To the granny that I met at a book exhibition

It's always fun going to Ashish Book Center's book exhibition because you never know which books you might be able to get at bargain prices. This time though I had one particular book in mind - the one containing Sanjeev Kapoor's 100 favorite recipes.

I have been a regular visitor to this exhibition for the past few years so I knew that the cookery books are always in the last rows. However, when I went there, I could see almost all the books by the celebrity chef - except for the one that I was looking for. Just then a lady, obviously a senior citizen, happened to pass by me clutching a handful of books. The book that I was looking for was one them. I asked her where she found it. She looked about vaguely and said that one of the attendants had given her that book. I replied that I will look for the attendant and also remarked that this book was specially on my list.

Thereupon the lady smiled sweetly and said that if she decided not to buy the book, she will surely give it to me in case there weren't any more copies left at that time. I smiled back - pretty sure that matters will never come to that because the people at the book stall always make sure that there are enough copies around. But still, you never know about us Indians. If we see enough people buying something, we decide to play it safe and go for it as well. :-)

Before embarking on the "hunt for the attendant" I decided to take one more look at the aisle. And voila! The book was right there! I grabbed a copy before eager ladies descended on the aisle. Brandishing the copy about, I called out to the granny - 'I got it' I said.

And will you believe it? She smiled as if she herself had found something that she was searching for years. What is it in some old ladies that makes you wish they were your grannies instead?

Highway on my plate

It was fun watching the Ludhiana episode of "Highway On My Plate" (NDTV Good Times) yesterday - as usual. I am not much of a Paneer (Cottage cheese) fan. But did you see Rocky and Mayur tuck into the giant pakodas at "Punnu ke Pakore"? There was a chunky piece of paneer with green coriander-mint chutney inside each pakora. And this was accompanied with apple chutney. It looked yum!

I am not sure what was so special about the kulfi at "Basant Ice-Cream" at Field Ganj. I mean, the kulfi looked like any other kulfi. Guess the proof of the kulfi is in eating it. So if I ever go to Ludhiana and manage to get my hands on the aforementioned kulfi, I will be sure to let you know about it on this blog.

But the best part was the "Cream Chicken" at Chawala’s²- called so because in addition to their original dish of "Cream Chicken", they have now added vegetarian varieties like Cream Paneer and Cream Mushrooms. I was amazed when the owner told Rocky and Mayur that the absolutely sumptuous-looking dish was prepared without water, oil or chili powder. All it contained was a home-cooked mixture of secret spices, black pepper, milk and cream. Oh Boy!

An Investment Your Husband Will Approve Of!

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the bold-faced line in the NFO brochure of a leading fund house that I got in my snail-mail yesterday.

"An Investment Your Husband Will Approve Of" it said.

Excuse me? I am not rattled as much by the implication that women are ignorant or disinterested when it comes to investment. God knows, most of us are like that - at least in India. What bugged me is the implication that all husbands or, for that matter all males, are Investment GURUS! Give me a break!

You bet I am not going to invest a dime of my hard-earned money in this NFO!

Osama Bin Laden must be turning in his watery grave - what with Ram Gopal Varma planning a supernatural movie on his killing. I wonder if Obama and Pakistan's Gilani would be willing to take him on a sightseeing trip :-)

Going Bananas!

Most of the fruits that I like are seasonal - watermelon, custard apple, strawberry and mango. I can tolerate almost all other fruits - except for Banana. I refuse to even call it a fruit. :-( In my humble opinion, banana should be eaten only in the form of Banana Split and Banana chips!

I was, however, completely floored by this - A Gallery of Banana Sculpture Art. Though I must confess that most of the sculptures look like they are straight out of some alien movie, I wonder how the artist has managed to carve them from such a soft fruit. One word only - WOW!

P.S. While you are at it, do check out the "Funny Egg Art" page on the same site. I especially loved the first picture :-)

As I stepped into Crossword, I kept telling myself that I am not going to spend a rupee more than 500. That's because I go absolutely berserk when I see books on sale. (Everyone in the family believes that I am going to run a library after retirement!)

But I need not have worried. None of the books that I would have gone for were on sale. I, however, picked up a slim volume that has promised to teach Spanish to the beginners. I am bringing it to the office for the past 2 days in the hopes of learning a phrase or two when I get some breathing time. No such luck so far :-(

Let's see when I manage to at least open it up!

I think the Mumbai Indians fans would do better to get their health policies in order. Every match is a nerve-wracking affair. Take yesterday's match for instance. If it were not for the runs scored in the last few overs, we could have easily lost against the Pune Warriors! :-(