Peace..finally..!!

It has been 8 months since I moved to Hyderabad.. Life has just been normal and that is how it has looked till now..

Days seem to have passed without coming across any major restraint.. I really can’t imagine staying elsewhere but Hyderabad for it has given me peace..

Peace was really something that I missed at Bangalore.. Jun 2007 – Mar 2009 was the worst time of my life in terms of money, work and family.

There have been so many people who have influenced the way I see life and my outlook has totally changed after this bad period..

My core team @ Hyderabad has been very influential to me enjoying peace (even thought the client has done their best to screw us). It is really terrific what a "person" can do with peace around him..!!

Humour - 3

This guy walks into a bar on the top of a very tall building.

He sits down, orders a huge beer, chugs it, walks over to the window, and jumps out. Five minutes later, the guy walks into the bar again, orders another huge beer, chugs it, walks over to the window, and jumps out again. Five minutes later, he re-appears and repeats the whole thing.

About half an hour later, another guy at the bar stops the first guy and says, "hey, how the heck are you doing that?!"

The first guy responds, "oh, it's really simple physics. When you chug the beer, it makes you all warm inside and since warm air rises, if you just hold your breath you become lighter than air and float down to the sidewalk."

"WOW!" exclaims the second man, "I gotta try that!"

So he orders a huge beer, chugs it, goes over to the window, jumps out, and splats on the sidewalk below.

The bartender looks over to the first man and says, "Superman, you're an asshole when you're drunk."

Change..!!

Times don't change. Men do.. :-|

Being Jonty Rhodes..!!

Reflex, agility and anticipation is always an irrepressible mix & that is exactly what Jonty was all about. Jonathan Neil Rhodes wasn't just lightning, he'd dive, stop a ball and get up almost in the same movement. His energy made his contemporaries blush and jugglers go white at his dexterity.

Some more stuff about him:

1. For his fine hockey skills, he got selected in the South African Olympic hockey team in 1996..!!

2. First cricket player in history to claim paternity leave..!!

3. Was famous for delaying the team bus for an extra round of work-out or signing autographs for kids..!!

Below is the link which shows him in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMHpZpwvPdM

Rhodes will always remain 'the best fielder in the world of cricket'..!! His greatness really said it all when one fan put up this on one of the posters during an ODI:

"Three quarters of the earth is covered by water. The rest by Jonty Rhodes"..!!

Fake IPL Player

It has been quite sometime since I've been following the Fake IPL Player blog. I must say the guy has some balls to be on the KKR team as he claims and still do what he has done so far. No one really knowz who this guy is..& hez playing along with the mystery of it all.

“And a witch hunt is on. There are 4 suspects. The funny thing is that I am not on the list.”... “Has it occurred to anyone that I might have described myself incorrectly to hide my identity?”

All this reminds me of all the fun/gossip that was on when we played @ the DGCC..!! Discussions on Milk Loki and his mysterious visitors who used to visit him @ the park, Gautham's longggggggg list of "game meat", Gandhi's unusual pace bowling, Rudru's batting, Vishwas's amazing skills..!!

Anywyz you can read more about the Fake IPL Player at http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com/. Some interesting names of guys who are a part of the current IPL tourney:

Lady Jaya - Jayawardene
Arnold Power - Ramesh Powar
Castro - Fidel Edwards
Springbok - Charl Langeveldt
Ghati Baba - Rohit Sharma
Little Monster / Aila - Sachin Tendulkar
Gilli Danda - Ashok Dinda
Bhookha Naan - John Buchanan
Boy George - Brad Hodge
Style Bhai Spinner - Murali Karthik
Lord Almighty - Saurav Ganguly
Phoren baba - Mccullum (also Gayle & Hodge when used in plural ?)
Calypso King - Gayle
Vinnie Dildo / Badshah Dildo - Shahrukh Khan
Kishen Kanhaiyya - Ravi Shastri
Sandy Babe - Mandira Bedi
Sultan of Tweak - Warne
Sparrow / Parrott - McGrath
Bevdaa team - BRC (Mallya’s Team)
Big Sister’s Team - RR (Shilpa Shetty’s team)
Mr. Bativala - Vijay Mallya
RDB - Ranadeb Bose
Prince Charles of Patiala - Yuvraj
The Rajputs - Rajasthan Royals Team
Pedophile Priest - Adam Gilchrist
Little John - Ishant Sharma
Very Very Special Ram - VVS Laxman
Former India fast bowler who will remain a former India fast bowler / Kaan Moolo - Ajit Agarkar
Bangla Tiger - Mortaza
Appam Chutiya - Sreesanth
Junta Tormentor - Ajanta Mendis
India’s best fast bowler - Ishant Sharma
Chirkut Teli - Virat Kohli
Panty Curry - Robin Uthappa
Chikna Pussy - David Hussey
Chinnu Popli - Shreevats Goswami
Budhimaan Baba - Wridhiman Saha

Moghul of Hyderabad

Finally I have moved to Hyderabad and I must say itz been one helluva task shifting here...let me list out what has happened so far:

* Get to know that boss needs me to shift to Hyderabad…am happy, at least I dint get kicked out during recession..!! Go home & inform folks about it...as always Mom is apprehensive about me moving as I have always been with them…somehow convince her that I need this..!! Dad never says no when it comes to something new and he always blesses me with his “go ahead”!!

* Leave Bangalore on Apr 2; get all my stuff transported through Packers & Movers…reached Hyderabad on Apr 3…checked out all the houses (rented) that I could that day but no luck…I was almost in tears when I saw these places..Horrifying is “the” term..!!

* Before leaving Bangalore, I was able to check for some houses on the internet. I had also spoken to a couple of guys on accommodation. Got back to the hotel that day, parents came in the next day, did the trial run again with some more houses and decided that the place which I had seen on the internet is the one where we would be staying..!! Having made this decision, got my chance to taste Hyderabadi Biriyani @ Paradise..!! I must say it was out of this world..!!

* Apr 6: Book a taxi, drive to Sanskriti Township and begin with the “house warming” stuff..!! Finally found a nice place to stay..!! One predicament though... Sanskriti Township is 25 kms away from my office and I will have to “transport” myself in APSRTC everyday..!! I have never ever used buses to go to work and this was going to be something challenging..but what the hell..!! Opportunities don’t come everyday and I dint wanna miss the experience of staying @ Sanskriti Township..!! Below is the link where U can see some pics. They aren’t mine but this is all I have as of now..!!

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/vinayghdke/SanskrutiTownship?feat=email#
All is well that ends well, lets hope things get better..!! Atleast with the weather here..!! Temperature stands impassive..!! Will update more shortly..!!

Epitome of Eggstasy..!!

I wanted to go there so badly after my first visit that I was just trying to find a reason.. :)

Too many good reviews on Burrp and a few recommendations, landed us at the much obvious "The Egg Factory". This is in the lane next to Dewar’s Wine Stores on the St.Marks road.

The door has a spanner as its handle, dining hall - dim lit with and the walls with red and off white paint and the glass wall towards the road. This one had the paint mark of leg prints of the hen. Next to the door, one would find a huge pipe at the end of which a speaker is fixed which was continuously blowing some amazing English numbers. This enhanced the factory kinda setting with the speakers hidden in the sirens. No false roofing, totally painted black with the lights hanging from top. They’ve made sure the A/Cs are black in color too! The rustic floor adds to the theme! Dining area which can accommodate around 40 people has wooden tables with long wooden bench on one side and foldable metal chairs with cushion on the other side. The third wall is damp with a board, “DAMP WALL. PLEASE DO NOT LEAN”. Later realized, it’s been purposely left that way to make it look more natural.

After a thorough scan of the menu, I ordered the Egg Frittata. The South Western Frittata was a huge hit. After thoroughly satisfied with the frittata, we ordered ultimate veggies omelet. This scored good, but, my favorite still remains the frittata.

For the main course, I had the Egg and Mushroom Ragout Penne which was slightly bland and had its own flavor. One of the best pastas ever for me but, turned out to be too filling for my stomach. This was served with the garlic bread. My friend tried the Mota Special – this is supposed to be one of the famous egg delicacies made on the streets of Manipal. Bread and butter with the egg curry made an exceptionally good combination.

For all this satisfaction – the ambience, the food – ofcourse delicious, the music and the impeccable courteous service, a meal for two would cost anywhere around Rs.400 which is a total VFM..!!

Highly recommended for the eggatarians and for all those who’d love to experiment and have a total transformation..!!

6 Sixes - Reality in DGCG?

First there was Sir Gary Sobers, then it was Ravi Shastri. Well, before we know that it is Gibbs & Yuvraj, there is also one man I know standing between these 2 & history..so here we go..

It was the summer of '98. All the D G boys were back set to build a team that was going to be the greatest ever to have set foot in DGCG..!!

Let me say that we had a few stars and what an amazing team we had..!! I wish we had pictures to substantiate my claim..!! Anywyz, I will check if I cud get a few from the group..!! I also remember we hosting a tournament @ DGCG & getting all the 3 matches recorded by a local chap working at the local cable network..!! Phew, still hard to believe we did all that..!!

Well, cuming back to the feat that happened way back in `Apr 98..!!

We had decided that we wud kick start our cricket practice that summer after the exams and all we wanted to do was play. Mind you, we really had a good team and had won many small tournaments. Anywyz, Letz get on to the 6 sixes in an over feat that happened on a hot summer afternoon, wch is a feat that VJ achieved during that time.

Anil, our team's fastest & most feared bowler had a brawl with VJ. Anil was supposed to have learnt the art of reverse swing. However, as U like it, VJ is VJ..and so the challenge was set..What a day that was..as Anil continued to bowl fast, the balls seemed to be disappearing faster...VJ was relaxing and in what style..Everyone looked in awe, even the guys who never knew cricket were all part of witnessing history...shortly after this as very few men know, Anil retired from cricket and got into the Dental Clinic (Nah, hez a dentist)..many feel that he has passed his prime but as I told the others that day "what we saw was pure magical"..!!

Many including I, claim this to be just a folklore..!!

Unchained Memories

Sometimes I wish I cud get back all those golden old days, all those days that I spent as a kid at '18 B Main Rajajinagar'...the days when things were so relaxed...the time when me, VJ, Sid, Supri, Gowda, Kaka, Raja & Anil wud just freak out...the 'Ganesha Habba' days...the days when we played cricket tournaments, the days when we wud go to Krishna Sweets for 'Badaam Haalu'...evenings spent with VJ in Khatta Meetha & MD...evenings spent in FP (our fav hangout even now jus for the amazing food)...days spent with Sid who pursued Spotless like a true Shikari...days spent with Supri on his Hero Puch...there was so little money & even then we enjoyed so much...hard to believe that we hav so much money now but we hardly ever meet..!!

It's really surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at that time..!! So enjoy while it lasts..!!

Cafe Masala - 5th Floor - Eva Mall

After reading so many good things about the buffet at Café Masala on burrp! I had no choice but to try it..!!

I went there with a friend who had come down from the US and another Vinay who has always had the advantage of being the "good Vinay" between the 2 of us...you bet I was completely bowled over at their big bang buffet spread..!!

I will just list the dishes that were on offer:

• Two soups (Veg & Non-Veg) & crackers for company
• Two types of bread (I call them buns)
• Three types of veg salads and Two non veg salads
• Lettuce bowl
• Some meat slices (which looked just like cucumber and carrot slices)
• Pizza
• Two veg starters. Two Non veg starters (do fried fish and hara bara kabab qualify?)
• Another Two non-veg dishes
  
• Veg Pasta
• Veg Biriyani
• Do-it-yourself chat counter
• Two veg gravies
• Two non veg gravies
• Another two veg dishes and two non-veg dishes
• White Rice
• Dal or something to accompany white rice
• Choice of bread (roti, kulcha etc. made after you ask for it)
• Chocolate fountain
• Marsh mellows (sticks provided to poke them and dip into chocolate)
• Fresh fruit bowl
• Three types of Mousse
• Two types of cakes
• Chocolate chips and raisins for garnishing your desserts
• Soft brownies and chocolate cakes(apart from the cakes mentioned above)
• Two flavours of icecream
• Kulfi
• Avocado Gelato

I am sure I have left out few more dishes but hey, thats all I can remember after bombarded with so much choice!

Completely overwhelmed, after the experience here, I’ve never been satisfied with any other buffet. Don’t know if its wrong to compare, but, unconsciously I do..!!

This I call – The Big Bang Effect..!!