An Eventful last week...

Hmmpf! Where to start... its been a really long long time I didn't give time to blogging. There were a lot of changes, new developments and some self-realization moments happening since past few months! Finally things (my mind) seems to have settled and now I know how "I want my life to be"!

Back to the title of this post... Last week was an eventful week... some really awesome moments have left me feeling happy for at least the next 1 month!

To start with... just next to my office is this beautiful (the international brands in it make it beautiful ;P) mall 'Palladium' and I have been looking forward to shop in there since quite sometime... So finally when I could spare time out of my suffocating work schedules... I went for some splurging! Ended up buying from'Vero Moda' (its a Spanish brand) a sexy pair of denims... 3 slim shirts... 2 hot shorts (coz they make me look so!)... a leather belt.... all this and my pockets were lighter by 12k! Didn't mind it though, coz one - I haven't been shopping since a while, two - I looooveee shopping ;)

The shopping spree just didn't end here... next destination was footwear... got some neat ones at Lifestyle, which can last me for this monsoon. Futher, my desires urged me to buy a handbag... and Baggit had some good collection of handbags (non leather ones, coz its monsoon) of my choice. For formal handbag, I had a very specific choice... it had to accomodate my laptop as well. Found one that really looks chic, formal, sturdy and a neutral shade. Huh! so much for a handbag, but thats how it is!

To add onto the happiness of shopping... the weekend was even better... It was my closest friend's birthday and we celebrated it over some awesome lunch... Feel like recommending the restaurant to everyone I know :) 'Sai Sannidhi' - Its on Ghodbunder Road, near the toll naka towards Borivli... exactly at Chena Bridge/ River junction. We ordered for some good red wine, and delicious starters. The main course was equally delicious... couldn't stop myself from over eating! Almost licked the plates clean :D The service is prompt and the staff is very informative and courteous.

I'd like to recommend this restaurant for all those who want a peaceful evening/ afternoon with some great food. A must visit if you are around the Ghodbunder Road stretch. Its a multi-cuisine restaurant, but really good for Chinese/ Continental, Manglorean cuisine... and especially Sea Food! I don't recommend Punjabi cuisine there coz I'm not sure they are scoring so good on the Authenticity parameter. For me authenticity tops the list of parameters. The pricing is also moderate, not too high.

All in all, an awesome weekend lunch :) sigh! I'm already looking forward to eating there again.

Just to add on... for some authentic Thai food... head on to 'Thai-Chi' at Nirmal Lifestyle, Mulund (I feel its a bit over-priced, but I really don't mind it till I get some authentic and awesome food).

For the typical Punjabi food its 'Dara Dhaba' at Kashigaon, on Ghodbunder Road... believe me, you'll end up over-eating, and feel free to take a short nap on the 'khatiyas' (yeah, the seating area is rural punjabi style).

And for some great Gujrati thali (my favorite!) the best place is 'Rajdhani'. Its at various locations in Mumbai... Crawford Market, InOrbit Mall - Malad, Nirmal Lifestyle - Mulund, and a few more...

Maybe I'll review these restaurants in my further posts...

Mr. Thakeray you should start a PR agency! lolz....

Today morning I'd been to the Kalaghoda festival to enjoy and relax. It was refreshing indeed!

While I was planning how to spend the rest of the day... I caught up with my friends and they suggested we all go for MNIK (My Name Is Khan). For a moment I was taken aback since the threats from Shiv Sena (Mr. Thakeray) seemed serious... My friends started pepping me up with some lecture on standing- up- for- your- rights kinda thing... and I gave in.

So Regal being the nearest theatre from Kalaghoda screening the show... we proceeded in that direction. The moment we reached there the scene was something I saw for the first time in my life... Heavy police protection, the whole area outside the theatre was barricaded, and no advance bookings were given away!

 The owners of the theatre had not changed the previous movie name and timing to MNIK's... but who cares, everyone knew what they were there for :P
Since we reached there at 3 pm, and the first show was scheduled for 3.30 pm we decided to stand in the queue! And believe me, there was a huge line outside the theatre, and the police was allowing just a few people at a time to the box office to book tickets for the 3.30 pm show. (Check out the pic below....)

We finally managed to bag 4 tickets in the upper stalls (yeah, even that was great considering the amount of crowd gathered to watch the movie!).... and the show was rescheduled for 4 pm! We waited patiently for the barricades to be opened to let us in the theatre and show our support, and of course enjoy the movie :)

At last, around 4.15 pm we got to go inside the theatre... women were sent in first, and then men! We all settled into our seats, and I was surprised to see nearly 30-40 police officers seated in the lower stalls... the whole of the lower stalls (rows closer to the screen) were blocked! (This was done so that no anti-social element does anything to the screen)

The show started around 4.45 pm... and believe me it ran house-full!

Never in my life till now was I surrounded with so many police officers... and nor had I ever gone to watch a movie in such a tense situation! Although I was a bit worried, but it was all in all a thrilling experience! And the movie is superb!!! Loved it :D SRK rocks!

Really, with all this opposition towards screening the movie and such a hulla-boo towards SRK's statement (which was his opinion, and being a citizen of a democratic nation its his right)... Mr. Thakeray increased the curiosity and thrill for the public to go and throng the theatres to watch MNIK!

My suggestion to Shiv Sena and especially Mr. Thakeray.... stop this dirty communal politics (coz they are anyways making it more murkier!) and start a Public Relations (PR) Agency! Coz what they did for MNIK is really what the PR guys get paid for!!! lolz.....

... Is this what we'll leave for our children?!

                                                       pic: http://www.projectbiwan.com/

When I was a kid, I loved visiting zoos and sanctuary. I used to spend the longest time watching tigers play, sleep, walk, jump around. All that I am left with now are memories...

Tigers have always been endangered species... but since ages they have been hunted, poached for adorning walls, floors and bodies of royal families. Even after the government declaring hunting and poaching illegal... our hunger for 'dead tiger' is not satiated.

Read the following Tiger facts:-

• From 40,000 Tigers at the turn of the last century, there are just 1411 Tigers left in India!
• 2009 was the worst year for Tigers in India, with 86 deaths reported.
• There are 37 tiger sanctuaries in India. However, 17 sanctuaries are on the verge of losing their Tiger population.
• Corbett National Park is the oldest tiger park in India. It was created in 1936 as 'Hailey National Park'
• The Kanha National Park's lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous novel, 'The Jungle Book' (source: www.saveourtigers.com)

There are various reasons for the death of Tigers:-

• Illegal trade of Tiger body parts. There is a huge demand for tiger body parts across the world. Skin for fashion, other body parts for oriental medicines and food! (how inhuman!)
• It is estimated that quantum of trade in wildlife products is just next to narcotics, valued at nearly 20 billion dollars in the global market, of this more than one third is illegal.
• Illicit trans boundary trade in tiger body parts has increased due to lucrative prices offered for Tiger bones in particular.
• As per one estimate (1999) 10 gms. of tiger bones fetch a price of US$ 24.25 at the China-Vietnam border, i.e. above Rs. 1 lakhs per kg. In Japan, trade in Tiger parts and products was permitted till April, 2000.
• Depleting wildlife quantity and quality, and prey base is making the tigers walk into human occupied areas.
• Human invasion into wildlife occupied areas, thereby disturbing the eco-system. (source: www.projecttiger.nic.in)

Looking at the above facts and statistics of undying human hunger for Tigers... If it doesn't stop here... I guess I may end up showing photographs of Tigers to my children just beside Dinosaurs and other extinct species... Such a pity, they will never be mesmerised by Tigers the way I was when a kid!!!

Lets join in the cause and raise our voice... Save the Tigers!!!

I'm not happy :(

Nowadays I seem to be so lost... I don't find myself happy anymore :(
Its not that I am unhappy in life... just that things/ actions that used to hold my interest earlier don't anymore.
Things like... my work, the stress, pressure related to it, money, people around... nothing is catching my interest levels!
All that I am left with doing nowadays is introspecting. I really want to know what will make 'me' HAPPY!

A career choice that I had taken up with so much of enthusiasm doesn't make me happy anymore....
Money, that I am earning out of my profession, is not making me happy... not that I am not earning good... its a pretty decent sum that I am getting paid but still I am not happy! And the surprising part is, its not that I want more money, but the feeling I am having is 'Is this money that I am earning making me a happy person?'!
People around me are basically good, whatever their selfish interests maybe, but I am not finding any significant difference by their presence in my life... also that I am not making any significant difference in their lives! And believe me, I want to...
For once I don't want to be weighed down by others expectations from me... I want to live life...
I love 'Life'... its really 'Beautiful'... and I truly believe it... but with this kind of a life structure I am not able to live it!

I have thought about all this a lot... and I still feel the same. And when the feeling stays for so long... (bouts of dissatisfaction are common)... there is really something that needs to be changed!
I have thought about changing my profession... and thinking on this I have realised that I want to teach... do some social work...
I know I will be getting paid much lesser than what I am getting paid now... but at least I will be going back home with a happy feeling, a feeling that I have made a difference in someone's life for the day! I can also take time out of my 'life' to pursue my interests that have been lying dormant since years... painting, photography, traveling (hmm... just thinking about it is making me smile :D)

Money is important in life... but somehow I have realised that if its not making you happy, its a waste!

Hmm... lets see how I take this up... hope I do something good for myself :)