'A nice flight' is a myth

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word 'plane'? Zooming around in the sky? or Meeting the hottest air-hostess?

Well, in my opinion, Air-travel couldn't be more over-rated! Why, you ask? Here, I give you 10 reasons why planes simply suck!

10. People think they are smarter. Seriously. You will always find one guy who wants to monitor everyone's overhead luggage and readjust it just so he could establish his 'flight-experience' :-/ Funnier enough, you find people mark their territories in sections of the flight THEY take care of. How about, help when you are asked to and let the flight-staff do their work, moron!

9. You can barely be comfortable for the entire duration of the flight + the time of boarding / take off. The seats are NOT recliners and the pillow is a joke. Blankets make you itchy (not warm) and the neck-rest reaches the top of my head :S

8. Everything is sub-standard. Their wi-fi, their card-readers, their shopping catalogs, their beer! and yet, they term it being 'world-class' just because its up-in-the-air! Plus, you can almost always fall. Doesn't that scare the shit out of you?!

7. Whats with frustrated air-hostesses?

6. The screens are faulty, the earphones might make you deaf, telecast is fluctuating /eye-hurting, the collection of programs plain sucks and the movies are SO edited that you can't make head-or-tail out of it.

5. A smile costs a million dollars! No-one even thanks the flight-staff anymore and there is an uproar even if the flight is 30 seconds late.

4. You are expected to dress well. Especially if you belong to the feminine gender. Your baggage is judged, your hair, the brand of your clothes, shoes, even the book that you read matters! It defines you and whether you are speak-worthy or not.

3. Every seat has its advantages / disadvantages. If you sit on the window, you need to scream everytime the air-hostess asks you something.. and if you sit at aisle, you need to get up everytime your fellow passenger feels like. You can't just let them slide, there is no leg-room anyway.

2. Plane food is ass. There, i said it.

1. EVERYONE farts in a plane! Courtesy the food of course. As the journey progresses, the air in the plane starts feeling funny, if you notice.. and if they have served beef jerky, even god can't save you.


Trains are slower but they are the better means to travel any day. If only we could practically slide all continents and stick them to each other! Sigh!


P.S. I realize that this post makes me sound like a super-brat. But, if I pay $800-$1000 for a service, I better get an efficient one.

P.S.S. Like you figured, I traveled a lot in the last few months. Made some life defining decisions and some heart-breaking ones. Updates follow, soon :)

The Sambhar Rice and the Coconut chutney

Well, so I am in South India. Not the first time, but definitely the first time for more than a week and with another year and a half lined up. So this is it, Welcome to Hyderabad!

With my Bengali lineage and Maharashtrian upbringing, I have eaten quite an assortment of food. So much variety that a restaurant menu would not suffice; But since the last 10 days, I have had almost all meals of Sambhar-rice! Bland food, so bland that I carry chaat masala with me to eat; And oh no no, this is not the worst part, these local girls went and complained that the food is ‘spicy’ and what I expect next is boiled vegetables!!

Food the way I’ve never had before
Vegetables that I don’t identify
Tamarind in everything
Cutlery = absent
Rice rice everywhere
Water straight from the oceans
No ‘daal’ in the daal
No tea, they serve morning sugar syrup
LONG queue for bath and longer for breakfast
Cycling across the 2300 acres called ‘campus’
No cellular network in the jungles

I asked for college life, not Jail life!


Ahem. So well, you get the hang of it, don’t you?

The TV channel doesn’t change. If you want to change, you use your stick / pen / clip, because there is no knob you see.. So it plays telegu stuff and I don’t even cross that corridor.

My room-mate’s possibly the best I could ever have! She is from Pune, so it’s like having someone from back-home live with me :-) Plus we like a lot of common things and don’t like a lot of other common things; in short, great! *thumbs up*
Very few guys from Mumbai; I made some decent amount of friends and we set off exploring the university every now and then :-) So, life doesn’t actually suck :P

Hyderabad is a funny place. They have cheesy parts of the city called Cyberabad, Telecom-nagar, hi-tech city n all; which by my view is funny :D The language is funny too. I’m not talking about telegu, any south Indian language is the same for me; here, I talk about the hyderabadi hindi :-| Oh, you’ve gotta hear it to know what I’m talking about.

I came alone to the city :-) I mostly travel alone and well, I kinda settled by myself too; so that’s prolly good.. The cycling is settled, even the room with my personal touches :-)

This is different from the place I grew up in
Very different
Maybe that means that life has a lot in store for me here
I don’t know, time will tell..

My Profs have a very sexy profile though. They are all visiting faculty in BIG schools like IISc, BARC, TIFR, MIT, some German and UK schools.. Even seniors have a great set up, so well, I have that much pressure on me to perform well..

I will write often now. I can’t believe that I didn’t write on my birthday. I had a nice one, but it was kinda sad coz I left for Hyd the next day. It is ok, the month-long birthday celebrations had gotta stop someday.. So, 20th year of life it is :-)


Oh, about the coconut chutney..

I dunno why but these south Indians love that one man!
It is served with everything! Idli, rice, puri, pakoda, samosa, upma, OKAY!
But they served it with aloo ka paratha! Beat that now..
Goodbye to good food..
*sigh*

Home Alone III

I thought I would not need to write further about this. I planned to put up some poem or recipe or tag or any random jazz. BUT I NEED to write about this! [loonnggg post]

The penultimate day into the exciting term turned out to be WOA! Its not like I’ve not had days out with friends, but today involved no sleep, total excitement, a fabulous phone call, unexpected money, an old friend coming back.. whom I missed so much, all the negativity eliminated and most importantly, CRAP FOOD!

I have given up junk food, errmm.. had actually *sheepish grin*
Ok, relaxed the resolution for one day, today :D

Day started last night at 12 when I was errmm.. trying very hard to study and not succeeding. I was online and wanted to talk badly to someone, anyone. I have a few very good friends who’ve been there with me throughout. I don’t know how much of a good friend I have been to them, but well, I’ve tried :-) Last night however I did not want to call up any of them, I wanted to stay isolated; something VERY rare for whom I am.

And then tears leaked out of my eyes.

I am not someone who cries, I so am not! I didn’t cry when my cousin sister left.. Not because I am this tough girl or something, it is coz I can’t cry. But last night, I felt as if the burden of over 2 months, the losses, betrayal, defeat, crash of a dream, losing a person.. it all came back, I succumbed and then, came out victorious. Washing away all sin, all bitterness, all hopelessness, all of it. Someone helped me do that, didn’t flinch when I wailed like a little child who was deprived from his favorite toy.

I know you are reading, but, you don’t know how much it means to me.
How important the last sleepless night was for me. It was not just about what you thought it was about, but many other things interlaced. But well, I am a complex creature :D I am out of the guy I was so crazily in love with, to whom it didn't matter. Argh, Loves MAKES you lame!

Anyway, so 5:30 am, final phone call cut, I lay sleepless on my bed and so? I start making dessert for my parents, who come 2mrw nite! Then an hour of good soulful music and 7 a.m. maid’s arrival :-|

Later in the morning, sorting of things with the friend I was talking about, more sigh of relief. Then later in the day, bhag-daud of getting ready, I was going to my favorite place in the world, College! To meet Aditi! To get the last salary for quite some time, sigh.. yes, I quit writing for campusjunkie.
Even heart-to-heart talks with you made my day gal, you [21] made me see many things that we 19 yr olds ignore :P

Anyway, both of us, non-foodies, ended up having all possible kinds of foods and drinks during the day. Dosas, Parathas, Fruit beer with lemonade in round 1 and then despite being full upto the brim, A Belgian waffle, some slush and coke in round 2 :D If you thought that was it for 2day's food, hang on.

Further, my eating spree menu included, Pani-puri, a pineapple pastry, Nimbooz, gum-loads of chewing gum, 2 ice-creams-one cornetto n the other butterscotch! The icing on the cake was the pizza in the night courtesy Domino’s.. yea, they suck, but what the hell, an entire pizza all by myself?! And I could finish it mister, I could. The chicken, the corn and extra cheese, oh la la.
OK, I feel fat.
But whatever.

As it ticks 12 in the clock, I'm here doing something I love to, blogging :-)

What is important is that I realized that hanging out with friends is as important as being there for them. Sometimes it is not possible, sometimes you have to depend on that phone because of the physical distances. But when it is possible, make it happen :-)

Oh, why is this called ‘home alone’?
As I could be the way I was, because I was home alone :-) No continuous influx of phone calls, no time limit, no money expenditure limit, no emotional expenditure limit :-)

Tonight is the last night I shall be alone at home,
And so, I shall make the most of it ;-)


Gyan Share: The phone kills your brain cells! It is not about the convenience, it is the amount of energy you expend into it, to only feel sluggish later. – Aditi Gupta.

Treasure hunt!

All of you know that I am majoring in biochemistry, which is very closely related to our body and how things can be all good with the body; thus closely related to food.

So, our annual fest is nothing but a food festival! Appetisers!

And as a ‘sincere’ final year student, I am actively involved in it. As in I have a stall to handle, setta juniors to bully, lotta planning to do, and make the fest successful.

My stall is called “Goodness of apple”. Basically all I and my team does is talk about how healthy apple is and how you should drink the juice that we are serving :-D
And it is prolly the only ‘drink’. So, we ought to sell :-P

Only one condition though, IF WE HAVE THE JUICE!

So options!
1. Make the juice.
FAILED. Because apples are expensive, juice from one apple is too little, waste is too much which cannot be used, and too much work for almost no profit.

2. Get concentrate, dilute and sell.
FAILED. Because there is no concentrate available in the market!
Haila! Oh my god! ‘This’ didn’t strike us!!! But this is true!
We have carefully scanned every possible shop of all wholesale, grocery, super, markets of Mumbai. Crawford, “no squash” ; APMC, “some brand called gold coin shut down 3 years ago..” [yea, I ll go get that opened again]; Thane, “Apple squash exists?”

And these very shops sell every other fruit-juice that you might not have even heard of!
Mango – yes; Pineapple – yes; Orange – YES; Lemon – YES; Guava – yes; Amla – yes; Khus – yes; Peach - yes; Strawberry – yes; Apricot – yes; Kesar – yes; kokum – yes; Black currants – yes; Pinacolada – yes; Kiwi – one full row of brands, yes yes yes; DRY FRUITS - YES!!!!
How? You can remove juice outta DRY fruits and sell that and one popular harmless apple has no market.
Sick, tired and bored; I give up. Change topic, hell no Ms. Incharge; Charts are already made!!!

So, option 3. Get ready made juice dilute and sell!
And that’s what I shall be doing. Got a brand that has buy one get one free offer on :-P. Buy in bulk and sell! Keeping fingers crossed so that no other hurdles come my way.

I know I have been busy, lots of things going on in my life and currently the food festival is the most prominent. This is to be held 12th and 13th, 9 am onwards in the Jr. College Reading Hall of Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga, Mumbai. All of you are cordially invited with friends and family :-P

Festival of...

Diwali is festivals of lights, of life, of togetherness, of celebration, of shopping, of forgiving, of holidays, of meeting friends, of making friends, of victory of the good over the bad, of crackers and what not....

I would say, Diwali = Festival of FOOD! [snacks majorly]

and heres the reason why...

I am eating so much that I am surprized on my own eating capabilities :-D But who the hell looks at all this unlimited sexy food being at home!

I made a rangoli-alpana for my neighbour for my neighbour's entrance door [Photo on Facebook] and she gave me 10 Karanjies!!! I mean, Thank-you aunty, do you have a backdoor? :-P

I have had a brilliant Diwali and even-better Kali puja this season..

How is your's going?

Some more pictures,

Some of my self-made diya collection :-)

So, make the most of it.

And for people who are working, Skip work man, we do it all round the goddamn year!

Wishing you all, heartfelt,

HAPPY DIWALI!!!!

Ma aisheche!

Today is Maha-shashti, marks the instigation of this year's Durga Puja :-) This is the Ma I will be praying to this year and like every-year, shes the prettiest Ma I have ever seen!

Ma comes back to her baabul ka aangan from shiv-ji's house alongwith her children but, doesn't enter the house as the tale goes. Now, what-how-where, I have no idea; But, durga puja as such holds a lot of importance to us bengalies coz well, it is our *main* festival.

That watching mahalaya before the puja commences,

That endless shopping of authentic clothes

The hunt for mum's matching blouse :-P

The food

The colours

The feel

The togetherness

The pushpanjali on the 7th, 8th n 9th day

The phul-bel-pata diye montro confusion

The staying hungry till you get the phal-prasad after pushpanjali

The race for shanti-jal

The line for bhog

THE BHOG [:-P]

The aunties and their gossips

The uncles and their chada

The kids and their drawing competition

The roaming all over mumbai to see all thakur protimas

The balika gauri

The aparajitar phul-o-gach

The sindur utsav

mithaiyo ka mela

The visarjan!

Ah! God please, make me have birth as a bengali each life! I love being a bong!!! majorly coz of durga puja, plus, the food rocks :-D

Oh! I can already hear the dhak, kongsha, shonkho n ullu!
*nostalgia* :-)

Happy Durgotsav! Bolo Durga mai ki jai!

Chaat, Chips and Chai..

I can live on these!

Chaat is life for me. Pani-puri, dahi-puri, bhel-puri, sev-puri, dahi-batata puri, samosa bhel, alu-tikki, chole samosa, ragda-pattice etc. etc. etc. I suddenly feel so bad for all people who've never had any one of the dishes mentioned above, ha ha. I know I am wicked :-P

Chips, universal favorite, need I say anything?

Chai, stands for tea. And especially vishnu ki chai man! One of the things I miss most in vacations! And after having chai at vishu's tapri, my expectation for tapri-chai has really raised levels high, they seldom are fulfilled though...

Amusingly, many of the things I love to consume seem to start with the letter 'c' he he. Here is roughly the list ;-)
*~*Chikki
*~*Chillies, even if they are very spicy, i would prefer to weep later, but i need them.
*~*Chips, any type!
*~*Chaat, anything!!
*~*Chinese, well many things of the cuisine.
*~*Chutney, again, any type.
*~*Cham-cham, bengali sweet
*~*anything with Cream, include ice-cream.
*~*anything with Cheese
*~*Citrus fruits.
*~*Chakli
*~*Coffee!!!

Thinking of it, I would have my own little list for every alphabet, ha ha :-P

Well, the whole point, if you haven't already noticed, the list does NOT contain the thing starting from "c", many people would kill for, yea, chocolates. And its not that I have never liked them, just that I was never crazy about them. As I have mentioned before, melody and white chocolate are the forms of chocolate I like most; and cadbury's dairy milk is what I like least.
Some of my friends suggest that I have suddenly gotten anorexic, and so am avoiding chocolates. Well, they might be correct, no offense, but I think this is bull-shit. If I were suffering from anorexia, why phobia to only 1 form of food?

Food remains to be one of the prime reasons for my existence. I don't hog, like I have seen many people do, :0 I just like to eat variety of stuff. This is all that I am missing in pune. Sabzi-roti-rice every meal is so boring, that too vegetarian! well, have no choice!

What are the kinds of foodstuff most commonly favorite?
Is experimenting with food, every-ones hobby?

I need answers.......