A long time since we had a Single Malt evening with friends over, so the date was decided & friends came over in the evening…..

Macallan 30 YO was opened…the bouquet just spreading across. Each to his own Choice I say, but it was mostly 45 ml of water & 45 ml of whiskey, though I tried it with a chill water chaser too myself.

Surprisingly, we tried out some vegetarian starters such as specially made pattice - aloo covering with peas stuffing; some dry bhel etc. which went surprisingly well with the whiskey.

Whilst the non vegetarian starters also brought by Tushar were good, the meat did not go well with the whiskey….maybe try it with a little less masala the next time (oops there is no next time since the whiskey is over)

The Menu went something like this:

Drinks:

Macallan 30 YO brought by Mehul Some lovely Argentinian Red Wine provided by Dharti.

The rest was from the well stocked bar of yours truly.

Starters:

Dry starters & salads were at home, Whilst Tushar & Sonal brought in some lovely Pattice as also some non veg kababs & chicken.

Main Course:

Kadhi & Rice were obviously home made; 2 vegetables; Dal; Chappati were outsourced this time around since Maid has done a disappearing act.

Dessert:

Kulfi from Taj Kulfi brought by Tushar & Sonal; whilst Wajid got some lovely Halwa puri which is normally available only during Ramzaan.

So the final tally of people went something like this

Wajid & Family;  Mehul & Family; Dharti.& Family; Sumir; Netra; Tushar & Family: Naren & Family; Husseni & Family; Neil & family.

It had been quite a long time since we had gathered, so on popular demand we kept 28th & 29th of August as party days with mine & mehul’s houses as the venue, so that it could be a long innings so to speak.

All confirmations were received, plans in order, when in the evening Sonal calls that I have left from Santa Cruz & need to buy a cake. For a while puzzlement hit me, since the menu already had sweet dish some lovely kulfi from Taj Kulfi before it struck me that 30th August was her birthday & Tushar was coming straight from Delhi by 11.30 pm

So, off we went to search for a cake - dark chocolate only -  at 9.30 in the night….AND it is for no reason that I am good organizer….managed it, asked them to deliver & reached the venue.

The Party began…shall be described elsewhere in detail….And finally the Cake came, but could not be delivered since One phase of electricity had gone, so no lift & he refused to climb 16 floors (even I would). So the cake waited down till an hour later Tushar came from Delhi.

When he finally reached the venue, he was zonked on learning that the lifts do not work & it would be a couple of hours before they would work….BUT the Love overcame…..AND Tushar climbed 16 floors with the Cake so as to reach 3-4 minutes before the dreaded 12 midnight so that he was the first person to wish Sonal…..Kya love hai itne saal ke baad bhi yaaron…..Some photu to celebrate that….God Bless!

VF (Veri Fast) Vijay Fernandes & Neil decided to meet up impromptu some weeks ago, to open a nice bottle of Havana Club that Judith, Neil’s wife had got for us.

Location was Neil’s house for obvious reasons. An extremely smooth rum, would not mind having it again:)

You must have read about my travel on the expressway to Pune here. However the action over the two days is recorded in this post.

Immediately on entering Pune, we had to drop off some stuff at Neil’s aka Colonel sister’s place; but we decided to stop by Marz-O-rin on the way for some nice cold coffee (not cold but still tastes just as good) & chicken sandwiches (why O why can bombay not learn). Upon completing reached her place, woke her up from her snooze, delivered the stuff, chatted for a while before reaching our final destination Sunil Rogers (Neil’s Nephew) at Mudwa Road; Next to Magarpatta City. It was nearly 6.30 pm by then, so opted for a snooze before getting up at 8.00pm ready for some action. Since a couple of more friends were already there, opted for some kolhapuri food from Kaveri (unfortunately closed that day) so had to settle for some butter chicken & naans from another place preceeded by some Haig & budhani wafers & samosas. All in all good stuff. During this time, had got in touch with CNB aka Freegeek who introduced me to the Visa system in Bombay. And so cajoled him also into coming over.

The next day, Colonel had wanted to go on Satara road for some misal & vada, but was over ruled. We slept a little late & then on his insistence finally left for Post 91 where the Pune Jazz Club was meeting. Reached there much before time & except the projector plus the speaker were there. However, soon it started picking up with the who is who of Pune joining in (photography was frowned upon) but managed to get a couple of them.

At nearly 3, with Colonel buzzing thanks to Koch insisting on one more beer, we made our way to ABC farms. The idea was Sheesha - where jazz lovers meet up. Lovely place, though pathetic service - we had to get everything replaced with fresh stuff - they were keen on the firangs rather than serve us. And back home, via a dekho at Magarpatta city interiors. A power nap & we were ready to rock & roll again. Freegeek had called up to plan out something, but visitors had landed up, so had to communicate regrets.

However I had not counted on Colonel & Sunil his nephew, who managed to clear up the house by 8pm. Then pushing me to drive rushed to Kaveri to pick up Kolhapuri Mutton Rassa & Chicken Fry. On the way Freegeek was also asked to report quickly. And the evening commenced. Keeping an eye on Freegeek & Sunil’s age we called it a night early by 1 (the previous day was 3 am & Freegeek had gone to office straight:))

Monday dawned bright & early. With a list of things to pick up from Praveen (some achaar, masala); Budhani; Marz-O-rin; Kayani & bruns from some other place & we were ready to hit the Expressway!!!

One of the goals of visiting Baroda this time around was to take my daughter to old places show her how they had changed, visit old food haunts since she was coming with us after nearly half a decade.

And so it started, took her to my old college, station road, Home Science where she used to clamour for Dosa, where a new Soda center hold position; her favorite sandwich wallah AND now that she eats omlette to one of the most famous ones, who have now split and started at another place. Whilst every effort was made to take photographs, I was expressly forbidden most of the times by Dr. Nene & Sumir of their hogging:) But rest assured, Dilip, Manisha, Milind, Sumir, Ajay, Prashant have all been introduced to galli & laari concept, the exception being that they would bring it home and eat. BUT rest assured with the support of the Kids & their better halfs Yeh Din bhi door nahi hai….

I wish I had been able to take more pictures of our gastronomical extravaganzas like room zoom, picassa, etc. etc. However enjoy these!

Bela Gupta, Tehmasp Printer & B.P. Singh waxed nostalgic just before the new year!

I want to go back to the time

When “getting high” meant “on a swing”

When “drinking” meant “cider”,

When “dad” was the only “hero”

When “love” was “mom’s hug”,

When “dad’s shoulder” was the “the highest place on earth”

When your “worst enemies” were “your siblings”

When the only thing that could “hurt” were “skinned knees”

When the only things “broken” were your “toys”

and

When “goodbyes” only meant “till tomorrow.

And Yes I agree with them…

After a long time & quite a few requests, MNDFCK an offline socio-eco-pol evening was decided. For all of you who know about it, well & good….For the others….it is a afternoon/evening meeting of people with 2 qualifications:

1) Age above 40
2) Not Technology dependent or partially challenged.

It is basically Pay as you eat or drink!

Dates – 17th October 2008

Venue – Willing don Catholic Gym with Neil kindly agreeing to sign everyone in.

Let me have AYES!!! RSVP

A deluge of mails confirming their Ayes were received & the plan was underway with Neil coordinating in Mumbai & yours truly from Baroda. Read the rest of this entry »

Sitting with friends (ranten, bharatt, kirit, arvind & a few others) during the festive season, cribbing about the social networks in general…..everyone agreed that with age, meeting in the physical world is what drives us rather than the virtual world.

This gave birth to MNDFCK - an offline meeting either afternoon/evening of people with 2 qualifications:

1) Age above 40
2) Not Technology dependent or partially challenged.

normally twice a year or more depending on need - and the first one was held at the Renaissance club Andheri west. It was well attended, with people from cross industry expertise. The conversation flowed along with the food & drinks and a merry time was had by all! Party Photos

On our recent trip to Vadodara had a lovely time arranged by Tushar at his place on Sunday 25th May before leaving the next day for Ambaji. Read the rest of this entry »

7/1/2008
Criticism turns to advice ONLY when lt is accepted - give people a chance to take your advice.

11/1/2008
In a world dominated by constant negotiation, there is one hard & fast rule. It isn’t the one who wants something less who has the advantage. It’s the one who appears to want it less. Read the rest of this entry »