TURQUOISE CHILL

For once I’ve watched a movie where Catherine Zeta Jones looks her age and is not in bewitching tights or looking sexy as hell. No doubt thought that she still looks beautiful as ever. Anyway coming to the movie, this is a poignant story of a dedicated and strong willed chef, who under very trying circumstances finds love. Her sister coming to visit her dies in a car crash leaving her little daughter to be cared for by her. Meanwhile trouble brews in her work place where a new chef is appointed in her kitchen. Balancing between her new responsibilities and fending off competition for her job, the story evolves into a beautiful bond between the protagonists. It’s a typical love story and don’t we all love happy endings. So if you’re a foodie with a sensitive side, watch this one. Aaron Eckhart as the fun loving chef with an ear for opera music and Abigail Breslin playing her sister’s daughter add zest to the plot.

Exploiting the opportunity to ride my bike, I suggested we go to Tangra, since we hadn’t been there for a while. So out we headed on my Karizma for typical Chinese food at Kim Ling in Tangra. The order was quite simple. The famous Thai Soup followed by American Chopsuey, Mixed Fried Rice and Chilli Chicken. On our way back, we made a pit stop at the local grocery store to pick up some stuff. it was most amusing to see all the workers going out of their way to see us arrive there on a bike. We were like a novelty. The reason being they had always seen us coming in our Maruti Swift. Kim Ling Bar & Restaurant Govinda Khatick Road, 13, South Tangra Road, Kolkata - 700046, Tel: +91-33-28650996, 23298923

On Sunday we decided to drop into the West Bengal Handicrafts Mela which was happening at Milan Mela Grounds just behind ITC Sonar opposite Science City Auditorium (I’ve given the location, just in case people don’t know where the Milon Mela Ground is). The mela had been opened a little while back and I would drive past it everyday on my way to and from work. So finally when we decided to go on Sunday, I seized the opportunity to ride my Hero Honda Karizma. I needed to get a little work done (a silencer guard nut replaced actually and the accelerator loosened out a bit). So after a 5 minute pit stop at the workshop which was very close to the grounds, we headed there. Fortunately the time we chose was the late mid afternoon and the place was relatively empty, so I managed to park my bike right in front of the gate. We bought the Rs. 5 entry tickets and headed in. We went from one pavilion to the next and made a full circle of the place not thoroughly impressed with what was on...

After a sumptuous meal, I was charged up and there was no way we were going home, especially when it was just 9pm and it was a Friday night. So we drove in the general direction of Park Street, my wife guessing exactly where we would end up and so we did; Some Place Else, the Mecca of live music. It was along wait of nearly an hour before Hip Pocket took the stage a little after 10.30pm. In the meanwhile we downed a couple of beers and were quite amused by a shutterbug from one of the dailies clicking pictures of Parno (upcoming Bengali movie actress) & Ranadeb Bose (Cricketer from Bengal). I was more taken up with the fact that he was clicking pictures of the Band members and especially of Rishi & Samidh. Only when hey had gone up to the stage did one of Barmen tell me that this was their farewell gig, Rishi & Samidh were leaving Hip Pocket after being with the band for 14 years. They were going out on their own to pursue a new duo venture. So we stayed for the entire...

It was Friday night and I was looking to go out to some place I had never been before. My wife suggested south Indian food and this place called Tamarind. I had kind of heard of the place but couldn’t quite recall where I had heard about it. So here we were parked in front of what looked like a small little restaurant. Walking up the stairs, I could already get a good feeling about the place, just by its décor. Once inside, a courteous young man showed us to a table which was just a little away from the entrance. All that wood décor gave this place a warm and enriching feel. I was immediately taken up by the copper drinking glasses that were on the table and along with the menu came two earthen glasses of butter milk. While my wife was going through her menu, I was a bit confused about the one in my hand. I thought we were having south Indian food, so why did all the dishes sound like north Indian stuff. I asked her where in her menu she had the south Indian food because I couldn’t fin...

This morning as I left for office a sudden downpour brought traffic to a crawl. As the wipers kept sweeping the rain water from the windscreen I noticed I was behind a pink bus that had the name “VOLVO” written in huge letters across the back window. I was quite amused how every bus wanted to be a Volvo and when I looked more carefully it just got better. In small letters over the “VOLVO” was written “JUST LIKE” in small letters. This was just too funny and the traffic posed the perfect situation for a picture. So I whipped out my camera and took these pictures. It just goes to show how Volvo buses have set the benchmark of luxury road travel that all operators want to make the promise of being just like that.

The story revolves around the community and their outlook to the survival of the Parsis around the world. The story is narrated by Little Zizou and how he sees the world around him. The story about a little boy idolizing his favourite football star Zidane and his journey through some tumultuous times is with interestingly juxtaposed with his brother’s failed love for Zenobia and obsession with a Boeing 747 Cockpit which he and his friends want to turn into a flight simulator, his father who is a religious militant propagator of the purity of the Parsi community and his neighbour trying to salvage the respect of the community through his newspaper. A strange movie about the much ridiculed Parsi community left a bit more to be desired. Though it was funny and poked fun at the various people in the story, it lacked that punch required for being commercially successful. Boman Presswala (Boman Irani) as usual played his part with perfection and the gathering of the entire Parsi commun...

I just had to post this. Not only is it awesome to eat, its a delight watching it being prepared. The Mongolian Mixed Grill at Food Talk, the food court at South City Mall.

This movie has a strange plot and reminds me a lot of another movie I had quite enjoyed a while back called “The Devil Wears Prada”. How To Lose Friends & Alienate People is a comedy about a British journalist trying to get inside the Hollywood Circle. Sydney Young (Simon Pegg) is the crazy Brit who somehow lands himself a job with a high profile magazine in New York which is owned by Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges). He develops a strange friendship with fellow journalist and aspiring novel writer Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst) and finally realises that he loves her. Of course on the way to finding love he does have this deep desire to sleep with upcoming sizzling hot Hollywood Bombshell, Sophie Maes (Megan Fox) who epitomizes sexiness all because of her hard selling agent Eleanor Johnson (Gillian Anderson). The movie is a much watch if you love comedy. Sydney Young’s histrionics will leave you laughing all the way till the end.

Yesterday was a hot sunny day and so when one of my colleagues suddenly popped in at about 4 in the evening and said it was raining outside, it seemed quite absurd. But when I did step out on to the staircase behind our office and looked out, it was like all hell had broken loose. It was torrential. In fact it come down till visibility was reduced to several meters. I suddenly panicked, having remembered that I had left the windows at my house open. I had images of my entire bedroom getting flooded. Fortunately a call to that side of town confirmed that they didn't even have a drop of rain. Anyway the bright side was that the temperature came down.

An interesting movie with a decent star cast all about the strange relationships between men and women. All the characters and parallel story lines are interesting intertwined and the story is weaved around the various stages and circumstances of relationships between these people. He’s just not that into you is worth a watch for all those who want to get a perspective of how strange relationships can be. And this is what the star cast line-up looks like. Ginnifer Goodwin (Gigi) Kevin Connolly (Conor) Scarlett Johansson (Anna) Bradley Cooper (Ben) Justin Long (Alex) Ben Affleck (Neil) Jennifer Aniston (Beth) Jennifer Connelly (Janine) Drew Barrymore (Mary) So makes you wonder with a line up like that, whether the film will do well at the Box-Office.

After a night out on Friday, our plans for an early morning drive out to Diamond Harbour got a bit stalled. We finally managed to get out at 12.45pm. The option of going on my Karizma (bike) was dropped because I had heard quite a bit about the road being a little unsafe for biking. Anyway it took us about 45 minutes to get till Joka and on to the Diamond Harbour Road via the James Long Sarani by-pass. I remember many years ago a bunch of us had cycled down to Diamond Harbour and it had taken us a bit over 3 hours to get there. So from this point I estimated an hour at most. Diamond Harbour was 38 kms from here. All estimates came to naught once we got stuck at Amtala crossing. We must have been there for a good half hour in traffic. But once through, the drive on the barely two lane highway (if it can be called that) is quite scenic. I loved the tunnel effect created by the tress lining both sides of the road right into the distance. Coconut groves kept popping up all along the way...

On Friday we decided to head out to Park Street and try a new place. We new in the sense some place where we hadn’t been together or in a long while. So after the 3 of us walked up the steps and peeped into OLYPUB, we decided it wasn’t worth the wait at this packed watering hole and walked out to the street just outside Moulin Rouge. While waiting there and wondering what were the places to go to, we decided why not try Moulin Rouge itself. None of us had been there and didn’t quite know what to expect. So as we walked in, we were rather surprised by the ambience. Quite contrary to the name, this place seemed like an eatery frequented by families rather than tipplers. So while were shown to our table towards the back right next to the refrigerator with all the raw sea-food on display I took stock of the place and we were quite sure that the shooting of Parineeta happened in this restaurant. Anyway a couple of beers and some chilli chicken and Bhetki were enough to set us up for the ...

Last evening, after a brief visit and round of all my favourite toy shops in City Centre, we headed out to Mani Square to watch Eagle Eye. IMAX was the theatre. It’s the latest of the multiplexes to open in the city and since they were the only one’s showing the movie, it was good idea to watch it here. The tickets were even priced cheaper than all the multiplexes @ Rs. 90 each. We went up to the top floor of the mall where the hall is situated adjacent to the food court and bought tickets, after which we headed down two levels to Aqua Java to grab some dinner. They seemed to have run out of Lasagna and chicken, so we managed to get Pasta and a Chicken Sandwich. But to start with we had a Blueberry Cheesecake. It was pretty big and pretty yum, but I can surely add that I’ve had better. After we finished our meal, the sweet tooth got its way and we had another of that Blueberry Cheesecake. On our way up to the movie, we had about 7 minutes to spare and my wife wanted to go to thi...

I know I love my job when it takes me to places such as this. So what if it’s just a one hour recce of a River Boat called Mayurpankhi. I went to Millennium Park and boarded the ferry that took us to the Howrah bank of the River Hooghly. Getting on the ferry that would take us to the other side was quite fascinating. There are no guard rails and proper gangways to get on board. The ferry just lines up against the platform, the rubber tyres cushioning the impact and people just get on while two helpers at each swung ropes over the railings onto the boat on shore holding it in place. This entire operation happened in minutes and before we knew it we were on the river heading towards our destination. I got buys clicking wondering when the next opportunity to shoot both the bridges, Vidyasagar Setu (New Hooghly Bridge) & Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge) from the middle of the river come my way. Once on the other side, we disembarked and got onto the ferry which we had come to see, the ...