Heyya!

Hello there!
We haven't been as regular as we've wanted to. Our writers, you know! But we've come back in May, our writers have been “sweating it out” in summer, slaving away – writing all this, just so you can read it (are we saying this a lil too often nowadays?) Hmm, so we take you to the cooler terrains of Kodai in wanderlust, and then do some pasta-talking – “originals” from Toscano, and we've, as usual, nothing much to say in the funny section. We've begun to think we should google out some santa-banta stuff and change the names! Our writers have no sense of humour.

Wine, Dine and Dance - Toscano

Forum Value Mall, whitefield boasts of a Toscano and rightly so. The urbane chic place makes any fine-dining enthusiast raise an eyebrow and a toast. The courteous staff, the yumm Italian food, and the dressing of the food are excellent.The salad LOOKED so good,that i was sorry to eat it up, but glad that i did (okay, its fraught with exotic veggies, and i don-know-what-but-yumm-syrups and “Goat cheese”). Oh yes, check their Wine-bar out – it has wine from auzzie land and so on. A tad expensive on the pockets, but just a tad. The Italian cook (Accent et all) came in and asked about his food and I was pleasantly surprised and pleased. For the win, amigos.

The Queen of Hillstations – Kodai

Kodaikanal – its NOT as high at the Nilgiris, but charming nevertheless. You'll enjoy the hilly terrain, the arid climate, the evening mist and some long walks. Breathtaking is the Coaker's walk. Wondrous are the routes that take you from kodai into the hills – the little villages, the puff-puff huts, the green, the blue, the golf course, the “GuNa” caves, the Pillar Rocks. Stunningly refreshing are the waterfalls and rivulets. But, its terribly crowded – omg, it is! Every soul from every part of the country seems to be here. The place has turned incredibly touristy with nasty tourists taking random photos of other tourists and things like that (may an elephant take their cameras away!) It destroys the peace and beauty, really! And Kodai isn't all that cold in April-May. Its bright and sunny in the afternoons – so you can leave your woollens behind. You should try the little tibetian restaurants and market-places. Oh, it has “home made chocolates” too, in plenty. Whats it with Indian Hillstations and home made chocolates! Anybody?

Radio Waves

I am one of those unfortunate beings who has to be the early bird and fly across the city, flip-flap-flip-flap before other lazy birds get up and begin driving. And birds like me listen to the radio and assume that we are one of those few people tuned in, at this unearthly hour. And it gives us a feeling of exclusivity. So this show I tune into in the morning (Ain't I sorely tempted to give the name away!) has this host (*sigh*) who has this question with a blank to fill everyday (hint. Hint) And I, diligently waste good mobile money on it, most days. Just based on the assumption that no one in their sane minds would listen to the radio at that hour and that winning the gift hampers would be easy. Can you believe this, I've never won it – ever! There is always some other bird winning it. And its not about me winning, this post – its about the number of people that are awake at the crack of dawn. And it shatters my little illusion of exclusivity. Gee, I never knew that our lil city had that many worm-eaters (#getit?)

Winc-ies!

Hello winkies,
We have wanted to call you that for a while now! “So how're you doin?” (we've wanted to say that too, for quite sometime now – like how Joey sa(ys)(id) it). We at Winc, have a done a lot of travelling just to bring you something new to read (How do you like THAT?) And we've also been eating out a lot – just to give you a new Wine,Dine and Dance. The things we do for you!
So, in our wanderlust – we take you to Vizag, in our wine,dine and dance, we take you to Rajdhani. In our ha-ha-something we don't do much.
Lap it all up. As we said, “Its just FOR YOU” this time :)

Wine, Dine and Dance - Rajdhani

Once in a while, when you have had too much of Pasta, you'll love to go to Rajdhani. Not only because they'll bring you a fancy-King-type bowl to wash your hands, not only because they'll be dressed like they are in a palace, but also to try their Khichdi, Dhokla and more. I went to the Rajdhani in Ahmedabad. And they have chains all over bangalore (one in Forum Value Mall) and other cities. They'll bring you unlimited food in a “thali” (plate). They'll bring you all that your gran makes best, but well dressed. The rotis, the million curries-to-go-with-it, the khichdi, the daal, the Indian desserts like “Halwa” and “custard-fruit-cream-thing” (whose name escapes me) – are so “wah! Wah!” I felt like an “athithi” in the “Athithi-devo-bhava” theme song. The staff are sub servient, friendly and say “Namaste” very nicely. Its an experience – eat how much ever you want, if you can – and you'll feel very happy, about the food, ambience and the bill. No kidding.

Wanderlust - vizag

Vizag is a breather. Its a break from the-Goa-coastal scene and way cooler (in temperature) than the Chennai-Pondy ones. And its much much more “do-your-own-thing” type. If you want to drive across the coast, do that on RK Beach road. RK Beach road offers one the idyllic shore. Not too many people, not too many touts, not too many dogs, not too much litter. But you won't find “VOOHOO PARTY!” type people. You'll find a resiliant rock to sit on, and watch the waves in some peace. The RK Road is full of bright stores, lights, ice-cream and corn gaadis, and statues of famous people. You can also go into the submarine museum there. Vizag has some famous restaurants – one being Dasmallah, which is close to the beach. Apart from that, the town is so-typically-a-typical-town with theatres, narrow streets and honking autos, some fancy clothing stores and a couple of eateries. Vizag snuggles all nicely between the sea and hills. Wander off into the “Simhachalam” “Annavaram” “Kailashgiri” hills near by – where it is incredibly scenic and not very toursity (again). Where Simhachalam and Annavaram are also piligrimages, Kailaishgiri is a “hill-hang-out” for tourists and locals, with “parks”. You can see the vizag coast line, beautifully marginning the city from there. If you are around vizag, try to make it to Araku-valley near-by. We'll write you a separate note on that. Go to Vizag for that “breather” you need, go with a book to read, go there because its such a simple beautiful coastal India city without too much-ado.

Funny Side Up

I was watching a Tamil movie last night – a mind-numbing senseless one where people wear parti-colored-clothes and run around, and a guaranteed mood-lifter. So Tamil-mass-flicks are all about “punch dialogues”, yes? The Hero (ahem!) is generally an auto-rickshaw guy who can lift his own auto with his own pinky (Hail! Hail!). The heroine, is irrelevant and shows up in rain-songs. The music director, well, is deaf. Its good fun, you start of with a villian – the meanest chap, ugliest and the one that never brushes his teeth, crosses words, arms and lorries with a hero – virtuous, hilarious, and never-before-born type. Hero outwits villian, first in words, then in lorries and arms. Entry heroine in between – with 3-4 songs, some feet-tappers from the streets. Gimme pop corn and i will watch again. If only to learn up some useful slang. (i picked up “capemari”). Hail mindless movies. I will watch you, if only to escape too-much-sense, for a while. Deal, capemari?

The January Journal

Hi folks,
Happy January. And we're now moving into february, so in case you've kept your resolution going- its time to re-think. At Wink, we're just flitting Jan away saying a lot of "Happy New Years". Im sure you'll find a couple of hidden HNY in our posts this time.
In wine, dine and dance, we bring you Kyra. In Wanderlust, we board a train to Bijapur and in supposed-to-be-slightly-funny Funny-Side-Up, we write this time, a not-so-funny piece.
Join in the journey with us for this year. Tell us how you found our columns. Leave a note and we'll get back to you (if your note was complimentary, that is).

Wine, Dine and Dance - Kyra!

Kyra sits comfortably on the building, a floor on top of adidas and maspar in Indiranagar, Bangalore. If its one thing bangalore needed – it was food inside the audi at Rangashankara. We've always wanted to eat french fries and watch a moving play. Kyra allows me that luxury. Being able to dine, and that too comfortably while listening to the guitars wail or a story being told is Kyra's greatest asset. Not to mention its interesting style of not-doing-too-much-decoration, which is a relief nowadays (In Blr, you end up sitting on a throne nowadays to eat humble chaat! With drapes around you, of course). The food is pricey, over-rated, and just about okay. You'll mostly be shelling out a cover charge because of the “shows” at Kyra. Its definitely a must try. I thought Kyra was an interesting experience – some “good” and a “lot of just-Okay” thrown in a cup.

Wanderlust-Bound to Bijapur

Bijapur, the capital of Adil-shahs and Bahmanis. It rests majestically in North Karnataka.You'll probably want to re-think the train journey from Bangalore to Bijapur. It takes ages and rarely is on time! But the quaint little town makes up for any flaws you find, while travelling up there. Famous for its architectural wonder – the gol gumbaz, Bijapur exudes exuberance in its other monuments too. Poetic, royal and captivating – you'll find Jamia masjid, the Ibrahim-Roza, the fort walls, the water-tank, the little-ornamental mahals that border the tiny lanes in Bijapur a treat to watch. The main market, the joLa-rotti, the Shiv mandir add a little touch of today to the aged Bijapur. Not far from Bijapur is Rakkasathangadi – where the famous Talikota war was fought. Look around and you'll see 500 years of history, architecture and culture – thrown in to make a memorable recipe. Watch out for spicy food, some touts, and do try their yummy signature sweets at the sweet meat stall. I'm going to bet that you'll be buying a gandhi-topi as a souvenir from Bijapur. Well, i certainly did.

Funny Side up - A matter of the Mind, really!

Its funny how one thinks one appears. I could never imagine my “image” (the way i look) without a mirror. I just don't know. Does the color yellow suit me? I really don't know. There's rarely anything one can say about one's apprearance without the approval or dissapproval of a third-party. You can comment away on Rakhi Sawant, but when it comes to you – you don't know! Do you have a really long nose? Do you look like your aunt? You don't know until someone lets you know. I've had this image of me in my head. Very unrealistic as images in the heads go by! I think I look just fine, unless I see a photograph of mine. And then i go, “is that me? I thought I was taller than that!” Oh let me tell you, you curious reader, I work for a living. And when I was getting out of the kick-boxing class, one kid's parent asks me “which class are you studying in, ma?” Mentally, in my head, I thought, at the very least, I'd look like in-college-types. I've always wondered what Rakhi Sawant thought she looked like! Now, even more so!