrfan Khan (The Captain), Arshad Warsi (The Angry Young Man), Rajpal Yadav (The Freedom Fighter) and Suresh Menon (The Silent One). Juhi Chawla is the doctor who is treating them and believes they can be cured. The plot begins with her being kidnapped and then unravels with a hilarious sequence of events. It is interspersed with Item numbers by King Shah Rukh Khan , Rakhi Sawant and the grand finale by Hritik Roshan . Diya Mirza plays the love interest of Arshad. All in all it’s a laugh riot except for a preachy ending which could have been done without. I must also add that while the Maharashtra government has clamped down on the Cheerleaders of the Mumbai Kings, how come Rakhi Sawant’s scantily dressed gyrating hips performance in the film hasn’t attracted any vocal assault. Anyway, that’s my opinion about Krazzy 4 and if you’re crazy enough, go watch it. I went to watch the movie at FAME, Highland Park. When we got there, a large gathering was watch...

Last evening I did something out of the ordinary. I visited a place I wouldn’t under normal circumstances; Drinkers Paradise on Park Street, the Mecca of Cheap alcohol – OLYPUB. The last time I had gone there, was several months or more ago. I had never sat downstairs as it seemed like the ground floor was for serious drinkers. Anyway there’s always a first time and this time was it. So we got a table (the only one available) right in front of the door and settled down to start drinking. The ambience of the place kind of reminded me of the Coffee House, save the fact that tea and coffee was replaced with alcohol. There were some promoters in Red t-shirts promoting RC. Now I kind of get where MR. Vija Mallaya’s Rs. 16 crore marketing initiatives are being implemented to promote his IPL Cricket Team the Royal Challengers. Anyway OLYPUB is unique in many ways. One being that I don’t think the interior décor (I don’t know if I can even call it décor) hasn’t changed for as long as one ...

U Me Aur Hum is Ajay Devgan’s Directorial debut. The film is also produced by him. Add to that the lead pair brings his wife Kajol and him onto the silver screen. Kajol’s return after a long hiatus from movie scene is refreshing. The plot of the film is engaging and romantic. While it delves into a real issue it brings back everlasting romance in the true sense. The film is well made and though it gets dragged after the interval, it is worth a watch. The rest of the cast supports the lead pair with zeal. I think the Devgans have made their film making debut with an excellent movie and what better way to do it than star in your debut film.

Last evening I went to the much talked about “afraa lounge and restaurant” at City Centre, Salt Lake. Before I headed there I did some time pass in Shopper’s Stop and Star Mark. While I was at Star Mark I saw the Biggles comics and was tempted to buy them. It kind of transported me back into my school days. I mean most of us are familiar with Tintin, Asterix, Commando and Amar Chitra Katha. Biggles was a rarity and I was privileged enough to have read a couple back then. Anyway up and onwards to the 6th Floor and we stepped out of the lift into the plush entrance of the lounge. Beautiful wooden flooring, lots of frosted glass and immaculate white leather seating of various kinds surrounded us. We were welcomed by a most hospitable staff member and ushered to a table with high bar stool kind of seating which we weren’t to comfortable with. That too right in front of the DJ console. So we were shifted to a lovely low seating sofa right beside the terrace. The wall to wall glass offers a ...

Need I say much more!!! Oh well ok I will. Went to Peter Cat for lunch. The ride in the cab was hot, hot hot! but once there we got seating at the same spot where we had the last couple of times we had been here. exact same table. How weird is that? Anyway a fresh lime soda each and a plate of Chelo Kababs was ordered and before we knew it, the food was on our table. After we had finsished what seemed like a fast food kind of lunch, we decided to go to Flury's for Pastries and Coffee. And so we did. A Rum Ball and Lemon Tart and two Cappuccinos completed the Lunch out. Then back into the Kolkata summer heat.

The past couple of days have been awesome in terms of eating out; from Kim Ling in Tangra to Momo Palace on Elgin Road, have had it all. But the high point of this weekend was my very first visit to Eden Gardens. What can I say? It is all that I’ve heard about it and much, much more. I remember the last stadium I had gone to was the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium for one of the world cup matches. But that is nowhere close to the majestic Eden Gardens. I got a call from a friend who asked me if I wanted to go to watch a match at Eden Gardens. I was like sure why not. This Indian Premier League Cricket is catching on and after watching my home team Kolkata Knight Riders pulverize the Bangalore Royal Challengers, I was totally game to go to the Mecca of cricket and cheer them on in their second outing. The Kolkata Knight Riders were playing the Deccan Chargers. I was on my way there and already running a bit behind my original schedule of getting there by 3 pm for the 4 pm start of ga...

Just when I thought there was nothing exciting happening around me. Voila!! A few minutes before end of day, suddenly there was a flurry of activity in our office. The commotion was stirred up by a communique from the Parking lot below to remove all cars. There was a Bomb threat in the building diagonally opposite us. So I rushed out to the stairway window and clicked a couple of pics of the Fire Tenders, Police Vans and the fairly large accumulation of people around the site of the threat. Amazing, isn't it. One would think people would be running away from the place but then this is Kolkata, anything intrigues people and they want to know what's going on.

Since there is nothing interesting happening around me, I thought this one would put things in perspective. This morning as usual on my way to office, I was crossing the road (Park Street) at the zebra crossing in front of my office building. There’s always a traffic constable there who assists in the way of stopping the traffic when he sees a sizeable number of pedestrians trying to crass the road. He manages this in between collecting fees from bikers who keep their bikes in “his” parking lot. Today as usual I came to the zebra crossing and it was bumper to bumper traffic as usually and then his walkie-talkie goes into a dizzying buzz. He whistles at a couple of cabs parked on the side. The last of the traffic had disappeared and merrily crossed the road without hesitation. Only then did I realise why there was absolute silence in the usually deafening street at this time of the morning. Some VIP was going to pass. Sure enough sirens wailing I caught a glimpse of the first Mar...

Yesterday was Poila Baishak (Bengali New Year) and the only way to celebrate it in the state of West Bengal is by it being a holiday. Well a holiday for everyone except our office. Anyway the attendance was kind of thin and the few that were there also decided to call it an early day. I left office and made the best of the early exit by indulging in some lukkhagiri. Where better but in the comfort of South City Mall. Air conditioning in this sweltering heat was the best excuse. Ok, Ok, I’m a Shop-o-holic, if there were such a word to describe it. After manoeuvring through the tricky traffic in front of the Mall, I headed into the 2nd level basement parking and found a spot right in front of the entry gate. Straight into Spencer’s and for a change it wasn’t that crowded, albeit was a holiday. Got around to buying some stuff and during the time I was waiting at the express billing counter because of some mess-up done on my bill, I caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a rock band playing...

Today after much deliberation I managed to get TATA SKY installed in my house. To most of you it might seem like such a simple thing to get done, but believe me it has been among the toughest things that I've managed to get done in the recent past. It all started a couple of months ago when I went out and bought the TATA SKY set top box from Music World on Park Street. There was an offer on and the box was available for Rs. 1499/-. Little did I know at the time was that I had to take the permission of the Society I lived in to install the connection. The society had its own cable connection but if you wanted to install TATA SKY or any other satellite TV connection you needed to get permission from the society. So I wrote an application seeking permission to do so. It took about a week or more for them to respond on that. They gave me permission but with a lot of clauses and the most explicit being that I couldn't set the dish on the terrace or the walls. Which when the TAT...

Last evening I went down to a place on Purna Das Road called Pakhwan. A little hole in the wall kind of place but very neatly done up. Well what took me there was a little write up about them in The Telegraph yesterday. So after doing some lukkhagiri and weekly grocery shopping at South City Mall I went there. A meal for four which included 4 different types of biryani (Chetinad, Musallam Murg, Ghosht Biryani and Afghani). Raita and Firni are complimentary witht he Biryani. For starters we ordered a plate of Fish and a plate of Paneer. Each had for large pieces. Also ordered were 2 fresh lime sodas, a sprite and a bottle of Mineral water. All this was paid for licking our fingers at a meagre Rs. 750/-. Oh and we had to pack and take back one full Biryani. So if you like Biryani, you might want to visit this place. The service is really decent.

Last evening I rented a DVD with 4 movies on it. I watched the first one called "The Last Kiss". My advice to you guys out there, don't watch this movie with your wife, girlfriend or partner. It'll definitely lead to some complicated questions that however you answer them they'll be construed to be the wrong answer. The movie is vague and yet insightful into relationships and the institution of marriage. So if you are brave go right ahead and watch this one and better still get into a conversation about all the issues raised after watching the movie.

I was so thrilled to see this phone last evening when I went over to my aunt's place. One, for the reason, that her phone instrument change was long overdue. The previous one was battered and temperamental. Two, the phone, I was shocked to see had an FM Receiver. I pressed the Radio button and then the scan and yippee!! It tuned into the first frequency on the band 91.9 fm. I’m amazed how technology is integrating everything.

The first thing in this movie is the star cast. My personal favourite is Bips who just sizzles the screen with her presence. Saif is a lady killer with his unshaven rugged looks. Katrina is hot, but doesn't have the oomph factor which Sameera Reddy does quite decently though playing a bimbo. RD played by Anil Kapoor brings in a little of the humour and Akshaye Khanna does justice to his role. Now I wouldn't want to reveal the plot but think that Hindi Cinema has just risen a notch after this film in terms of plots and the cinematography. The race and action scenes are right up their with international movies (OK leave Lucas and Spielberg out of this for effects comparisons). But I was truly impressed watching this tricky film and reminded me of reading a Roald Dahl book. You never know what's going to happen next because there's always a twist-in-the-tale.

Thank god there are no super sensitive super heroes in real life. I just can't imagine the amount of damage it would cause. So for all people who are single, go out there and live, it can't get this bad. You won't have to deal with your super ex-girlfriend anyway, just your normal ex-girlfriend if that happens. Gosh Scary thought. Anyway on a less philosophical note, the movie is for real time pass viewing. So if you have time on your hands and nothing else to do, don't rent this movie, wait for it to show on one of the TV channels and then watch it, just like I did. Ofcourse Uma Thurman has still got it going on!

Finally I have moved to a 5 day working week, which gives me the weekends to indulge in sheer “lukkhagiri” without the pressure of not realising when the weekend started and ended. So now I have Saturday for gallivanting and Sunday for more gallivanting. I started the first week thus. I made a trip to Gariahat and weaving through some narrow lanes to Fab India. I had heard so much about their flagship store in Kolkata and decided it was finally time to pay the place a visit. Well it sure has a lot of stuff and I was surprised to see this once famous for khadi stuff place now was peddling wares ranging from furniture to food to beauty products. Diversification and branding sure has penetrated the ethos of our generation. Anyway I didn’t buy anything. There was just too much stuff packed into that place and was quite dizzying. So after that a visit to Forum was on the cards. Out in the rain that was now coming down quite heavily, I decided to be brave and turned into a narrow lane...

It’s been raining on and off in the City of Joy for a while now. It’s a cold winter sort of rain and last night was no exception. A huge build up during the late afternoon and by evening the skies plunged into darkness with dark clouds looming heavy overhead. Lightening and thunder followed and then there was a squall. Gusts of wind blowing the downpour in all directions ensured that the rain was short-lived. It did continue with a couple of drops here and there, but the lightening kept illuminating the black skies. This was the perfect weather to take that long clear road home. It was a slight detour but worth every single extra kilometre. The AJC Bose Road Flyover that starts from the Park Circus 7 point crossing runs for 2.6 kilometres over the AJC Bose Road and descends at the Race Course. Just before getting on, I decided to switch my camera on in video mode for the first time and capture the stretch on camera. I captured the lightening, some crazy driving and the sheer joy of thi...

Last evening I stopped atNew Alipore to relish some street side delicacy. "Puchkas" (or "Golgappas" or "Paani Puri" as it is called in other parts of India). Kolkata is famous for its Puchkas and the puchka wala outside Mama Mia in New Alipore is quite famous for his puchkas. Since it had been so long, I managed to polish off near a dozen of them. Kolkata "puchkas" Rock!! Oh and that's my chariot in the pic. My red Swift ZXi still giving my great service and I just discovered that a USB Pen Drive works wonders on the move. I just got a Moser Baer 2 GB pen drive that has some music on it and once attached to my Sony Car Audio system works wonders.