India-Pakistan Match creates absolute Shutdown

Soon after the toss was over and M S. Dhoni decided that team India would go into bat, I decided to take a stroll on the streets around our office. Firstly, Park Street and the adjoining streets wore a more or less desolate. And where there was a Radio or a TV, people had gathered around. This is just as the match has started. I’m wondering what it’ll be like once the match gains momentum.

I guess this guy has also decided to call it a day!

A Crowd outside the Vibgyor Vehicles (Motorcycle Showroom) at Moulali at about 5 PM.

While other street shops were packing up, this guy had his ear stuck to the radio.

A Chemist Shop had more match viewers than customers.

10 Things to Learn from Japan

I received this little forward by e-mail this morning from a friend of mine and thought it was quite interesting. We could learn a lot from this 10 points that describe a nation and the resolve of the people in the face of adversity and national calamity. Kudos to the people of Japan who have not made such a public drama and have just got on with their lives after the Tsunami has destroyed half their country.

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1. THE CALM

Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY

Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY

The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn't fall.

4. THE GRACE

People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER

No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE

Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS

Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING

The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA

They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE

When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly.

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On the other hand, while driving to work this morning I heard on the radio how people were preparing to take the day off to watch what they're calling the match of the Century. Today's Semi Final Match of the ICC World Cup between India an Pakistan at Mohali is driving a nation to the brink of standstill. Even the Prime Minister is making time to watch the match with his Pakistani counterpart. How about that?

One Nation carries on with life after a Great Tsunami tries to bring it to its knees while another Nation is brought to a stand still due to a Cricket Match!

Dinner at the new Gossip

After I spent the day out, I got back and my wife and I decided to go out since she had been home all day. We decided to take a stroll down to the shopping complex just outside our apartment complex and try out the new ‘Gossip’, aptly named “More Gossip”.

Well new in the sense that it was opened as an extension to the existing place just opposite to the existing one, though it has been around for a while.

So after watching the Kolkata Knight Riders losing their second match in a row we headed to More Gossip. It’s a decently done up place with very basic tables and chairs and more tuned for a dining experience than the one opposite which more like a pub. Of course the stairway inside leads to a floor above, this has a lounge with sofas and low tables. Well we settled for the table on the lower deck because we had dinner in mind.

A couple of beers and some great side dishes kept us company as we watched the second IPL match of the day between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers. I’m not sure which was more exciting the food or the exciting match we were watching on big screen.

We finally ended up ordering several beers to keep us going till the end of the match which was won by the Royal Challengers.

As far as the food at More Gossip goes, well we went for most of the continental starters which was filling enough and very unique in its taste and presentation. I was still wowed by the candle in the Capsicum.

Bread Crumb Fried Fish : Rs.140.00
Chicken Cheese Fried Blues : Rs.180.00
Black Pepper Mutton : Rs.190.00

Total : Rs.510.00
Vat 12.5% : 64.00
Total : Rs.516.00

The drinks were:

03 Kingfisher (Large ) : Rs.345.00

Grand Total : Rs.861.00

More Gossip - Your neighbourhood restopub
UNS 59, Unnayan - The Commercial Complex,
1050/1 Survey Park
Kolkata 700 075
Phone : + 91 33 24188348

Awesome Sunday Around Kolkata

EDEN GARDENS: The World Famous Cricket Ground's Floodlights switched on at dusk

Vidyasagar Setu (New Hooghly Bridge): At twilight. Notice the lights on the bridge, the boats and the crescent moon above.

Vidyasagar Setu (New Hooghly Bridge): The mighty bridge at sundown

Vidyasagar Setu (New Hooghly Bridge): The sun setting behind one of it's towering pillars at the Howrah end with a boat sailing into the sunset.

The Oberoi Grand Hotel: This is one of the oldest and best hotels of Kolkata. The Grand Arcade below is a shopper's delight, be it street stuff or branded!

Cashing in on Brand Kolkata Knight Riders

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.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS get FIRE&ICE

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 sometimes in night mode till I got the picture I wanted. And you're probably wondering, all this in traffic. We thank you Kolkata Traffic Police for such long waiting times at red lights.

Watering Hole

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 can remember. Two, that they serve drinks in cheap glasses, the kind you probably find at a road side dhaba. And the most unique one being that they bring the bottle of the alcohol ordered right up to your table, pour your peg using a peg measurer right there into your glasses. Watching this is so much fun. They ensure that you get every drop of that 30 or 60 ml peg you order. The snacks are ok and if you really want to eat, the Chicken Orley or beef stake is a must have.

Anyway after several pegs and some sheikh kababs and fish kababs we headed to the Mecca of Live music; SOME PLACE ELSE at The Park Hotel which is a little way along the street. Once there we waited for HIP POCKET to come up on stage. They seemed to be running a little behind schedule. So while we waited till they came on, we watched the Mumbai Indians getting plastered by the Kings XI Punjab team.

At about 10.30 pm HIP Pocket came on. They started with some tracks I hadn’t heard them perform earlier and the rest of their performance was peppered with song from their usual play list and their sign off was as usual with their Pink Floyd medley.

After HIP POCKET, the high energy band INSOMNIA came on and played some original tracks from their album and after a little while I left. It was way past 1 am and I had to get back to work this morning for some real important meetings.

So much for Saturday’s being off.

The Magnificent EDEN GARDENS

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 game but got caught in traffic. People were just getting off their cars, cabs and whatever means of transportation they had taken and we were still about a kilometre away from The Eden Gardens. I waited on in the comfort of the air-conditioning as we moved a centimetre an hour and finally could wait and as we crossed the red light on Red Road, I just had to get off and join those thousands of people heading to what seemed like war.

As I walked through the assigned bamboo barricade towards gate no 14, I could hear the stadium come to life with the Kolkata Knight Riders battle cry “Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re”. There was thunderous cheering and I started running towards the entrance. Past security (I mean they did check my ticket and frisk me) and up the stairs around twice and voila I alighted to the stands and all I could see was the backs of people. I showed my ticket and one of the staffers showed me to the section where my seat would be. Once in that section, I actually looked up and saw the majestic ground and then stopped and took a long hard look around the stadium. Sheer magnificence! The stands were packed the field was a brilliant lush green. I’m not going to write much about the match, as most of you must’ve caught it live on Sony MAX. But here’s the ironic tragedy. I walked out of the stadium when the lights on two of the floodlight stands went of and thought the game would get called off. I walked down to Esplanade and just before I was getting into the Metro to head to Park Street I looked back to see that the lights were back on. By the time I reached Park Street and had got out of the metro and was on my way to Music World did I hear that the Kolkata Knight Riders had pulled off a nail biting victory. King Khan danced and jumped with joy. His team had won their second match and was leading in the tournament.

Later I headed to Elgin Road to celebrate the win with some thukpa and momos.

Bandh! Yet Again...

After a great day out of the office with our visit to Music World and then Egg Chicken Kathi Rolls at Kusum on Park Street, we came back to office only to hear the news of Mamta Banerjee being up to her antics yet again. Yeah she had her goons create havoc at the assembly. They indulged in breaking most of the furniture there. I can’t believe that people like these get elected to run the government.

So after holding some sort of rally at Hazra, she was assaulted by the Police or so she claims. Hell, I’m glad they did. Am just sad they didn’t haul her ass in jail. That woman is just too detrimental to the progress of Bengal. Considering that I had to spend all day at home. Man how can this state progress at this rate. This is the third Bandh in three months. I just can’t imagine what a national waste such kind of political outcry leads to.

The farmers got their money, the state got the country’s dream car project and the business community is looking at Bengal as a positive investment destination. She just can’t deal with that. I believe she can’t swallow the fact that the communist government in Bengal can be so capitalistic.

Well my take on it is simple. What’s the point of being in power if there’s no money. A state is like a huge corporation. If it’s a loss making corporation, no one wants to be at the helm. So if there’s no industry and no taxes, what the hell would any one want to be doing running the state. I guess the CPI(M) have realised that and just taken Bengal on the path to progress.

So Ms. Banerjee, just relax, sit back and retire from politics if none of this makes sense to you.

Of course by late afternoon I was quite restless and decided to take a ride around the block to see the state of affairs. The road in front of the house, which otherwise is always clogged with traffic and horns blaring, bore a deserted look today. Ok the saving grace of the bandh and being home was that for a change I wasn’t going crazy with the noise pollution which otherwise is deafening. A ride past the Park Circus Maidan was shocking. The Maidan was packed to capacity with youth playing Cricket. I guess celebrating “Dada’s” comeback into the team.

Later, just after sunset, decided to take a drive around the city. The main shopping areas had limped back to life, but still wore a somewhat deserted look. So we decided to go to the Strand and check out the Millennium Park. I was awed by the waterfront development. If there is a will I am sure, anything is possible. The Millennium Park is what I had always dreamt of what a waterfront should be. With both the bridges – Vidyasagar Setu and Howrah Bridge visible on either side, this park is beautifully designed. Well laid paths lined with a variety of trees, lit fountains, well maintained benches and lots of food outlets.

the reason for the pics of the Suburban Train is that is so much reminded me of Marine Lines Station in Mumbai.

The changing colours (lighting) of the Howrah Bridge, The River Ride Boat all lit up, and the FLOATEL (Floating Hotel)

PS:Photo Upload Tool is rectified.04.12.06

The Awesome Eden Gardens

I've got to admit; I'm just awed by some of the mighty structures that Kolkata has and here are pictures of the Flood lights of the colossal EDEN GARDENS, The Mecca of Cricket. As an afterthought, I was going to add some more information about the Eden Gardens, but I’m going to leave that for the day I actually set foot in the stadium to witness a match.

Kolkata is Crazy about Cricket

Today Jaideep was a bit disappointed and told me I had lost focus on my blog and the essence of the initiation was to be Kolkata centric and it had lost that. Well I do agree that was the objective, but after all it’s my blog and about my surroundings and so if my surroundings had temporarily become the wide roads, clean air of Delhi and the wide expanses and high rises of Gurgaon, gues I can’t help but write about them. Besides On my arrival I was glad to be back in Kolkata and it’s hospitality. A special mention of my Cab driver who kept me engaged in conversation all the way from the airport to my house.

Yeah Kolkata is way ahead of a lot of the other cities in a lot of ways as Jaideep and I were discussing on the way to work this morning. A lot of things that have happened here have been taken to other cities. That discussion done, the rest of the day was quite uneventful, except the fact that I came upon a flock of pigeons outside my office during lunch break. Kolkatan’s really like animals and nature I think. Feeding birds is quite a pastime here.

Anyway the high point of the day was exactly at about 6.02 pm on our way back from a grueling yet productive three hour meeting when I saw a large crowd gathered on the right side of the road kicking up quite a commotion. The thought’s running through my head were, they’ve caught a thief, or there’s some political trouble brewing up, only to find that the people were annoyed that the TV on the wall hadn’t been switched on and the match, India Vs. West Indies was reaching critical mass. I couldn’t help but just stare in awe and capture a couple of pictures of this bizarre incident. Cricket is huge. And so I noticed out side every shop on the short walk back to office. Weary office goers, tired labourers and street urchins crowded up any shop that had a television to catch a glimpse and the latest update on the match.

The TV in the Wall 

The Only Cricketer I Know

Last evening when we were out, so Amrit and Kedar were engaged in animated conversation about their favourite cricketers and generally quizzing each other about the game. Well my reaction to the whole cricket thing was

"I KNOW ONLY ONE CRICKETER, MANDIRA BEDI. SHE'S ON EXXTRA INNINGS"