Speaking my heart out about Pizzas!! (slurp!)

The title itself sounds yummy isnt it?? Doesnt it remind yourself of that wonderfully crispy pizza laced with yummy toppings you had at this lovely place with great ambience. One reason I chose (or is it with the extra 'o') to blog about this is the fact that I had the most delicious pizza yesterday (Sunday 30-10-05). There is this place called Pizza Express in Mumbai. Its on the road connecting Churchgate station to Marine Drive bang opposite a restaurant called "Gaylord" (no the title does not indicate a hang-out place for gays - although I may be wrong here..I'm not sure ;-)).

The ambience is good, the service is good and though the pizza takes a tad too long, you can gouge on some drinks and starters, and that should keep your mouth occupied before the actual thing is placed in front of you. The restaurant's got a pretty decent variety and there's also a fair bit for the "pasta-thetically inclined". (I'm pretty good at coming up with such words, ain't I?)

Okay now back to the "real" stuff about which I actually want to talk. Its like this. In Mumbai you get pizzas right from the "gali-ka-grill-sandwich-wala" to the zingyest, zaniest, and most famous restaurants.

At the "gali-ka....-wala" you get a single size mostly 6/8 inch pizza with pretty thick pizza bread and standard toppings (read: onion, tomato, capsicum, mushroom) laden with lotsa grated cheese. Many-a-times it is half-baked and the cheese does not melt into the toppings.

The next "type" is the Udipi-restaurant-pizza. Udipi is a wonderful place in South India with lots of greenery and lovely temples and of course not to forget the "Shettys". The "Shettys" are a Tullu community mostly into restaurant business (also into dance-bar-thingys...more on that in another post) and do a great job at that.

The choices you get here are only slightly better than the "gali-ka....-wala" pizza. The sizes are pretty similar, there is slight variety in toppings. One thing that typically strikes you when you browse through the pizza section is that there is always a "-special-pizza". You didnt understand that??? Oh My God, you want me to tell you everything. Okay let me put it this way, if you consider an Udipi restaurant by the name Sai-Dham, then this restaurant will definitely have a pizza named "sai-dham-special-pizza". You got the drift? Phew! Finally!

I had one such pizza at one such Udipi restaurant. (I'll spare the name just in-case the owner or someone happens to read this post. I'm a peace loving, life-fearing person just like you) :-))) I was totally "shell-shocked" at the look of the pizza. This pizza had lots of nuts, honey and sweet-cherries as dressing. Now of course I do like nuts and cherries, not to mention the honey too, but then please...not on my pizza!!! Anyways, I'd still want you to try that stuff out and check it out for yourself. Maybe you have a "sweet-tooth" which is sweeter than mine!!

Moving on. After this comes a whole lot of "quick-pizza" restaurants that promise you prompt service, free-pizza-deals, extra-free-cokes, etc...etc. A typical 14" pizza would have 8 slices, quite enough for 2 people. (Of course people like me can finish-off a whole one) :-))). The pizzas you get here the indianised equivalents of the american style pizzas. They have the most variety. Variety in terms of toppings, in terms of sizes and heavy customization. The height of customization would be tandoori-paneer pizza with black olives and jalapenos, pineapple and extra cheese. Oh My God!!! Given this kinda combination, I wouldnt be surprized if the italian inventor of pizza turns in his grave!!!

This is the most popular with the middle class, who would much rather enjoy the pizza at the comfort of their homes, watching their favourite soap serials. (The talk or rather even the thought of soaps especially ones starting with "K" makes me feel pukey)

The final category of restaurants is "authentic-italian-pizza" restaurants. There are a whole lot of them in Mumbai. The size of pizzas is standard (mostly 10"). Crust is thin, the toppings are pretty standard, olives, jalapenos, coloured-capsicum, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, mushrooms, baby corn and sometimes paneer also. The Indian element is evident in these "authentic-italian-pizzas" too, but there is not too much mix-and-match. Most pizzas that you get here in these restaurants are not too spicy and you might have to sprinkle chilli flakes on top to make it spicier. Despite the "indianisation" these pizzas are closest to their italian counterparts. In many cases you also get a choice in the types of cheese - Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Chedar etc etc.

I've had pizzas at all these places and enjoyed it thoroughly, albeit some more than the other. Wow...What a mouth-watering ending to a delicious, sumptuous post about pizzas. Wishing you happy Pizza Hunting!!!

Jinxed Month!!!!

Believe me. I'm writing this blog with un-imaginable, indescribeable, utmost frustration. This whole month has been completely jinxed for me. It started off the "lure" and the "expectation" of going to the US. I was supposed to fly-off on the 3rd of October. But due to some reasons which can only be best described "out-of-hand" the trip got delayed, delayed and yet again delayed. The result, I'm still languishing here in Mumbai, with no end in sight.

The next thing that happened is when I gave my car for servicing and repair work. The tyres were so worn out that it caused tremendous wobble. The car felt as if it were on a rocking boat rather than on a road. I gave the car on the 1st of October and finally was able to lay my hands on it again only after almost 20 days. I got it fully and completely rectified and in pristine condition only on the 19th.

Between the 1st and the 19th came Dussera, which was on the 12th. On that fateful day I lost my cellphone. The point is not the fact that I'd have to spend 13-14 grand again on a new phone, the biggest problem was loosing all my data. Well somehow I got over that and got a new SIM card and a new phone.

But then the jinx is not yet over. How can it, because the month is not yet over! Saturday again, after exactly 3 days after I got my car from the service center, it started to give problem. The A/C again gave up on me. Oh My God!!! What the hell is happening?? I spend blody 30 grand on the repairs and servicing and in 3 days the A/C conks off!!

How more unlucky can you get?? I dont know...What more is in-store for me in the remaining days of the month? I dont know...The most frustrating part of the "problematic-car" ordeal is the fact that I had to drop the car on Monday morning at 9.00 at the service center. Take a bus, reach office and then in a couple of days come back from office again in a bus go to the service center and pick up the car again. God! Just the thought of it makes me feel so frustrated!!

The distance between the service center is about 40 kms and it takes more than bloody 2.5 hours to cover the stretch. Just thinking about the ordeal gives me the creeps. For almost the whole month, I've been reaching office @ 10.00 and Monday again I was be late. Monday was supposed to be my meeting with my Proj. Manager to discuss about the US trip, but then gues what?? Its got delayed AGAIN!!!

I'm so used to the delays right now that if anything happens on time; I am AMAZED!! Also the fact that I've spent almost a lac of rupees this month does not - in any which way - provide any semblence of solace to my troubled mind. Inaction and Idleness is one thing I ABSOLUTELY detest. And this month I've not got anything except that. I can only hope that next month everthing goes back to normal. I'm also hoping that there should'nt be a DELUGE next month with everything happening simultaneously with me having no time to digest and assimilate stuff. But I've got this sinkin feelin that its gonna be that way.

CAT, SPJain, US-Trip and God alone knows what else lies in wait,
spending and biding their time to catch their bait,
And no points for guessing who the bait is,
Its me, its me, its nobody else but me!!!

Its Not About The Car!!!

Prologue
A car meets with a minor accident, no damage in particular, just a dent near the bonnet and nothing else. The car's ailing and ageing. Tyres worn out. Air pockets form inside the tyre surface. These air pockets cause massive vibration inside the car. The car is taken to a service center for repairs.

The First Week Story
One week gone, not much work done on the car. The owner calls up the service center for information and is told that the tyres have been changed but the accident damage can be claimed in Insurance. The owner agrees. Forms are filled. Details are elaborated. Assurances given that the car will be ready by the end of this week (2nd week).

At the end of the second week, the owner gets a call. "Sir, there is some leakage in the valves, we have to open the dashboard and replace the valve". The service center mechanic continues, "Sir, that will take a lot of time so you will get the car only on Monday."

The owner reluctantly agrees (nothing much he can do about it really). All through the weekend he constantly reminds himself that his relegation to a 'public-transport-user' will end soon. Come Monday evening, his reliance on buses and trains will be gone forever. His spirits are on the rise and all through the day he expectantly awaits a call from the service center.

Dashed Hopes...
All through the day he glances at his watch. He regularly glances at his mobile phone to check for any 'network problems'. There ain't any. Finally at 16:30 his patience runs out and he calls the service center. The expressions on his face change from an expectant look to that of despair and then to an angry look. In a fit of rage, he lambasts the service center attendant. The attendant is unnerved comes up with cheesy excuses which the owner does not buy. Sparks of invectives emanate from the owner which ultimately ends in a sigh of anguish and in frustration bangs the phone.

Still No End In Sight...
The remainder of the day passes incident-free. The owner's mind still occupied with the thought of procuring the car sometime soon. The next day again frustration takes better of him and the owner calls up the service center again to find out about the status of the car. His expectations have been reduced from actually getting the car to getting mere information about the progress of the work done on the car. The owner's first attempt at establishing contact with the service center attendant goes in vain. The attendant realizing the number does not take the call and switches his phone off.

The owner is relentless, he tries on the landline and luckily manages to get to talk to the attendant. The same guy whom he had talked to yesterday. The attendant explains (although unconvincingly) the reasons for the delay which appear to the owner as excuses. Finally the owner cuts the phone after coming to know that his car, his baby will not be ready neither today, nor tomorrow. The attendant does not give him an exact date.

The owner is devastated. Its been 17 days since he last saw his car and he still cant see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thats the end of the story!!!

Moral of the story: I still havent got my car back from servicing and I dont know when I'll get it.

With Or Without You (I mean the Cellphone) :-))

Unbelievable isnt it?? But I did experience it. For the first time since the year 2000 (the year I got my first mobile phone) I was "unreachable, uncontactable" (call it what you want) for one whole day. The whole day I had this thing going on in my mind that somebody or the other will call me. If anyone calls he/she will get a recorded message the service is temporarily disconnected and will probably think that I havent paid the bill or something.

But anyways, apart from a couple of close friends and folks from home, I dont think anyone else would have called me!! You know thats the thing about having a cellphone and not having one. When you have it, you get only very few calls and when you dont have it or you have lost it, then you probably end up getting a lot of calls. Its the classic Murphy's Law syndrome. For the non-technically inclined here's the explanation of it. MURPHY's Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Another thing is that, the biggest impact of losing one's cell phone is not the fact that one has to pay money and get a new phone, its actually losing the phone numbers, SMSs, calendar entries, reminders, pictures, and many other stuff which affects one more. So in the whole ordeal I was set back by a cool Rs.14 grand!!

Didnt go for anything absolutely top of the line, but its more medium (or probably high-medium) range with 1.3Mp camera, 65k colours, Bluetooth and all other so-called "normal" features. Its actually Nokia 6230i. If you're interested have a look here. I thought it's pretty cool. Later-on my sister actually told me that there's another Nokia phone the 3230 with same 1.3Mp camera which costs just about 1/2 a grand more but with video editing and real-player. But the flip side is that you get only 32Mb memory stick along with that. So, frankly I think its pretty even.

You know, people have this overwhelming urge or compulsion that each time a new phone comes into the market, you try to bargain for an exchange offer and buy the latest phone. The psyche behind it is rather intriguing. Ofcourse I am no Angel and I too fall in the same category. My take on this is as follows.

You buy a new, cool, sexy, phone with "mind-blowing" features. You show it off to your friends and relatives and harp your way to glory about your "new-found" gizmo and cuddle as if it were a "new-born" pet. You take real good care of it and it's the darling of your eye. Pretty soon (read 3-4 months) it no longer remains a "new-born" baby and it is relegated from a pet-toy to "just-another" electronic gadget. You use it for all possible things, to store alarms, to set reminders, to store a list of things to do, to save net-banking passwords etc etc. In about 8-10 months, you are not very concerned if it falls down accidentally or if the colour fades. Now you actually start to abuse the phone rather than use it. :-))

In another 12-14 months you envy people who show you off their newly bought stuff. (They having gone through a similar process with someone else with another phone). And somehow it gets into your head and you start contemplating buying a new one. Further on, after about 14-16 months, you go ahead and exchange your battered, worn-out, abused phone with a brand new pristine stuff for approx the same money you paid to get our old phone.

And the cycle continues....

All this, and you cannot imagine spending a day without punching a key on the cellphone atleast once (if not many more times). Trust me it is hard!! Go ahead if you dont believe me...try it once...and then post a comment on this blog that you proved me wrong. You would've only proved that you are probably not much of a slave of this sojourn electronic gadget...called the Cell-Phone!

Delhi, Here I Come - How I Finally Reached Delhi Overcoming All Pit-falls

Here I am, back again with my blog update. Its all about my adventure of how I got to Delhi to attend my colleague's wedding. Got the invitation eons (read 2 months) ago. Decided since I have never been to Delhi, I shall not miss this oppo(u)rtunity. (Can never ever get the spelling right...always get confused between the 'u' and the 'o') Booked my tickets. Is it a bus -- NO, Is it a plane -- NO, Its Rajdhani Express (a train you dumbo).

For the uninitiated, there are 2 "Rajdhani" trains going to Delhi from Mumbai (erstwhile: Bombay) (Somehow like to old name better - anyways whats there in a name..more about that later). One called "Rajdhani" leaves at 16:55 and the other called "August Kranti Rajdhani" leaves at 17:25. I was booked in the earlier one. Both the trains leave from the suburban railway station of Mumbai Central. I was all gung-ho about my first visit to the capital city, trust me I didnt know what was in store for me.

How It All Started..
Along came 9th September, the day of my departure. Interesting turn of events before the "eventful" day had culminated in that day (9th) becoming a sort of help-your-friend-at-any-cost day. My friend's brand new powerbook (an apple laptop - you imbeciles) had conked off some days back and it was stashed away at a service centre and my friend and I went to collect it. The service centre was located at Andheri. The next thing he wanted was to have was a Ruksack (word lifted from German Ruk meaning back and sack meaning bag) for the notebook.

Basically he wanted a backpack and the service centre recommended a shop at Marine Lines. We drove down from the suburbs all the way to town (more than 30 kms through aluminium and tin rubble - read traffic) only to be told that the bags were out of stock. All this while, it was raining very heavily and by the time we left town back for the suburbs it was 13:30.

The Adventurous Drive Back...
Driving back was a huge adventure, Worli was waterlogged very badly. Somehow I squeezed through the traffic, waded thru' water and reached Bandra only to find a bigger traffic jam. And then I pulled out a driving master-stroke. You can liken it to a magician pulling out a rabbit out of his hat. (Oh My God...I looove it when I come up with an idea like this and then I never stop harping about it..hehe) I took a short detour behind Mahim and reached the highway pretty fast. And the best part...I avoided all traffic. After that it was slick driving, cutting through traffic and rain like a Scythe which helped me reach home @ 15:30.

Hurry Hurry Hurry...
Ran into to the house, changed quickly (no time for shower) and took my bags. Fortunately for me most of my packing was done the previous night so I was happy. But unfortunately for me there was some last-minute packing left to be done which was pretty bad. Dumped all the remaining stuff into the bag and ran out. The time 15:45.

Atlast I'm Up And Away...
Reached Goregaon station and was standing in a queue to buy the ticket and in the process missed a "fast" train. This was to be the most crucial moment that day. Why?? I'll come to that later. For now, I consoled myself and reminded myself of one saying in Hindi (Its actually not a saying its just a dialog from a Bollywood movie which has achieved cult status) - Bus, Train aur Ladki chali gayi toh nahi roneka, ek gayi toh doosri aati hai. It simply means, dont mull over a missed bus or a train (the ladki / girl part is probably indigestable) if one goes another one comes along. So I waited and the next train was slow. Well, it was 16:05 and I thought some train is better than no train at all. So I got in.

Oh My God Still A Long Way To Go...
At Andheri I decided I would end up missing my "Rajdhani" if I continued in the slow train, so I got down and thought of catching a fast train. The time was 16:15 and the indicator showed the expected arrival time as 16:05. There were announcements running proclaiming the 10 minute delay of the next fast train. That made me think that the train should be come-in any moment now. So I waited and waited and waited....Shucks! 15 minutes gone still no sign of the train. Meanwhile, a couple of slow trains have already gone after the one from which I had got-down.

The indicator now changed to 16:35 and an announcement proclaimed the arrival of the train in the next 2 minutes. I started mentally preparing myself for the situation of me missing the train..I started to think of the other ways of getting to Delhi. Surely, now the only option left for me was to take the next flight out of Mumbai. Meanwhile, the train - to my amazement - came exactly on time and zillions of people got down with many more zillions waiting to get in.

Wait And Hope...
Once you get in the train you experience an agonizing wait. And thats one thing that I really hate. Because at that point in time there is nothing which you can do. (Whatever was in my hands I screwed it up by leaving late) So now, all you can do is have patience and hope that there are no further delays. The train went pretty fast and by the time it reached Dadar, it had overtaken 2 slow trains. There was a short delay at Dadar. (Or maybe I felt the delay because I thought it stopped a wee bit longer than normal). When the train left Dadar, the time was 16:47 and the time to Mumbai Central should take about 7 minutes. That left me with only 1 minute to catch my Rajdhani. A tiny chance....but a chance nonetheless!! I was starting to feel upbeat.

I'm Almost There...
The fast train overtook the earlier slow train I had boarded just after Dadar and another slow train after that. It made me happy because I realized I had taken the right decision at Andheri to take the fast train. Made me feel all the more ecstatic. Mumbai Central was approaching and looked out of the window and saw the Rajdhani Express still standing at the platform. I was euphoric. Looked at my watch and it read 16:54. So my calculations were right I still have 1 minute to go. Now, everything is in my hands.

So Near Yet So FARRR...
Come Mumbai Central, I jump out of the running train and onto the platform, I take the overbridge and go to the first platform only to be told that the Rajdhani was leaving from the next platform. So I gathered all my luggage (not that I had lots just 2 pieces), ran up the stairs again and got down in the next platform. I could see the last compartment of the Rajdhani. I ran like never before, like my life depended on it, like a rugby fly-half dodging the standing Coolies. I saw a couple of other people running along with me. But sometimes things are just not under your control. It was as if you were destined not to achieve that target. This was the same case. I had missed the train. I rewinded to the time I spent buying a ticket at Goregaon. Had I just gone directly, I would have got the earlier fast train and also I would have got the Rajdhani. The only thing that remained now was a "IF ONLY".

Now WHAT!!??!!...
I stopped to gather my breath back. I had put in my best effort (discounting ofcourse the initial delay) but it was not to be. Slowly I walked back thinking what should be done. The other person (a sikh - an ethnic group which wears a turban - called papaji in Mumbai lingo) who was also running to catch the train, caught up with me and asked me what my future course of action was. I told him I was undecided and he suggested that maybe we can try tickets for the next Rajdhani. Now, that was a good suggestion (And people make dumb jokes on these guys!) and I had not thought about it at all. Thanks Papaji!!!

So we proceeded towards the ticket counter. The walk back was agonizingly slow and the platform was noisy. As I approached the ticket counter the Dhin increased significantly, people pushing and shoving each other trying to buy the ticket for the next Rajdhani. All these people had missed the train and there were atleast 100 of them. I stood in the line and started to fill up the ticket form. While I was doing so, the papaji also requested me to fill in his details. Reluctantly, I filled in his details as well.

A Whole New Tribulation...
Normally I am rather wary of strangers, somehow I dont talk to anyone just like that let alone help them. But somehow I got over this mental block and decided to help him out by filling in his form as well. Confusion reigned supreme outside the ticket counter. And chaos added fuel to the fire. No one was sure which was the ticket counter because the tickets were being issued from the "refund" counter. Suddenly, a lot of people on provocation by some goon rushed to the adjoining counter and I forged ahead bypassing atleast 15 people. Now I was 3rd in the Queue and thats when the security was called in to control the crowd.

Actually, the tough part was not getting pushed and shoved and squashed around in the Queue; the tough part was taking care of the bags in the whole ordeal. I started to feel claustrophobic and slightly nauseous. I started to sweat profusely and it showed on my face, on my hands, on my T-Shirt and even on my trousers. Each second of standing in the line seemed equivalent to 1 day in a small, sweaty, humid, sticky room with no electricity. (like the Attic). I was on the verge of giving up, started to think that to undergo so much ordeal just to get a ticket is not worth it. Suddenly one person moved out triumphantly with his ticket.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel...
My hopes got a fillip seeing this and I started to coax my mind into bearing the brunt for a little longer. My back ached since it controlled the pushes from people ahead. My arms ached since it controlled the weight of the people pushing from my back, my shoulders ached since they bore the weight of my bag. Each passing second seemed like never-ending trauma. Just as I contemplated giving up another person moved out of the line with a ticket. I was at the counter.

Papaji To The Rescue...
I thought finally this thing is coming to an end. I asked for 2 tickets for 3-tier AC but I was told they were sold out so then I asked for 2-tier AC. I got the tickets and I was supposed to pay 4440. Now I was faced with a different problem. I ran out of cash. I had only 1500. I asked if I could pay by credit card and I was given a negative reply. Papaji actually turned out to be the saviour. He willingly paid 3000 and the issue was settled.

About Time I Got Some Success...
Finally, finally, finally I came out of the queue covered in sweat from head to toe, my arms, legs, back, shoulders aching, but I came out victorious. A sense of achievement filled my lungs - or should I say it was fresh air! I think it was both. Now the whole torment lasted for 20 minutes and I just had 5 minutes to search for my seat in the next Rajdhani. So I run again this time assured that I'll get the train.

I was able to locate my seat in the nick of time and no sooner did I crash into my seat, than the train moved. WOW!! I could not believe that I had to go through all this just to get into a train which would get me to Delhi. I started to dread what lay in-store for me in Delhi. What more adventures would I experience.

Rajdhani Express CHüGG Away...
As the train gathered speed, I re-counted all my feelings, my decisions, my thoughts and everything else I could think of as my train passed one suburban station after another and mumbled a silent prayer of thanks to god for everything that I experienced. This is what I call destiny! You cant change it try as you might! So live with it and make best of what you got!