"Oye Shaava" - Church street, Bangalore

It was Sunday and our cook didn’t turn up. There was a ray of hope for dinner in Subhra, he had to give his birthday treat. He called at 7 and we were ready to leave by 8. The venue was not yet decided. We thought of going to a nearby place, but he asserted on going to some place, which we have not yet tried. Then be it, who can say no to the host.

Oye Amritsar was one restaurant, which we had heard of with high praise. We got packed in Subhra’s car and left for MG Road. Oye Amritsar is on 3rd floor in Church Street. It serves North Indian food made typically Punjabi style. One unique thing that is available there is Sarson-da-Saag (vegetable made from spinach and mustard leaves). Cruising through Bangalore’s traffic we reached Brigade road within 1.5 hr. We parked the car and strolled our way to the restaurant. As we entered the 3rd story restaurant, disappointment encountered us in the form of no vacancy. The manager asked for 30 – 40 minutes but we didn’t have the patience to wait. He then recommended us to the restaurant just below and told us that the kitchen was common for both so we can savor the same food there. As we entered “Oye shaava” it was nothing like “Oye Amritsar”. While the latter had an ambience of a truck with all the slogans written around, the former was more of a refined dining place with a look of a continental restaurant. There was a bar on the side and enough space to eat. We took a six-seated table and made ourselves comfortable. The waiters were made to wear a sort of dummy patkas to represent Punjab. Had they spoken in Punjabi, would have been a real joy. It was an exclusive dinner treat so we just had a look at the bar menu. It looked decent with nearly everything available.
The onus of ordering was on me this time. Though it didn’t mean anything but the reason for this shift was cause I am from Punjab. We ordered a tandoori chicken, alu tikki for vegetarians and another dry Afghani style chicken as starters and chicken shorba. The dishes were named after various cities of Punjab and the names had a touch of Punjabi e.g. chicken was referred as kukad. The food was awesome till now. Chicken was properly roasted with the perfect combination of spices. The tikki too was good. The shorba was very different from the general chicken soup and was more like the gravy chicken we prepare at home and was very spicy.
For the main course, everyone decided on vegetarian diet and I was again asked to pick something peculiar of the state, which we can’t get elsewhere. The obvious choice was Sarson-da-Saag but I was very skeptical as I had never ever had good saag in a restaurant. Nevertheless I ordered, along with makki di roti (chapatti made from gram flour) and a glass of lassi for all. To be true, it was the best saag I ever had in any restaurant. Though it was nowhere in comparison to the one you get at home but still it was quite close to it. The chapatti was also soft and cooked properly. There were just a couple of things missing with the saag, like a radish salad and white home made butter. They would have added the real Punjabi touch to the food. The lassi was a real icing on the cake. It had a little malai on the top and had a touch of rosewater.
With stomachs filled till the brim and wishes for Subhra for his treat we left the restaurant for home. To sum I believe it was the best Punjabi food I had in my 4 years outside Punjab.

Coming on to the rating business for analytical minds to judge on the restaurant, I’ll say (on a scale of 10)
Ambience – 8
Taste – 8
Value for Money – 8

Goa Trip 1st - 4th Oct.... The Not so Good Not so Bad

The trip before this was also to a Beach side. There was no logic in taking another trip to seashore, but emotions defy all logics and so it happened. I had been planning to go to Goa since college days. All plans were cancelled due to varied reasons and I was never able to visit Goa. It was our last night at Shiroda when Sonal had called to wish Mayank on his B’day. She had missed the last two trips and was quite eager to join us for the next one. We placed the onus on her to decide for the trip and she came up with Goa. We had already planned for a bike trip to Coorg (A small hillstation near mysore). Being Sonal’s wish, there was no chance of it going unaccepted. We forgot about Coorg and started to book for Goa.

Eleven of us were willing to go but as always there were some problems and we were reduced to nine. Saket sir and Shilpi were not able to join cause of Bhabi’s exams. We knew they will be missed but we went forward with the plan hoping something will get chalked out. We thought of a long weekend and finalized the one with 2nd Oct holiday. Though it was a dry day so we planned to reach Goa by 1st Oct and pile our stock for the next day. Tickets were booked and 8 of us (Sonal, Mayank, Praphulla, Bhaskar, Ravi, Ashok, Sushmita and me) left on the night of 30th Sept. Tanmay was the one who couldn’t join due to some unavoidable circumstances. The journey was planned by train so as to witness a rare waterfall on the way.

We boarded the train at 9:15 pm and reached Londa by 9:00 next morning. There was a halt of around 2 hours till the next train to Madgaon. Four of us left to arrange for some breakfast in the city. Londa is a small place, not at all famous. The only thing is that the trains engine gets changed here as there is no electric line from here onwards. For some it is also a changeover place from train to road. Taxi’s can be seen lined up outside for Goa. Being a small place there were only a couple of restaurants and we chose one. To taste the food we ordered a plate of poori and some upma. Upma was good, but the sabji for poori had a hint of kokam. This was quite common in the Konkan and nearby regions. We got some packed for the others waiting at the station.

Indian railways trademark for getting late was witnessed here also. The train was around 3 hrs late. This time there was another blunder by the railways. There was no announcement for the train which we were to board. To enquire we headed to the enquiry room. The person there said that there is no such train that comes to Londa junction. With a Indain railways ticket in hand we stood there in a sense of shock. There was a train waiting at the platform for Madgaon but it wasn’t our train. We left the enquiry counter and went to the ticket reservation counter. He told us that the train waiting at the platform is the same. There is some problem with the train number mentioned on the ticket. Some place back, two trains join and leave for Madgaon and the train no. with us was of the one joined at the previous station. We ran on the double to catch the train, called ashok to load all the bags in whichever bogie he gets. Before we could reach the platform, the train started. It was a near miss. Somehow we got together in the train and searched for our place. We started passing our time playing cards amid loud squeals from the neighboring place. They were overly excited about reaching Goa, as it was evident from their enthusiasm while the train passed through the tunnels. The journey to Madgaon was of 3 hrs, including a peek to a beautiful waterfall, The “Dhudhsagar falls”. We reached Madgaon and were welcomed by the rain god himself. We took a cab from there to our resort at Calangute beach. It was another one hr journey. Reaching the resort, we dumped our clothes in the rooms, changed to some comfortable clothing and headed for the beach restaurant. The resort was on the beach side, with a beach side restaurant and bar. The rooms were comfortable with a view of nature. We had some food and a couple of drinks to quench our thirst and hunger. Then we headed to the market outside to fill our quota for the next day. Came back with hands loaded with all type of beverages, ranging from whisky, vodka, beer, fenny to breezers. Night we stayed in our rooms as it was raining and had some drinks. The only time pass we had were cards and the only game we could think of was gambling. The night went on with drinks, cards and some unheard and some frequently heard stories (they are quintessential after some drinks).

We woke up next morning to a continuous shower of rain. That couldn’t stop us from going to the beach. Though we were not really able to have a morning walk at the beach but being there in the morning is always calming. Had our breakfast and waited for our rented bikes to come. In the meantime we all plunged into the resort pool, as that was the only accessible place (Sea was out of bound due to rain). The only good news of the morning was that Nandi was coming to Goa with his bunch of friends and was to stay at our resort. Finally our bikes arrived, we had a standard Enfield 500 cc for Bullet fans, 2 FZ and a Bajaj Avenger. It was drizzling when we took off to see the Aguara fort. The whole day it rained while we visited the fort, and the Taj resort. Next we headed for Panaji, the capital of Goa. There are a couple of world heritage churches from the 17th century. On the way the bullet stopped and resisted to start. We knew it was game over and we had to call the day. All attempts to start it proved futile. Finally we left it with the bike owner and returned to the resort to call it a day. The night went in drinking.

Next morning we woke up with another bike at our disposal. This time there was no Bullet and we had to be content with another Avenger. As usual it was raining and we jumped into the pool after the breakfast. In the afternoon we left on our bikes and reached a beach side restaurant for lunch. The sea food loving gang had Crabs, fish, jelly fish while were content with chicken and egg. The food was great and the place was also awesome. While moving out we noticed a Hukka shop and we couldn’t refrain ourselves from purchasing it. With all the flavours and accessories required we got it packed. The day was a little good today with little drizzle. We headed for the world heritage churches. The place was great and very soothing. We left from there for Panji, to have a glimpse of the city. After passing through some tainted policemen we reached 18th june road. Roamed around there for an hour and then headed back to the resort. We had planned to visit a Casino and a Disc today. Got a little late and so had to shed off the Casino plan, but left for Tito’s, a disc on baga beach. It had an amazing crowd and a wonderful DJ. After dancing till around 1, we left for the resort. It was planned that today we going to drink till we pass off or till its morning. We collected our quota of booze and got our food packed. First thing to open up was Tequilla. After a few shots some people also started to open up. Then next was the turn of Fenny, the local liquor of Goa. Fenny drinking brought out some talent and it was fully recorded. Now we started searching for the leftovers of the previous day. A quarter bottle of whisky was emptied, then some cans of beer. Some were having wine and so we mixed both wine and beer. Now when nothing was left, we found some breezers. They were also emptied in no time. After this the real party began, with stories and funda’s flowing out of all. By morning every one had passed off except Nandi and me. We went our for a little walk on the beach. It was 8 in the morning when finally we slept and woke up at 10 as we had to check out of the hotel. Every one was tired and it showed on everyone’s face. We checked out, took a cab and left for Madgaon. Boarded our train to Londa, got our dinner packed and boarded our next train to Bangalore. The tiredness had taken over everyone and so all lay sleeping on their seats.

The morning brought us back to realm and we were ready to be back to office by 11:00. Though the body was in the office but our minds wondered on the beaches of Goa and we all knew it would take another week to get past this hangover.

Footprints...... etchings on my heart

Recently I visited Goa. Its not that I hadn’t been to a beach before, but this time I noticed something.

I was strolling along the beach one evening. We were 8 in all, but deep down I was unaccompanied. Moving towards the sea, I stopped just where the waves ended in a fatal attempt to reach the shore. With every wave I felt it trying coming to me, but somehow the effort was not hard enough. It came nearer and nearer and after some attempts, died altogether. Then again gathered courage and started its journey towards the unachievable. The moon/sun gravity pulls helping sometime while other time discouraging. I couldn’t bear the brunt anymore and so thought of moving, just to touch the dying wave. The calmness it offered me was enough an indication how content we felt in each other’s arms. We were happy cuddling each other, when something played spoilsport, either the gravity pull or the other waves. I beleive it was the other waves. The water started to recede and move away from me at an unimaginable speed. Before I could do something, it had left me. I had nothing but feet deep inside the sand. When I moved back, I could see the footprints. The more effort I had put to keep the wave stay longer, the deeper were the impressions. I knew only a new wave can fill the void, but I guess it was time for a low tide. The shore was left with impressions of my feet on the wet sand. What I had was only the moistness. I made up my mind, never again to put my feet in those lurking waves. I walked along the shore, maintaining enough distance. As I walked over the sand, footprints were left behind. The waves sometime were just able to touch them after I had moved ahead.

There is no fear of loosing now. The sand is all marked with my footprints, some touching the waves while others far away. I no longer dread the embedded marks with moistness. I no longer want that togetherness. I no longer try moving close to the waves.