Happy Birthday Sach!

24th April is the birthday of Sachin Tendulkar, one of my favorite hero. Happy Birthday Sachin! You are the man who made me and million others follow cricket! 

Keep Going! Keep Rocking… 

God Bless! 
Cheers! 
Adi

Connecting the dots, connecting with People

This weekend (Friday and Saturday) I was at Kareli, a small town or rather village in the Narsinghpur district of M.P. The purpose was to attend a family wedding. My mother has her roots in Kareli (her mother’s family belongs there). I was not very keen to go but she insisted me to go to wedding anyhow. After coming back I realized that I spent a great couple of days and it was really good that I went there despite my reluctance. 

Functions like these are the best way to meet your relatives and friends at a single place with whom you have not met for long or haven’t met at all. It is another way of socializing or rather connecting with people. And to be honest, villages are the best place to witness the so called “social network”, albeit it’s in a real world and not in the virtual! For me it was a great experience because I met so many new people who knew me by name but were meeting me for the very first time. In fact I never knew I had so many cousins! Also, I had a glimpse of the village life, which in a way is very serene and simple.

When you get so much of respect and love at a go, you are bound to get overwhelmed. And similar was my story. You can feel the happiness in the other person’s heart, there is nothing to fake. Everything is genuine and pure; feelings, smile, words and actions. In cities, where people hardly have time for others and meet with fake smiles, these things are not to be found. 

The big thing I observed was that people are simple and helpful. Simple. Period. They wear simple clothes, eat simple and live simple. There is nothing complex in their lives. When you first see them, you might tend to think and talk about their dressing sense. But then they don’t care what you think or say. When you meet them, you will know that dressing etc. are fake things and not to worry upon. One must have a clean heart. They would be ready to help you in every possible way. 

 I then thought about the life we are living in cities. We don’t have time to meet people. In fact we hardly greet people. I don’t remember the last time, I said “Hello” to a stranger. The housing society where I live, I have not seen anybody talking to each other, except for occasional hi, hellos. The irony is that, in the last 1 ½ years, I myself haven’t talked to my neighbors. 

I must say, I would not forget Life’s biggest lessons I have learnt in 2 days. Simplicity is indeed a great virtue. Your home could be small, but your heart should be BIG. Life is too short to keep Egos and Grudges. 

Connect the dots, Connect with people. 

God Bless! 
Cheers! Adi

Sunday Luncheon @ Arpil’s

Arpil, one of my friends, got married in February and ever since he came down to Pune, we could not meet because of one reason or the other. I wanted to attend his wedding function and had got my tickets booked as well but had to cancel it at the last moment because of office chores.

This Sunday Arpil invited me for a Luncheon at his home. And it was his birthday as well that day, so it became lunch-cum-birthday treat. It was for the first time I met Richa, his better half. I had an awesome lunch and enjoyed the perfect hospitality. Sunday was made!

This post however is not about lunch. It’s about the gesture that Arpil showed. I am a fan of Arpil’s nature ever since the day I first met him at Bombay sometime in 2006. He is polite, down to earth and a person with clean heart who probably cannot hurt anybody.

Many of friends got married between last year and this year. Some weddings I could attend and some I could not. But till date nobody has taken pains to meet me post marriage as a couple, let alone inviting over a cup of tea! Life changes post marriage, agreed. And might be in this fast moving world, who takes the pain of inviting somebody to home? Gone are those days, though not totally. People like Arpil are still there!

Thank You Arpil and Richa for that wonderful lunch. And I hope to get such lovely parties more often ;)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Sandwiches, Pizzas and more…

For me visiting Mumbai is synonymous with giving a tingle to my taste buds. If you are a foodie, the city has lot of offer in its platter; from mouth watering street delicacies to relishing savories in the plush restaurants-the city has got choices of every kind. For me the recent visit to the city was great in terms of enjoying the food in every possible way I could. Though I was there for barely 24 hours, I made sure I tasted everything I liked-

Friday Snacks-Friday is the best day of the week after Sunday. I tasted the trademark Sandwich of Mumbai. The taste that could be found in Mumbai itself and not anywhere in the world. And this Sandwich taste best when you have it from a road side stall. Forget hygiene and all; just relish the taste! Next on the menu was Vada Paav. These days I avoid having Vada Paav, but how I can I miss that when I am in Bombay? Forget health; enjoy the aroma. Life is too short to worry about health hazard a single Vada Paav can cause. A cutting tea post that made it- the whole some snack. A walk around the streets of Vashi and an excursion to the Inorbit mall made my tummy ready for another round of snack. This time it was a plate of Paani Puri and a Barf Gola after that. Wow! I was having a Barf gola after ages.

Friday Dinner- A walk around the streets of Vashi made my tummy yelling for more. We had decided to have late dinner, when all our friends joined us. In dinner it was Tandoori Platter in the starters and Dal Makhani and Roti in the main course. Nice meal. I was just wondering how much I am eating?

Friday finally ended with a sweet Paan!

Saturday Breakfast-If you love South Indian dishes, Mumbai is the place to have it after the South Indian states. And if you want it cheap, try the Idlis and Wadas of the guys who sell it over bicycle. I had Idlis to fill my stomach and boy I had 5 ldlis for 10/-

Saturday Lunch- I had my lunch at INDIGO Deli-a very plush restaurant in the High Street Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel. It was bit expensive and had a little to choose from the Continental Cuisine menu for a veggie like me. We took assistance from the waiter who helped us in making choices. We had a Thin Crust Pizza and a wonderful dessert. The dessert was simply majestic. One of the best I had till date. One should visit occasionally these places to have a great fine dine experience; the ambience and the crowd just fantastic!

Post lunch, it was time for me say Good bye to Mumbai only to say Hi sometime again!

It was really a gourmet trip for me, I guess ;)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

My Friend Ganesha

I have a strong relationship with the Ganesha of Siddhivinayak. He is my best friend. I always feel a sense of calm when I meet him. And if I am in Mumbai, there is not an iota of doubt that I would not go and meet him. It is an irony that I first went to Siddhivinayak temple when I had already passed a year living in Mumbai. Facts are sometimes more surprising than fiction. I distinctly remember that it was the year of 2007 when I first visited the temple. And the feelings are beyond the cocoon that words can give. It was a sort of attraction, a friendship that clicked instantaneously!

It was the day then. From that day onwards, I visited to meet my friend every Saturday. When I was leaving Mumbai, I was leaving not only the city I loved, but my best friend also, though he is in my heart, with me always. My occasional visits to Mumbai were never completed without meeting him.

I was in Mumbai last Saturday and as usual went to meet him. It was an experience in itself. The mind becomes so calm, so tranquil when I go there. I feel there is some magic at that place that attracts me.

Thank you my friend for being there with me, for me, always!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

A walk down the memory lane

This weekend, from Friday evening to Saturday evening, for about 24 hours I was in Mumbai. Mumbai, the city I love beyond imagination. No matter where I am, the love for Mumbai remains the same as it was when I was there for the first time in 2006. Though Mumbai is hardly 100 odd kms from Pune, I hardly go there now days. Perhaps it’s my laziness that is reason behind this!

The reason for visit was to see off my friend Avinash, who was going to Dubai for his new job and had a scheduled flight on Saturday. I do not know when I would get to meet him next, so just decided to pack my bags and reach there. He had already flown in from Bangalore to Mumbai.

A visit to Mumbai always refreshes the memories of my 3 years when I was a resident there. And those memories are simply wonderful. The charm of Mumbai can be felt in its air itself, which probably is missing in any other city I have been to. The other good part of this visit was that I get to meet my old friends and my ex-Hexaware mates, Tushar, Amreesh, Denzil and Sunil after a long time. We had a party on Friday, and relived our old days, talks of here and there; this and that till late in the night. This gives another best part of Mumbai, no matter what the time of night is, the city never sleeps. No matter how much late in the night it is, just pick a rickshaw or Taxi and back home without any worries.

In this short span of time, I also visited my old and best friend Ganesha at the Siddhivinayak Temple. It would rarely happen that if I am in Mumbai, I do not visit to Siddhivinayak. Apart from this, had a great time in relishing road side delicacies also. I ate Idli, Wada Paav, Sandwiches, Barf Gola, Paani Puri and what not. I was behaving as if I have only few hours left to live.

But despite all this fun, there was a question spinning in my mind- Would I be prefer to come to Mumbai again? The answer instantly did not come YES and perhaps it was a NO! Surprising; but true. Considering the serene life style I am leading, I would not prefer to go back to the daily hustle bustle of Mumbai. You have to be on your toes, running always, faster than the time. Plus the climate which is humid makes it all the way not preferable to go back again. And yeah, I always have the choice to go for a couple of days and rock there.

But No matter what, Mumbai Rocks, as always!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

The voice within!

Its 12am, the threshold between Saturday night and Sunday Morning! I am just about to doze off but not before jotting down a thought that just came to my mind. What is prompting me to jot down thoughts just now and not tomorrow? I guess it’s my promise to myself that I made few days back. Ever since, I made a renewed promise to myself, I daily open my blog and think on the ways I can make it better. When I say better, I do not refer to changing its looks but the content that I can share.

In short if I say, I feel more connected now and more inspired to keep it updated. Probably this is the thing that was within me when I started but gradually it started to dwindle. And what is this? What is this thing that is inspiring me? I would say that this is the voice within! A voice that supports you and inspires you to keep alive your passion. I know I do not write great, but then who says you have to be great to follow what you like?

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi