Travels for Taste

Tales of travel and food with a touch of spice

A Hot Summer Day !

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I had a truly brilliant day , I spent a few blissfull hours at a park, I otherwise  only saw while being seated in a crowded tube , getting squashed between a bunch of strangers and trying NOT to die of the various body odours floating around mixed with even more toxic deodorants failing miserably at their jobs.

My gal pal S and her super cute and smart 4-year-old boy had a blast of day starting by gobbling strawberry flavoured icicles, followed by grocery shopping , hungrily eating many Indian street style snacks under the garb of being ”devislishly hungry”  and then rushing to this awesome park.

Oh yes, but the HIGHLIGHT of my grocery shopping was that I purchased a dozen HAPOOS AMBE (Alphonso = Hapoos, AMBA= Mango in Marathi, my mother tongue), I cannot describe the happiness I felt as I sunk my teeth into a ripe, plum slice of the King of Fruits. I will probably dream of drinking chilled mango milkshake early in the morning and ending the day by eating chilled slices of the hapoos mango with dollops of fresh cream, which I totally enjoy squirting out from it’s can and telling myself that since it’s ”low fat”, It can be that BAD after all !;)Just the thought of an alphonso mango brings back a string of memories, my most recent one being that of being transported straight to heaven as I had my first ever ”MASTAANI” that too a MANGO Mastani in Pune at one of the most favourite college haunts of Punekars- ”Sujata Mastani” in Old Pune, Peth area. (I shall stop here as I will sink hopelessly into a whole journey down memory lane and totally loose my way …hmmm I do see another blog write up coming up, all about Mangoes and memories, aha the good LIFE !) Oh yes and S and I took great delight in haggling over our purchase and managed to bring down the price by £1.47, my mom will be so happy to hear this (Jeevan safal moment for her, LOL !). I say this because I am terrible at bargaining and after years of seeing mom successfully doing it while buying veggies I hated myself for being such a failure 😉 , now that is exactly WHY I love Modern retail, imagine trying to ask the cashier at one of the Supermarket chains ”Surely, since I am buying 3 instead of 1, you HAVE to drop the price by at least 50p !, or else I DO have the option of WALKING OUT and buying from so-and-so competitor” – all this with a raised brow and a really fake serious expression on my face! ( AHO KAKA, asa kai Karta, 3 dabbe ghetoi na hapoos che, tar kahi Tari bhaav neet vichaar karoon sanga !!!) (Btw, Mastani is basically a thick ice cream milkshake with dollops of ice cream loaded on top and real fruit slices stuffed inside and on top of it is way way better than a falooda and is a dessert which has originated from Pune city and is a local must-have !)

Never have I seen a larger gathering of tiny tots all dressed in summery bright clothes and happy parents in one place !

I had my moment of calm amongst the chaos, as I sat on a wooden bench and gazed up at the bright sky , the trees gently swaying in the summer breeze ,thanking the gods for bestowing us with such a lovely day, I watched a few bold squirrels scamper around for food .

I left my mobile and my camera behind though , I wanted nothing to come in the way of me living in the moment .

I am turning into a person that dislikes mobile phones , rather a dangerous place to be in, in todays ”connected world” I say …hummm

But who can take away from me the memories I have clicked, framed, and stored away in the crevices of my mind, to be pulled out on a cold rainy day, am sure I will smile as  I think of this perfect day, a 4-year-old innocent banter, my friend’s happy smile as she sat on a swing after many, many years and the feeling of the warm sun on my face ….sighhh…

Of Smartphones ,Tablets and other fancy “Gadgetry'” …

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Clearly, I am an old fashioned person, severally, technologically challenged at that , maybe that’s why every time I travel in London and find people totally engrossed watching a vid on their Smartphone or reading a book on their tablets or eBook readers , I feel a definite pang of a mix of emotions ranging from jealousy to frustration .I mean here I am with a totally ”outdated” phone , which clearly dates back to the early 70’s almost and is more usefull as a weapon of self defence rather than a fancy phone and guess what my monthly plan doesn’t even cost me more than 20 pounds , shucks how boring is dat 😉

I must confess that I do read a lot of reviews about new launches of these devices , I read the feedback and tell myself ”aah this one has a battery life issue , let me wait for the next version which will have an improved version and better battery life and will probably weigh lighter than a pigeon’s egg”

Honestly, at times I wonder how many of the people that possess these gadgets use much of the power packed features. My ancient handset has email installed , allows me to send and receive calls, install and use whatsapp , upload and store documents , has a Bluetooth and hence can even be used to print stuff (so I hear ,never tried it though !), I even manage to click pics and store videos and yes browse the internet too. Well , now apart from these functions I shall need to really think hard as to what it is that the phone can do that a common person needs ,unless one is a complete geek ( my hubby is ), then you’re totally forgiven for drooling over a new gadget !

So either I am a totally sour and jealous soul who cannot fathom technology at all or am simply averse to a whole set of people blindly falling for a mobile company’s plan where they end up paying for the phone 2 times over and are hence easy prey to such gimmicks, makes me wonder is a phone’s popularity which is gauged by mass sentiment largely driven by a growing NEED to possess something simply for purpose of establishing societal status? Or is it really based on how many of features packed into a tiny hand held device are actually serving any REAL utility to a large percentage of people and making their lives happier , easier and therefore justifying the spend on such possessions.Perhaps, I should start a facebook page saying ” I belong to the generation who knew apple,blackberry , ice sandwich and gingrebread as FOOD” Like if you agree or some such …sour and cynical right ? hummm

I am sure of nothing I shall certainly have the most popular tablet by the time it’s version15 is launched or heck maybe by then humans will be injected with a chip with all these devices pre installed ,who knows , till such time I guess I shall continue gathering funds to buy at least one of not many of these fancy super sleek and cool gadgets !

Expensive Newsprint in the western World

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Ever since I set foot in London a year and few months  ago, I have moaned and moaned about expensive newspapers are . I was addicted to reading quite a few as my mother in law who was started her career as a Journalist with the a leading newspaper, gets like at least 4 newspapers everyday delivered at home sigh… what luxury !

Considering that I have been out of work as in a full-time job has eluded me , I do feel that grabbing the free newspapers available twice a day at bigger rail and tube stations is a way I can get my hand son newsprint for free and have the pleasure of sitting on an easy chair in th evening ,with a cup of hot Indian Ginger tea in one hand and a crisp newspaper in the other ,FREE newspaper albeit and pretend to be 60 and discuss the day’s news with my imaginary set of 4  foggies while we sit on a very green lawn ,again imaginary and puff (again imaginary) on expensive cigars . Ahh the good old days when this could actually be made into a reality !

Sighhhh ….I can’t wait to turn into an old fossil , retire, crib about pensions, play with my grandchildren , walk around with a mop of grey silver shiny hair on my head and greet all and sundry with a nod and get fussed over (hopefully) by a son or a daughter or if I am lucky both …

humm coming back to my topic of discussion , the sky rocketing rates of newsprint . A friend of mine who is a sensible bloke like , except that he is geek 😉 asked me to enjoy the modern day pleasures of reading online news , yes I am a FAN ,absolute fan of news blogs , free ones of course – agin the key word being FREE! , I read many of which The Huffington Post is very close to my heart , makes me think of a stout teapot on a bright sunny afternoon and me again on my imaginary lawn puffing a cigar and sipping unlimited cups of tea of course all this while READING a newspaper on an i-pad 🙂

But at 650£ pounds for a 64GB and a bit more extra for a white one at that , I am sick of BLACK for now ,I cannot afford one , by the time I will be able to afford one I guess version 10 maybe available ….such is my confidence right now of landing a decent paying full-time job in these recessionary times. And people ask me why I have turned into a serious ,thinking creature and lost all my youth ,vitality and cheerful candour ! It is the recession to blame of course !

Anyway, I have a life to attend to now and hence must stop rambling and get back to hunting for a job so that some day I can actually have a house with a lawn , be able to afford not just a newspaper (!) and a 64GB Apple i-pad as well .

Amen !

Being a Workaholic… is it really worth it …???

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I am a workaholic , my father is one too , he is in his seventies and still quiet adamantly goes to work almost every single day of the week . My sister is one too , so I can safely say it’s all genetic 😉 Better can proudly saying that my alcoholism is genetic …err I am obviously kidding here .

But seriously , this blog post sort of started walking into my head when I saw the so-called Last episode of Law and Order Criminal Intent ,where Vincent D’Onofrio is meeting with his shrink (Typical ) and decides that he can step aside from his massive king sized hero or at least the one he portrays for his character (let’s be fair , he is pretty convincing in his portrayal of an intelligent copper all dedicated to busting criminals and doing it with Elan’) and continue his session with her and address and admit to himself that work has taken over his mind to the point that he cannot see beyond it .I did feel a pang of sympathy for his character then , but couldn’t help battle conflicting thoughts within my mind of how work is after all that integral part of us that gives us a sense of individuality , it is necessary and mandatory.Yet the ever elusive work – life balance is difficult if not impossible to achieve.

This Workaholism – It is quite a crippling affliction I must admit , I have been there and suffered that so to speak . Spent the ”golden years” of my early life slaving late into perfectly lovely evenings in India’s most happening city ,Bombay , chasing some mad goals.

It’s only when I was forced to take a sabbatical that I was forced to see the other side of life. My choice of a career and industry meant my better half and me had different days of the week off and that meant even lesser time together than was possible otherwise. At first it didn’t matter but when I wasn’t working crazy hours and actually spent time at home , it set me thinking , was it all really worth it ?

I mean yes there is a period in life when we have to work hard, make some money so that we can have a fairly decent last few days post retirement and all that . But somewhere in this mad rat race of early morning and lat evenings we completely miss out on the larger picture . I am not entirely certain whether I can list what make sup this larger picture just that it’s made up of a zillion tiny moments of togetherness ,love , picnics , family time , catching up with pals or simply taking a break from it all .

If you go on for years without doing so , there will come a day when you look back and try desperately to find out how was it and when was it exactly that life passed you by it will just leave a rather bitter aftertaste and a massive feeling of emptiness.

I do know that in a recessionary world where jobs are difficult to come by and most people are hanging onto what they have for dear life ,to ensure that they can continue to put food on the table if nothing else .

But it is very important to count your blessing and invest good time in the people who matter the most , for who knows ,when one day ,it might just be too late to regret.

I cannot say whether I will not ever slip back into the same mode but every opportunity to do so tempts me a lot , but I am firm about a decision that has come about with a lot of introspection , I do still want to chase a DREAM, I want to have a baby some day , I do want to be there for that baby for all its important life events right from its first step to the time he or she decides to fly the nest. It’s a tall order, I know but then that’s what makes life what it is . I also want to sit back and think when I am getting old and foggy and hopefully have a grandchild or two to spoil , that I tried and maybe failed at achieving a mad dream rather than not having tried at all !

I do know this that if a few years ag, I worried that my grave stone epitaph would have the words ” Here lies an over obsessed Workaholic, resting at last” , I shall probably have more pleasant words like …” I chased my dreams and now I lie in eternal sleep , smiling down on all that love me , happy knowing that… I DID IT MY WAY ”

Dedicated to Pigeons WORLD OVER

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I have always been fascinated by these feathered fellas , they seem to have an amazing survival technique and are such fun to observe !

I have spent many an evening at Trafalgar square admiring these naughty birds .They always seem to gather around in a hungry bunch whenever they see anyone eating anything at all, not only are they super swift in swooping down at lightning speed to pick up the crumbs as I nervously and rather hungrily gobble my sandwich on a wooden bench watching the fountain and watching the pigeons too from the corner of my eye …. lest they attack me and steal away my meal deal , gosh with a few coins left in my purse ,couldn’t afford another !

Burping and satisfied after a sandwich,crisp and drink meal later , I lazily lounge on the bench as the birds curiously walk around my feet and search under the bench for more crumbs , they then fly to the top of the statue and perch there. I wonder how they always find such prolific locations to poo on !

I have therefore pldeged never to work hard enough to become so famous that after I fall dead someone thinks of erecting a statue of me somewhere, imagine I’d become an instantly popular new ”poop spot” for pigeons,not a pleasant thought that is it?

I always avoided KABOOTAR KHANA at Dadar as much as I could cause the very thought of a zillion pigeons gathered in one place to eat grains donated by willing masses and poop all over the place later ,though may sound ideal to any pigeon , I always feared what if they all decided to gang up against us humans and peck out everyone’s eye balls for fun ? shiver shudder shake shake …. brrr scary thought that .(KABOOTAR KHANA , KABOOTAR in Hindi Language means a Pigeon, can you imagine that in a city like Mumbai , we have a place named after Pigeons and a whole area dedicated to the, isn’t that proof enough for how powerful and omnipresent they are ??!)

(best ever image of Kabootar Khana is taken by Humayunna Peerzaada and is available to be viewed on at the following flickr link – http://www.flickr.com/photos/humayunnapeerzaada/471662046/ ) ( I love all the other albums in his link as well , amazing photography I must say !)

Theres another way I entertain myself while I wait at bus stops (during the Olympics I shall have to do that more frequently me thinks 😉 !!) ,at any given point of time there is always a small group of busy pigeons strutting their feathers near the bus stop, walking around the bin which is always there next to the stop and trying to snuggle up between people’s feet ,maybe to keep warm?

If you observe pigeons on Oxford Street for example I swear , they are busy chatting amongst themselves and checking out the millions of tourists walking all over the place .Whenever I am crossing the road at the main signal at the 4 exits out of Oxford street tube station there will always be a bunch of pigeons walking yes WALKING alongside us humans crossing the road , now why on earth do they do that ?? You have wings fellas remember ??They almost obediently wait for the signal , all the time tilting their neck to one side as if to say ” What ya looking at woman , keep your eyes on the signal will you ?” as soon the signal turns green there they are marching alongside oblivious to the thousands of feet stamping nearby. At times I swear I saw one of the naughtier ones trying to tilt its neck and peek up a womans’ skirt ! Just as it was able to , another pigeon came over and nudged Mr.Peea-Kaboo hard enough , they both then majestically walked away pretending as if nothing had happened ! HA ! Little did they know that I had SEEN their dirty little trick humphfh !Naughty little perverts !

Not to mention the clever ”KABOOTAR’S” that I have encountered in India . They even have an entire song dedicated to them in one famous hindi flick , yes yes it’s true, here’s the link !

This song is proof that Pigeon Mail is faster ,more reliable and more affordable than posting letters at least for our Bollywood stars.This is just one song , there are many more such songs where the pigeons have pivotal roles that get the other actors in lead roles together for a happily ever after end …hummmm

And then I have this pal who now is wiser after studying a few more years but has a passion for breeding ‘homing’pigeons , yes yes and yes , he was rather good with it too.After all they always came back ‘home’ AFTER they were sold 😉

Now with all these observations over the past many years I am sure that pigeons world-wide have some sort of an internationally recognised body run and functioning solely supported by pigeons alone wherein they plan and strategize survival techniques against the growing atrocities by us humans .

Given their amazing ability to stay warm in harsh winters, feed themselves and maintain their population at a constant healthy number ,they are doing a marvellous job at it !

I am never short of opportunities to click snaps of pigeons cosying up, here’s just one such example….

Pigeons posing for me

But the most amazing incident by a pigeon in London that I witnessed left me utterly speechless and CONVINCED that pigeons really ARE very, very smart ….on a dreary day in London (even a bright sunny day can turn dreary especially if you have a day out planned!) this pigeon STOOD alongside several passengers on a busy platform and actually BOARDED the train after us humans **gasp,gulp,gasp*

Then it proceeded to strut under a seat and peck at errant food particles dropped by a messy teenager who had just wolfed down a LARGE sandwich.About 2 stations after this clever bird had BOARDED the train it looked left and right when the door opened at a station,made some cooing sounds and HOPPED off ! GAWD, if I hadn’t consumed coffee that morning I would have certainly slipped into a coma.It definitely beats flying in rainy weather I’d say and ticketkless too.TFL , are you listening?! Guess not…baaah!

Ah well, I better get back to life now and observing more of my feathered companions along the way 😉 Adios !

It’s a BRIGHT and SUNNY DAY !

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It’s one of those day’s when I ache to grab a mini picnic lunch and a mat , rush to the local park, lie down with a good book and sip some lemonade chilled ofcourse . I dream of falling asleep with the book gently resting on my tummy and the sound of bees buzzing around in the distance , tiny flowers popping up in the grass around me and experiencing a feeling of complete bliss – the feeling of doing nothing and yet doing everythings .

Just the thought makes me smile 🙂

A walk in the Common.

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Lately after my Doc has declared that I really need to LOOSE tons of weight , the prospect of going for a long walk daily has ”walked ” into my brain and has become so deeply ingrained that I threw myself out of the house quite willingly today , I must say that I really enjoyed the walk ”to” the Common ( the Common is basically a massive public park, it is so called because of The Commons Act 2006,please click on the hyperlink to read more about the term) ,rather than the walk ”back” from the common which used to be the case .Maybe the fact that after my first ever real Winter in the western world the bright sunshine and the arrival of a much awaited ”Late” Spring season spurred my spirits enough.

It was amusing to watch different people walking their dogs , some of them clearly tugging impatiently at the leash and pulling their pets out of hedges and varied bushes on the way , to some being led on by the pet who is invariably looking extremely excited with tongue hanging out smiling almost ,grinning even ,puffing and panting and making their masters obediently run after them ! One rather tiny 7 month old pup called Rudy took a marked dislike to my brisk walk when I was heading back home and if I hadn’t stopped and stayed calm his menacing growl would have ended up in him nipping my ankles real bad grrrrr . I turned and walked over to the aged couple who were walking him as the lady tried to avoid eye contact, by then ”Rude-ehy” was on a tight lease and broke into an uncontrollable mix of growling ,barking and exhibiting a terrible opposition to my nearing presence . I spoke to the couple and the lady thanked me nervously for not trying to run away and causing their pup to chase after me ( am sure she was secretly thanking her stars that I wasn’t telling her off for not having the mutt on a leash in the public walking area ),she said had I started to run, he would certainly had nipped my ankles,imagine that ! Now really(??)!! and she thinks I’d have taken it sitting down ,  I would have first started running towards the couple and demanded they drive me to the nearest doctor and yes damm well PAY for the Mutt’s wrong doings ! But alas, no such exciting events occurred , turns out Rudy is a nice little fella after all , his master got him to some closer and he actually licked my hand ,ha !

I have decided to henceforth leave my cell phone behind when I go for a walk and drop all paranoia of ”what if I twist my ankle /get attacked by a psychopath/mugged by a villain on the way back/it suddenly starts to rain and there is a thunderstorm” and all other past excuses to carry my phone with me and also at times to not go for the walk at all.

So happy was I, that when I went for a stroll I completely forgot that I had oiled my hair in the morning and there was about half a litre of coconut oil on my tresses , while walking back I felt my head getting heavier only to realise too late that the cold air had turned my oily hair into a wiry nest with each strand feeling like a thick wire which if bent would snap like a dry twig on a hot summer day ! Not to mention that at the hairline along the forehead the oil was starting to collect in a pool of white sticky goo and look rather horrid ( yes I used my phone camera to click a pic of myself and see how stupid I reallywas looking !)

gaaah , I sped up and made a mad dash to get home as fast as my fat feet would take me !

But in spite of this, I cannot deny that the I spent time admiring and noticing beautiful setting Sun like a bright fiery ball of Orange sinking steadily into the horizon,had left a mixture of so many lovely colours onto the evening sky , a light orange like a delicate rush of freshly squeezed orange juice ,a shy pink like a million fresh pink buds had exploded in unison onto the sky and were kissing the birds flying home goodbye .

I really must say that all those who I saw walking back home ,in business suits , headphones stuffed deep into their ears and busy reading their messages or emails on their phones, please do yourself a favour , look up at the sky and feel the beauty of simple everyday life around you , don’t drown yourself in work so much that you miss out on these delights free for all mankind …

With such and other noble thoughts I came home to rest myself with a hot cup of instant soup and a desire to scribble onto my blog ,create a new post …and oh yeah go have a shower with my new rainforest bubble bath cream and coconut scented shampoo ,ah the simple luxuries of life !

Posted below are some pictures I had clicked last year of the common in Summer time , right now the many trees lining the artificial pond on both sides and the mini forest like mass of trees on the common grounds are quite bare still, though some are in full bloom and bursting at their seems with flowers dropping steadily and flying all over in the cold crisp breeze.

Blogging …

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I know it’s been a while since I have posted anything ne w, believe me right now I have atleast 10 different half finished posts waiting for me to sit down and get them to make complete sense . But I keep putting them off for various reasons all boiling down to my friend of many years my constant companion in all late submissions 🙂 Procastination.

But really is there any perfect day or time to blog ? I keep thinking I shall sit down when my mind is at peace with a big mugga hot chocolate , or I hsall walk down to the local park bench and sit down and type away ,or I shall snuggle up in the corner chair at my fav local cafe’ and scribble into my hand made paper diary with a pink pen with feathers at the end (Yes I am quite inspired by the character Garcia from Criminal Minds , especially her new spectacle PINK frames , soo girly !)

But I guess now I shall stop waiting for those perfect moments and just try and get into a post what’s on my mind before it slips away …

I always get the best ideas when I am travelling , on a bus , while strolling …. hummm

Here’s hoping that all those random thoughts floating around can come together to make posts that I can smile back on …

When the DAY takes control …..

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I had a lovely day today, a close pal came over with her cute four year old and I cooked us a simple meal , we then went do some much needed shopping for groceries for us and after the boy had a good run around in his favourite play zone, I was dropped home to spend the evening relaxing.

I honestly hadn’t planned any of this and expected today to be like any typical day at home when I am not working part time and spend my time doing an unpaid job – LOOKING for a job – applying online to as many suitable vacancies as I can.

But that’s exactly what I love about today. Sometimes such unplanned surprises what turn a ho hum drum day into a simply delightful one .Cheers to more such relaxed simple days.

Oh , spring when will come so we can spend more time outside than freeze every time we step out of the door??

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