Life Unpacked

"One day, you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life."- This is how Nathan Scott in the show finale of One Tree Hill reflected upon his past 10 years of life. I turned 17 years old last month (!), and it feels funny; that I am almost an adult yet I haven't got stuff figured out, that I haven't been able to accomplish something substantial. Anyways, I have this yearly ritual where I make a to-do list from which I ought to tick off as many items as possible before I turn another year old. But before I start drafting one for this year, let's check out the status of the last year's: Harry Potter Movie marathon?  I did watch a few movie of this series back to back but honestly, the entire series is way too long to watch at one go. Status: HALF-DONE. Dining in a Irani Cafe? Oh yeah, a long pending to-do was finally accomplished and that t...

....And this happened when my brother had this idea of soaking bread slices in sugar syrup, "Yes, it'll taste awesome", he said and I suggested using milk instead to add some richness. Well, this is one of the usual scenes from an average Saturday afternoon at our house; he gets a little over-ambitious in the kitchen and we either have a disaster or a winner. Today, he unknowingly pointed in the direction of bread pudding and that struck me as I was improvising his idea. He did go forth with his original  intentions and that did end up as a sickeningly sweet disaster but I got determined to try making a bread pudding, the recipe seemed simple enough and no special ingredients were required, in spite of those facts I messed up a bit by forgetting to add the vanilla essence! However, mom saved the day and hence, the flavour still was terrific. But again I hurried to demould the pudding and in that haste I broke the caramel  top. Sigh. But its taste that matters, right? So ...

Hanging out with pals in likes of Mocha or Cafe Coffee Day, I always found myself stuck with the coffee section in the menu, particularly because even though I am a passionate foodie I have no knowledge beyond the famous cappuccinos and easy-to-get instant varieties. But I knew this would change the moment I came across the invitation for a Coffee tasting session to be hosted by Kalyan Karmakar (I have been an ardent follower of his blog since past two years, so yeah, I was super excited at this prospect).... The first thing on the agenda was a coffee quiz which introduced me to the a bunch of coffee facts, one of which is that the most expensive coffee bean is the one eaten and excreted by Sumatran Cats (yikes!). Later after learning coffee 101 from Kalyan Karmakar, the attending bloggers were sorted into groups based on a question that interrogated how they drink coffee, which intended to reveal their food personality. I chose an option which hinted that I am interested in gourme...

Looking back, I simply fail to understand how in the world could I miss two live gigs of this band when I was there both the times! The band I'm talking about is The Supersonics. I caught them live a few days ago, last Saturday to be precise, and all I could do was be all ears with my face beaming with awe. Yes, they are that good; classic rock and roll riffs married beautifully with Lynyrd Skynyrd-esque vibe is how I can describe this band. Honestly, I highly recommend you folks to check out them out. Awesome music teamed with a beautiful location (Bandra Ampitheater), what else can I ask for! Prior to The Supersonics, Bombay Bassment, an another great band performed. Their music type leans more towards hip-hop meets drums n' bass; giving rise to an eclectic sound which is indeed amazing and definitely a crowd-pleaser. The tropical hints in their music is what drew me in. Do try listening "Never be the same" by Bombay Bassment. All in all, it was a hot yet gre...

Morning of Day 3 was the craziest and sickest thing that happened to me. I understand that after constantly working day-in-and-out and being sleep-deprived one is bound to get frustrated, but how dumb is it lashing out at an another individual? It is horrible, you know, being constantly humiliate; for trying to help others, for trying to co-operate, and heck even for demanding rights for self! Well, that's a precise summary of the scene that forenoon. And after spending three lovely days there, occurrence of something like this did ensure a bitter aftertaste. There isn't much to talk about the performances of Day 3 because I couldn't watch bands other than Sky Rabbit, Pentagram and Karsh Kale + NH7 All Stars, although I did end up listening to a bit of Party Scribe in between as the stage on which they performed was diagonally opposite the Bacardi Stage. Pentagram's act was top-notch and a rare one too, as they rarely perform early evening! The crowd that had gathere...

After an undeniably chilled out Day 1, this day was an ultimate test of patience. From getting into conflicts to standing at one place for hours, everything was done. And in its amidst, I was being constantly reminded- "The real work has just begun, kiddo". Skipping out on the details of the day, let me take you directly to the evening which boasted of two headlining acts in its kitty. The bands which I wanted to watch (Devoid, Scribe, Skindred and Textures) were all playing at my stage i.e. Bacardi Rock Arena. So yeah, I managed to listen all of them and watch the latter two. Devoid's act signified the Barcadi stage coming into action and then the stage witnessed Scribe taking over it after Devoid. Unfortunately, I couldn't see  these two Mumbai metal scene legends but the excitement from the audience did manage to seep past the barricades and reach me backstage. The mosh-pit, according to the people who were in it, was legendary as almost no one in the pit escape...

Staying in a housing colony comes with its own share of pros and cons. One of such said cons is having to hear an earful from an aunty when you football misses the goal and accidently ends up landing on spoiling the rangoli she had painstakingly laid down at the entrance- and that, my folks, is my earliest surviving memory of a ‘rangoli’. An Indian artform which has successfully managed to survive the turn of the centuries, rangoli, in its true literal sense, translates into a festive celebration of colours. Although rangoli is known by a different name and made using varied mediums in every geographical area, the main thought behind it remains the same, that is, to attract good luck. Traditionally, rangoli is made by women on auspicious days using mediums ranging from coloured powders to flower petals. Rice too is innovatively used to make rangoli. Coloured rice rangolis and rice paste rangolis are proofs to that. Types Of Rangoli Pookalam from Karnataka The t...