Lifestyle,Food,Travel...and More

 We had just descended from a humdrum of a trek and reached Manali. The only thing that we could think of apart from going home was to have the Corn Cheese Sandwich which we had 5 days back before ensuing the journey. Just 10 mins before our bus for Chandigarh was departing we managed to lay our hands on that Sandwich and began our departure on a happy note. The place where we had this sandwich was known as "Honey Hut Cafe". Out of all the shops or restaurants or cafes which we saw around Manali, the only name which I could remember is Honey Hut. There was something about this place and the corn cheese sandwich and the honey choco balls and the coffee that made it a place filled with immense jubilation. Some places just have that strong pull back quotient and this had place had it at the highest of quotients. A month back while browsing through Zomato, the name Honey Hut Cafe appeared on the list in Mumbai. It was a happy moment with the whistling Manali coming back to

In the medieval period we had days where hot chocolate meant 'Hot Horlicks', 'Hot Milo', 'Hot Bournvita', 'Hot Hersheys' ! In fact some where in the 6th grade when Milo distributed free cups of hot milk with Milo I was more than enthralled at the taste of its offering. I had thought nothing could beat that drink ever... But coming to the modern age and the total evolution of food and food outlets within our city, which has made authentic cuisines pretty much within the reach of any food addict, the cusp of the hot chocolate graph has shifted a bit. The search for the quintessential hot chocolate is still on but the drinks offered by some of the outlets within our city are way beyond blissful. My personal on the hotness meter is still 'Food For Thought'(FFT) at Fountain. The depth, texture, taste and hotness of its hot chocolate is indeed a sip for the yearning struck and choco crazy mind. I would not say that I am chocolate maniac but

Day 11 of the course had began,but there did not seem any adrenaline within the ephemeral thoughts of the mind to rush back to the city. All the days in unison had this tranquil texture floating around them. The 11 day course had come to an end but the mind has just began to ponder around the splendor of what had just happened. Before planning to visit Igatpuri, which is possibly considered the best center to learn Vipassana from the S.N. Goenka lead centers, the ghetto within the mind with all its troubled reasoning was trying to give up even before starting. Some people always try and push you back when you are trying to do something different, that would happen to anyone who is planning to visit this place for the first time. People would pull you into the cluster of religious taboo or brain wash syndrome and what not. But I wish to clarify that visiting this place did not make me change my religion and it did not even make me shave my head and become a monk, it precisely an

And then he drifted us away not with words but indeed with his eyes. Our extra time within the monastery was over. The monk was in complete disarray from what had just happened. Jai (name changed to protect identity) had just perturbed a peaceful monk's mind and we all stood there in disbelief. Out of the many distinct tales from Leh, this one too remains etched apart from the memories of the wondrous scenic marvels. It was around 4-5 pm and car had reached Diskit monastery (Between Nubra and Leh). Every part of everyone's body was rumbling because of the road travel of many days and especially because of the tethered Nubra road ( those who have been to Nubra would understand the feelings better). Climbing up the stairs to the monastery we were wondering if we should preserve some energy to reach LEH or continue moving up to have a little prayer before we move on with the trip. We decided to pray eventually. Sometimes one spends too much time trying to preserve energy wi

Gulping down the last available sip, it was hard to make myself believe that it took me so many years to have a perfect juice and at a place which was purely accidental if not incidental. It just about tasted as a perfect balance of fruits, dry fruits and sugar if any. It was not surely the traditional fruit punk we have at the best of places. It was a sudden move of heart to watch a movie named 'Filmistaan' at Regal. As I have a knack of reaching early at places which don't weigh you by your punctuality instincts, I reached early yet again. I would seldom reach on time on places of judgement though. We decided to strut around in search of some good pre movie snack, as am not all pro-Regal when it comes to eating as it just about deposits enough oil in your tummy to deposit a reservoir. Opposite McDonalds there is juice Centre named Canteena, I have passed this place umpteen times but never could gather enough will to order a juice. One of my friends decided to or

I often think or rather ponder that why would something which every human is relentlessly trying to achieve is so oblivious and not so ubiquitous or perrenial. The thing which I refer to is the thing which should be the premise of our act like life ,instead it comes in interludes. Forever we humans have tumbled to carry the miniscule burden of happiness. Happiness has been disguising itself in the form of joy, mirth, laughter and million other forms. Still we have not been able to hold on to it in the gleaming light of life. We have often been connoisseurs of falling with happiness whereas we should have been rising. Momentary bleaks of happiness is all that we can manage on the trampoline of living. We carry sorrow on the flip side with grotesque panache, flaunting it all over the land. Even the herculean weight of despair seems feather like to us and we carry it without a frown, as if we existed to lift mountains but dropped of pebbles like delinquents. Although , Rousseau sa

 Monsoon in India has a knack of bringing joy and happiness and celebrations all over the country. It reinvents lives, resurrects families and rejuvenates senses. Along with all the joy, in a city to the west of India known as Mumbai, it gives birth to the 8th wonder of the world and born is something so spectacular that its sight can put a gleaming shock on anyone's mind. Each monsoon marks the coronation of so many of these wonders, spread lavishly all across the city, looking bigger than the Great Wall of China and rising like phoenix from ashes impeccably each time. If smoking pot is the addiction of the west of the world, smoked up Potholes are the addiction of the west of India. Potholes of all shapes and sizes, good enough to impress the makers of lego toys and make them aware of their limitations. Once these majestic beauties of nature come into existence, they spread joy all over. Right in the middle of nowhere, travelling along these supreme Potholes people get b

The visit to Rock Gardens seemed like a school excursion. But it had been quite some time since we left school and our mind was too tired at that point to accommodate such excursions.  The last 5 days had been a tough ride for each one of us. Irony was that each one was exhausted trying to make the other person comfortable and survive. That would be called friendship I guess. All of us still had the mountains floating in our head. We had just returned from a 14k feet trek. We headed out to find some good food which we were deprived of with majestic aplomb in the previous week. None of us could recollect what exactly did we eat in the past few days? I had entered a phase of food amnesia, just could not recollect if I had eaten anything at all in the past week. Before visiting the rock gardens we had somehow managed to find a place which was pure vegetarian as well as served "Jain" food. It was not a restaurant that we ate at, it was Morari Bapus ashram or something which

 “We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that’s like saying you can never change your   fate.”  ―  Amy Tan ,  The Hundred Secret Senses With Each passing stroll in the narrow and broad routes of Mumbai, there always rises that dream nurtured by the ever addictive air of this unpredictable city. Every eye holds that sparkle to twinkle with grandeur and amazement. There is more often than not , an infinite flow of zeal to exist with exuberance. The early Mumbai sun rises with 25 million pair of eyes wanting to rise and rise big. The rays from the horizon always tries to sprinkle that glitter which evolves dreamers and not just exist-ers in the arm of the city. With humongous hardships the souls wander all day, figuring out a niche to carve in the enigmatic atmosphere of the city. The city indeed is an unique architecture marvel as its not build of man made constructions, it is built with that rock of tenacity which makes it the city where enchanted

 Chamba was driving at a subtle and gentle speed now. It was June, 2011. The road to Nubra Valley did not seem to be a comfortable ride in the making at all. I was seated at the rear of the car which I remember to be a Scorpio. Seating on the third row of cars had become my routine the past 5 days travelling more than 750 kms through devilish roads with angelic sights. Six of us were exhausted immensely with the road travel, but somewhere within we were excited to know what came next to us. All of us were in the drowsy state of mind, when the driver turned on what he called 'LEH FM' only to realize later that he was ridiculing us in our tired state of mind. The FM played a song which I had heard for the first time on the trip. I could not recollect if I had heard it on this trip as well ( Except mountains of all shapes I could hardly recollect anything in that phase of the travel). Suddenly as the song played everyone got tilted sitting upright on their seats (falling down fr

Choose Mumbai Metro before you head to Imagica! Last week I had a daunting task to achieve. I had a show at Imax, Wadala at 7pm and I had to reach there from a distant land known as Andheri (Eastttt). I had finished my work by 5pm and had to try and reach for the show on time because I did not want to miss the artificial hysteria around Transformers 3D. After all permutations in my mind, only clear winner for my travel was Mumbai Metro! Then ensued the most adventurous trip that I have ever had reaching a movie theater. Walking down from Andheri Subway to finding the Metro was an easy task (Auto rickshaw drivers snubbed be for asking them for such a short ride). Having figured out how to enter the way up into the Reliance created monolith , I guessed my trip to imax was simplified beyond my imagination. Thinking that was the dumbest thing I have done in recent times. After entering the Metro I stood standstill viewing the magnanimous crowd at its tip, each person grinning aw

"My Blood Type is Coffee"   Coffee is a beverage that makes you wander, wonder, strike conversations ,lift moods, kill time, explore , set marriages (in India at least). I have always been notorious for my love for Coffee houses and the variants of this wonder beverage. Trying almost close to 30-40 versions of coffee i could not find out which was my favorite. Earlier it had always been the Ethiopian Coffee which attracted me but it had lost its touch with time. I dumped it and moved on in life. Then was the love string with Americano which gave me umpteen sleepless nights. But again the relationship was too dark to continue. One day in my quest to find my new love, I landed up at the CBTL, Inox Mumbai. The date for the night was Hazelnut Latte. It was the best Hazelnut Latte I had ever had and I realized it created the coffee with the precise amount of sweetness without having the need to add sugar. The next destination for Hazelnut latte was at the Starbucks, Ta

INCH BY INCH - THE BODY TEMPLE ?????   Well Here is a Story of a Gym that will teach you - 'How to Lose Your Mind and not your Weight!' (in contrast to Rujutha Divekars famous health book). I always used to think that gym would be a place where one would try and achieve physical fitness through varied means. But here was a gym which changed my thinking to a great extent. It made me realize how a gym would fill your mind with superlative frustration. The story goes down to the year 2012, wherein i joined this gym(read as circus) trying to achieve a glorious physical health but little did i know that i was about to lose my mental wealth. In that year i was trying to lose my ever increasing weight and was attempting to join a gym to get in shape! Then i joined a well known south Mumbai gym which calls itself 'The Body Temple' (i feel ashamed to use the word temple with this gym, but such is life with harsh realities). I went to this gym for 3 months and lost a