Life Unpacked

Frankly, I haven't come across a single person who isn't fond of pan-Asian cuisine. After all, those delicate dumplings, hearty ramen bowls, and zingy curries exploding with umami easily equate to soul food. However, the popularity of this cuisine is, unfortunately, offset with its often disastrous execution. I have had my fair share of shoddy Thai curries, folks. So when I was invited to try out the newly opened Lemon Leaf at Colaba as a part of the Diabetic Food Trail, I was both excited and nervous (for all the right reasons). Thankfully, it delivered what it promised it delivered more than it promised. Just before we dive into all things Lemon Leaf, I would draw some attention towards the Diabetic Food Trail which happens to be a much welcome health initiative presented by Britannia Nutrichoice Essentials in association with Biocon with the objective of urging the food industry to create a healthy and diabetic-friendly menu. A wide array of restaurants in Mumbai, Pune,...

Nestled amidst the high rises in the posh locality of Malabar Hill, lies an oasis of calm and tranquil which instantly transports one to the holy ghats at Varanasi. Yes, I am talking about Banganga Tank. You see, vacation makes me do crazy things; I have been digging up the photo albums on my computer all day today. And that is when I came across the pictures I clicked when I went on a photo walk to Banganga Tank last summer. Time surely does fly by! Anyway, the point I am trying to make here is that there are several gems in Mumbai (I prefer Bombay, honestly). Every little pocket in this city has the power to induce the feel of some faraway land, no kidding. Banganga Tank happens to be one of those gems- perfect to spend an evening at.  Stepping down the steps leading to the tank is where the journey begins- the rustic and unshapely steps flanked by narrow lanes and tiny temples on both the side is enough to make you feel that you are no longer in the hustling and bu...

It has been a really long time since I poured my heart out here. And honestly, my day feels incomplete if I don't blog or even attempt to blog. Heck, I am not even able to align my thoughts in a straight fashion now after all these months of idleness in writing department. Still, I am trying to push through because I have lots to tell, yes, lots ! I have been reading a few books, doing quite some things. Yet, as strange as it may seem; the only thing coming to my mind, which finds a mention in my lots lists, is something that happened very recently, that is, last Saturday. What happened, you'd ask. Well, Kamathipura happened. Most of you must be acquaint with this little infamous pocket of Mumbai, if not, then all you should know is this place is a 'no-go'. I went there as a part of my college's AICUF unit for a social outreach program whose focus was interaction with the children of the women who work there. Frankly, I wasn't expecting much out of this ...

I have been experimenting lately, with street photography. And as I just shoot with a point and shoot camera (Canon SX150 IS) on Aperture priority or Shutter priority, and without any device to achieve a blurred background, I am trying to incorporate other moving things to give the background a slight blur. You must have seen that in the previous blog post's picture "Anticipation". Here is an extension of that concept with more objects in the frame. Feedback and criticism would be appreciated. Thanks. "Frozen" taken at Fort, Mumbai. ***** Disclaimer: The picture used here is the copyrighted property of Aditi Pathak. Use of this picture anywhere else for any purpose demands permission to be taken by Aditi Pathak. Failure to do so will involve a legal action against the defaulting party. 

I had been itching to go on a photowalk and do some street photography as soon as summer hit Mumbai. But honestly, my love-hate relationship with street photography paired with the soaring temperature (harsh enough to give a friend of mine a sunstroke!) kept me pushing the plan to another day. Finally I managed it last Monday.  As I said, I have a love-hate relationship with street-photography, mostly because I think people will dismiss me as a freak or a media student and I don't want to offend anyone by clicking their pictures discreetly. On my Monday's photowalk, I did coax myself into taking some pictures with human element in it but frankly, it was hard! Primarily because women wouldn't stop staring at my camera (might be concerned).    About the final edits part; I actually didn't find any picture good except these two, basically because they lacked that drawing in factor. Also, this is the first time I've used photoshop to edit the pictures. So yeah...

I went there...not once, not even twice, but thrice. Each time with a different set of people but the experience of the exhibition remained almost the same; a sea of people flowing in a direction and carrying everyone along with it as a tide does. The scenario was the same on every visit; people hanging on the exhibition, trying to capture a perfect shot for their next "profile picture". The vibe was less "art festival" than it was of a "fair". The only thing that made the festival worth it for me was  the classical music concert about which I wrote some days back. Maybe the fault lay in the days I chose to visit the exhibition, still, the way most of the public treated the art installations was pathetic!  Nevertheless, I did take pictures of some art installations (and not of all, thanks to the crowds of people swarming around them like bees). The bottom-line is, although Kala Ghoda Art Festival is worth goi...

A city where millions come to realize their dreams, Mumbai technically acts as a mother to all of them. Theoretically, if we break down the name of the city, it means mother too; 'Mum' an English word means mother and so does the Marathi word "bai". Hence, we can safely conclude that Mumbai is a female figure. But is the female populace in this metropolis safe? According to the statistics, Mumbai is the safest city in India. Still, the pages of the daily newspaper is filled with all sort of wrong-doing against women! Yes, I agree Mumbai's women related crime-rate is lower than other townships in India but it still is not completely safe for women here. Being called names, passed lewd comments at and touched in a wrong manner are few of the misdeeds that females here have to go through on a daily basis! I don't blame this city, I can't as I am a born and bought up Mumbaikar who has considered this metro home  since the time I opened my eyes, sixte...

It has been quite a long time since I wrote anything sensible. Now-a-days my post usually describe "What-I-did". This time, unlike 2011, I didn't do a wrap up post for the year 2012 because of two reasons- First, I was sick last week and second, everything is already documented here by the way of blog-posts, so I felt no need to write an another post describing my 2012. But this doesn't mean I'm not grateful for the lovely year; 2012 happens to be among the best years of my life (well, you can certainly figure out by the stuff I did last year!). Today is the first day of new year 2013 and rather than reviving the glorious 2012, I want to remind myself of a few guidelines that helped me enjoy the past year completely: #1. Day-dream and make realistic plans   Unless you dream of something, you won't think of making that thing happen! But again, dreaming of unrealistic things will get you nowhere. To be frank, I day-dreamed of being a pat of a fl...

Remember about the field trip about which I told you yesterday? Well, it is all below in the photography. The day started too early for me, despite of that getting to enjoy a lovely weather (after so long!) made up for that fact. The trip was in three parts- Nehru Science Center, RBI monetary museum and Prince of Wales museum. The main highlight of this trip was that it lead to completion of two to-dos from my list; Travelling via Bandra-Worli Sealink and driving/being driven on the whole stretch of Marine Drive (in this case, in a bus and not once but twice!). Frankly, half of the trip I was not feeling positive about skipping my tests but soon as the day passed by the negative feeling started fading away. Overall this trip was good. I took tonnes of pictures from a moving bus, out of which only few are share-worth (whatelse can you expect from a 2mp mobile camera?). Anyways, I have arranged the pictures in a chronological order, so that it lends a story-tel...