Funny messages on the IMS...

Somewhere towards the end of 2005, I took a trip to the IMS (Indian Museum Ship) Vikrant (the erstwhile INS Vikrant). It was docked just beside the high profile and heavily guarded still in-use INS Viraat. The rules for photography were very clear...no photography from the outside and no photography on the deck. That meant photographing only the inside. There were still a lot of things to be photographed and I clicked away to glory.

There were some photographs of particular interest. These are from that collection...

Vikrant's bell and shipmaker's board...the year mentioned on the bell is 1961
Be a bright spark
No Is and Us in a team
No Shortcuts...

The better natural ice cream

India thinks Natural is the best ice-cream. Versova does not think so. Its true. After the spat the co-owners had and parted their ways, Versova enjoys a much better natural ice cream. L&G, please welcome...Sancha, the natural ice-cream of Versova. Sancha, founded by one of the original co-owners of the original "Natural Ice Cream of the Juhu Scheme", is much better than the original Natural ice-cream. This is located on the J. P. Road - the road parallel to the beach - and on the right side while travelling towards Versova - just after the bend at the 7B garden.

The cups are priced at Rs. 27, whereas shakes are priced at Rs. 60.

"Balle Balle"

"Balle Balle Urban Tadka" is what you hear when you call this restaurant almost always booked to capacity - hell, I have seen people waiting outside (for a seat) even at 11 p.m. After recommendations from an acquaintance, I decided I should try it out.

Since I avoid non-veg stuff, half of the items on the menu were off for me. I tried "Sabji Kheema" - nothing non-veg about it - just minced vegetables. Also, the "Chole Te Alu De Biryani". Both were very tasty and not at all oily (unlike at the Udipi restaurants). In fact, the biryani comes packed in a small pot with a cover sealed with "atta". And its quite yummy.

The same owners also own "Pop Tate's" as well as some of the other popular restaurants.

Idli House

The other day I had the opportunity (rather excuse) to visit this new eatery at B. N. Maheshwari Udyaan (aka King's Circle or L&T circle) near Matunga. This is located almost opposite to the "Anand Bhavan" restaurant and is from the stable of "A. Rama Nayak" (the same flock that runs the Cafe Mysore and other Rama Nayak* eateries in Matunga).

I found it to be a surprisingly small eatery - only 3 tables. The other point is that you only get idlis - no other snacks. The coffee (filter) is almost similar to the Cafe Mysore's, though I did not think much of the idlis or the sambar (my personal choice is Cafe Mysore's or Anand Bhavan's). Here is scan of the flyer for the restaurant - one can get a good idea of what is in store.

However, the restaurant also sells the accompaniments (chutneys, etc.) as well as filter coffee powder (I think its the same coffee powder they use - aah their secret powder). The coffee powder is Rs. 50 for 250 gms - slightly higher than the Rs. 180 / kg powder from Quality (near Matunga station).

So most of my mornings are now powered by the new found coffee powder (2 cups) - alas, we do not use buffalo milk at home, but the taste is quite close to the one we get in the restaurant.

Update: I could find no review of Idli House on the SigFood site, but here's a detailed review by a Gujju that appeared in Mumbai Mirror.

What a thriller...

Our media has found a brand new subject to focus on these days. With Rahul Mahajan's case becoming more complicated, it seems to have all the trappings of a super thriller. Of course, it won't be long before it fades out of the media, but in the meantime, the readers can thrive on the daily dose of mystery from the newspapers.

It won't be long before someone takes up to make a film on the subject...its sure to be a hit, if directed properly. It seems that the story has all the ingredients as in a Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle or a Poe story.

Many would know that Christie's Poirot was said to have been influenced by Doyle's Holmes, but few would know that Holmes itself was influenced from Poe's Dupin. Dupin was a strange character and there seem to be only 3 stories by Poe that involved Dupin. Such was the problem-solving skill of Dupin that he could simply read various newspapers reports and solve mysteries. Personally, though I have read all the stories of Holmes, Dupin remains a favorite maybe because of Poe's language or simply because Dupin was one of the first detective characters.

Quite like this current-day mystery, Poe himself was a drug addict whose cause of death remained uncertain ( alcohol, drugs, rabid cat bites, etc.).

Back from LNL

I am back after a refreshing break (holiday) at LNL (Lonavala). It was raining in LNL so there was not much of a sight-seeing done (most of LNL has anyways been already seen)...just lazing around and doing nothing...not even thinking of work. Rainy season (or just there after) is the best season to visit LNL and because of the rains, LNL wore a fresh green and unpolluted look. The clouds (and mist) had engulfed KAD (Khandala)...even in the afternoon, traveling on the roads of KAD was proving to be quite difficult due to poor visibility beyond a few metres. Its always been like that and this time too it was not different.

A trip to LNL would not have been complete without a visit to the railway station. So, there we were at the LNL station checking out how delayed the trains were to / from Mumbai (since TV channels were busy broadcasting all day how life in Mumbai was paralysed from the first rains of the season). It was quite interesting to note that most trains were hauled by KYN WCGs...only CR knows what happened to the KYN WCAMs, although I did spot one train with a KYN WCAM3. All trains coming into LNL on their way to PUNE had at least 2 or 3 WCG bankers (pushing the trains from behind up the ghats). These were detached at LNL and sent back (light) to KJT (Karjat) from where they were attached in the first place.

Of course, LNL and chikki go hand-in-hand. It is not clear to me how LNL got itself entangled into this chikki business...neither peanut plantations nor jaggery or sugarcane grow anywhere near LNL. Still, chikkis had to be bought and one had to choose from Maganlal, Rupam, Navratna, and many others.

We decided it would be better if we returned by road (instead of the 1008) since trains were reportedly being halted at CLA because of waterlogging. While returning, at SNPD (Sanpada), we had a flat tyre and apart from that, there were no major incidents. It was clear that the new expressway was making travel faster...much faster. For example, it took us only 0.5 hour from LNL to Khopoli and another 20 minutes later, we were at Panvel. So, in about an hour's time we had reached Vashi from LNL...that is a real improvement over the past, when journeys through the ghats were cumbersome and slow (not to mention the traffic jams because of broken axles of trucks and other heavy vehicles).

And, while at LNL, we stayed at Swiss Resorts. It is supposed to part of the chain that owns the famous Rajdhani group of restaurants. Though the rooms were comparatively cleaner, the food was quite standard and nothing great about it. One gets a feeling that maybe the hotel may be on its wane now...

Apart from that, nothing much in LNL...now that its started to rain, more Mumbaikars will head to their favorite monsoon weekend location...LNL.