Extreme Socializing

Who does not want to catch up with freinds. With such erratic work hours I find it difficult to pick a call from a friend or reply to an sms that one of my friends. Some times its only while I am in the bus on my way back from office that I see all the missed calls and sms received.

Weekends… I look forward to catch up with pals for some time and sleep my ass off the rest of the time. But the past couple of weekends have been very very hectic for me. Hectic not work wise tough. I was so busy socializing with all my dear friends that I did not have time to take care of my own little things that I had been pushing for the weekend.

From meeting up a friend whose back from the US to celebrating a another’s birthday to meeting a newly married couple-friend to shopping for a friend.

Last weekend I met a friend whose back from the US after 2 and 1/2 years. He’s a college time close pal of mine. I met him over the lunch. Next I celebrated a friend’s birthday. He once told me that he has never cut a cake in his life. I said to myself… chalo lets make his day. So off I went along with my room-mate… half way around Bangalore to celebrate his Birthday. The celebrations went on till 11 pm. It was close to mid-nite that I could come n rest. Whole of the day I was driving my bike in the sultry Bangalore heat. This was on a Saturday.

The next day, a friend who had just got married calls up and invites us (a few of common friends) over for lunch. So I was there and the gathering went on till late evening.

This weekend I was looking forward to a relatively quite one. But again it was not to be.. Saturday started off on a very disappointing note tough. I was supposed to meet a very very close friend of mine who was leaving for Australia. But we were not destined to meet. Well anyways All The Very Best, my best wishes are always with you dear friend.

Next I was supposed to check out a few electronic stores for a Microwave. A group of us is giving the newly wed couple (the one who called me for lunch last sunday) a Microwave as a wedding gift. Again the Bangalore heat got to me. After resting for  a while I was off again. This time to meet a pal whose back from Germany. So group of us were sitting in a pub, listening to very loud music (which I found tasteless), watching IPL T20 matches (which dont interest me) and drinking cola while watching others get drunk. I had a severe head ache that nite.

Sunday was reserved for a friend from Belgaum. I was supposed to meet his and his better half on Sunday. But Sunday began with a hangover. The loud music previous nite had taken its toll. But after fixing up a meeting time and place I was off on my bike again in the head to meet him. After having lunches at Empire and KFC (hmmm…) we parted ways. Next we headed to the marriage of another friend. We timed our arrival such that we could miss lunch. But to our surprise the groom was just about to go for lunch as we arrived. So there I was, having my 3rd lunch in 2 hours. Its was a grand meal…nearly about 12 courses… Which I had to swallow forcefully. As I left the convention hall another friend calls me up and asks me to come along for shopping.

So here I go again. Driving around Bangalore I reach to his place and from there we are off to Shoppers Stop. Spending 5 hours and shopping for clothes worth thousands I am back at my room at 10:45 and have dinner.

What a day… tiring… total atyachar… physical, mental, intestinal atyachar… my body is cursing me as I write this post. Its been a few weekends of kuch zyada sociallizing… or as I’d put it extreme socializing.

But when I remember the valueable time spent with all my dear friends, listening to their banter, pulling anothers leg, the smile on their faces… its an over whelming feeling. A refreshing feeling which re-vitalizes my body and I say to myself, “Damn, why are there only 24 hours in a day? Why does a weekend have to get over so soon?? Why?”

Diwali Dhamaka – Surprising Mysore Trip

I was supposed to be in belgaum since I had 4 days off. But the trip had to be cancelled at the nth moment. All my plans went down the drain. I would have been visiting belguam after about an year, I would have met my friends, catch up with them. But no. As they say, “Plans never work out”.. so very true.

But they also say, “Everything that happens, happens for the good”. So instead of going to Belgaum I decided to go to Mysore, may be for a day or two. Its been more than 10 years since I have visited Mysore. So late nite I called up Muzaffar and asked him would he be willing to tag along, for which he readily agreed.

So we were off to Mysore at 7 am in the morning. Reached Srirangapatnam by 11 am. After visiting all the historical places in Srirangapatnam we left for Myore. By 4:30 we were in Mysore. On the way I was telling Muzaffar how I was planning to meet up with Aadil Bandukwala, as it has been ages since we have cought up. But now I was in Mysore. I dont know when I will meet Aadil.

After reaching Mysore we headed straight to Mysore Palace, took an express tour of the grand palace (yeah.. we finished roaming around the huge place in 45 mins flat). Our plan was to head back to Bangalore by 8:30 pm. As we were having dinner, I picked up my mobile and called Aadil. I said to Aadil, “We are having dinner in your sasural(in-laws place)”. Yes she is from Mysore.

Surprise!! Surprise!!! Aadil Bandukwala too was in Mysore. And I do not need to elaborate as to why he was in Mysore (pssst.. becoz of her). All through the day Muzaffar n myself have been mentioning about Aadil at some point or the other.. and now he was in Mysore and we were in Mysore.

So without wasting much time, we packed the dinner we ordered and headed straight to the hotel where Aadil had checked in. Phir kya tha!!! The three of us met after a gap of more than a year so we had a lot of things to catch up on.

Had second round of dinner, Aadil’s favourite Butter chicken, Hot Chocolate Fudge at Corner House. We sat chatting till 2:30 am. Had the packed dinner at midnight since both Aadil n me were hungry and talked, talked and talked.

It was too good to be true.. time and again Muzaffar and me were telling how we almost called the Mysore trip off, how we almost left without calling Aadil and how we had never imagined to meet Aadil in Mysore. And to top it all off, we did get to meet Saniya, which was icing on the cake.

In the end, what was supposed to be a boring and extremely long weeked turned out be the one of the most adventurous one and filled with surprises. As I said earlier, plans never workout and yet everything that happens, happens for the good.

Check out snaps of our trip here

Visit to Md. Ali Road, Mumbai

Every year during Ramzan, Md. Ali Road lights up in complete glee. There is complete chaos and yet things look to be systematic.

The famous sweet mart at Md. Ali Road

The streets are filled with food stuffs. Different types of road side delights. There is
the famous Malpua, chicken tandoori, kababs, chinese food iteams, chicken fry, sweets, ragda, chana, masala aloo, fruit juices, dry fruits, nalli nehari. OMG.. I can go on and on..
have a look at the snaps that I was able to take from my N70.

The Malpua of Suleman Usman Mithaiwala is worth tasting. This sweet mart is one of the oldest on the streets. Other items served only during ramzan include phirni and sandal.

Sandal is sweet idli, got only during Ramzan and only at this place.

Look at all the people. There is hardly any space to breathe, let alone walk. All you have to do is stand at one place and you will be pushed and pulled from that place to another , thats the kind of crowd you’ll find there.

And there is the ever lasting beauty of Minara Masjid. The famous land mark on Md. Ali Road. The architecture of this Mosque is worth admiring. And during ramzan its even more breath taking.

Its a total delight for foodies like me. Here are few more. You have to be there physically to get a feel of the energy around.

There are people, people and people every where. Its like a Tsunami of human beings. You’ll find people shopping, people eating, people having a cup of tea, people buying kurtas, people buying shoes… every where you look there are people.

 I have quite a few fond memories of this place. May be I’ll share some time later in my posts.

Minara Masjid at Md. Ali Road

Tongue Soup as speciality during Ramzan

The famous sweet mart at Md. Ali Road