Random Musings

The film is getting an iconic status, of a level that I have not seen in my life. Yes, I saw people come out of Rang de Basanti, and swearing to do something for their country. That was an immediate impact, but beyond that, there was no real road for them, to get down to actually doing something.

As against that, the Lage Raho theme has the Gandhigiri franchise and that is taking off, like nobody’s business. Amazing.. now here is a real winner, for the film makers. When the product can have such a huge impact on the masses, the society, then you have really created some magic. Perhaps without even intending to create so much of an impact.. !

My own impressions of the film, in general:
I enjoyed it thoroughly. A few thoughts on the film are:
– Good, clean comedy can still work. We don’t need to be slapstick or sexist to have a laugh!
– There is serious potential for the sequel business in India too, when there is good effort behind it; Krissh was also a decent follow up to Koi Mil Gaya. Of course, a phenomenal commercial success.
– A 45-year old Sanjay Dutt and his not-much-claim-to-fame sidekick can still hold the audience for 2-1/2 hours,
– Raju Hirani, I believe, is an FTII product; also the producer Vinod Chopra is a class filmmaker (1942 a Love Story, Parinda, Mission Kashmir to name a few of his fab films). They make a great combine to deliver a really good product. Clean comedy, a nice face (Vidya Balan), some take home value (like the jadoo ki chhapi factor in the first one, here we have Bapu’s principles doing the trick) – things we would have thought to be passe in films, actually working for the audiences!

An aside..
I truly believe that Vinod Chopra has a way with presenting women well, on the screen. I am sure he has a role to play (besides the camera persons and the make up team). Manisha Koirala has never looked as good as she did in 1942, a Love Story. Likewise, I still remember the magical change in presenting Preity Zinta in the Bhumro song in Mission Kashmir (Preity of course, has had many more opportunities since then, and has looked good in several other films thereafter). And this time, its Vidya Balan. A far cry from her Parineeta presentation – which of course, was
also a Vinod Chopra production, but which was a film based in a different decade.

Have you been in a situation on the Mumbai roads, when a BEST bus hustles you up on account of its size and clout, and scrapes your car or worse, bangs it up?? Many of us who drive on the roads of Mumbai, would have experienced this. And usually, except for getting very angry, there is little that we can do about this.

I got into one such scrape off, with a BEST bus few months back. Certainly not my first time. I did not know what I was going to do about it, at that time, except use it in the FIR to claim my insurance money, but I went ahead and took down all the details, including the driver’s name and tag number. The car was not damaged a lot, but I was just very upset because he had bullied his way into my car. I did the police FIR although I was not even sure, if I would claim the insurance money, since it was a minor scratch.

Thereafter, for the heck of it, I looked up, found the BEST website, and located a PRO office email there. I wrote to the person, just to lodge a complaint against the concerned driver, and expecting at best, an apology. And more likely, a “no reponse”. Forgetting it completely, after sending off that email, I was surprised then, to receive a letter from BEST, after a few days.

Typed out (yes, not word processed, but actually typed out on the relic typewriter machines!), the letter did not say much, except that the complaint was noted and being looked into. Subsequently, I got an invitation to take the car to the BEST garage, which is centralised in Mumbai, but luckily, it was close to my home. Here the car was inspected. I got a hint that some kind of claim was being lodged in my favour. This had nothing to do with my own insurance at all. After a few days, there was one more invitation – to visit the depot where the driver was based, for an interactive session with a senior officer there. I dreaded it as I did not know whether I wanted to go all the way, and face the ire of the driver, who might have got some questions asked to him, as a result of my complaint. But intrigued at what was going on, I went ahead and attended that “hearing”.

And then I got a letter that my claim was lodged and I would hear from them later. It took a while thereafter, a fair amount of telephonic follow up, and ultimately, an RTI (“Right to Information”) enquiry, but finally, I got a cheque for Rs. 900 from BEST. For having damaged my car.

Its not the money – in this case, being a small scratch, I guess, I could have not asked for more, in any case – but rather, the realisation that one can actually make a complaint of this nature, directly from the BEST website, that its taken seriously, and that, with some effort, it can actually deliver some compensation to you.

Worth the effort, for me, and certainly to share with everyone.. !

Posting this, after what seems like ages!
After a very long time, have a hint of a feeling that there is less of a backlog on work and home stuff, and I have time to breathe, and hence time to blog!!
Yeah, its been that sort of life, last few months.

Its still very busy but a lot better than say, a month ago.

So hopefully, I will manage to post more regularly now.

Fingers crossed..

I happened to catch in the course of the week, the fact that there were two interesting movies that I had wanted to see, but had missed them in theatres, and which were to be premiered on television on the same Sunday, i.e. Nov 27th. And I decided that I was going to see them at home, and declared to the family that those two time slots of mine were booked. And for a change, I was going to view them, seated in one seat, with the phone off, and without chatter, as if I was seeing the movie in a movie hall itself.

And as it turned out, the effort was worth it.

I caught on TV, then, a couple of very good movies. And here are my views on both of these.

1. Yahaan:
This was the first of the two that I saw. When the movie was to be first released, in theatres, I had been fascinated by the promos that ran on television, and the one haunting song, “Puchhe jo koi meri nishani, naam heena likhna..”. Just that one song that I saw made me want to go and see the movie, but unfortunately, I did not make it, to the theatres then. When I saw this on TV today, the single biggest factor that struck me by the end of the film, was the awesome photography.

I can safely say that more than 90% of this film had outstanding cinematography. This is just so rare. I have seen some great visuals in many other movies, but I have rarely seen a single film where virtually each and every scene, so fascinates you, in the manner in which it is picturised. The lighting, the sepia tones, right through, the beautiful landscapes, some outstanding closeups, all of these were remarkable. That fact itself tells me, that a lot of hard work went into the planning and making of the film, and it for me, is a certificate of the director’s passion, conviction and sincerity. This should always be the case, but unfortunately, today more directors seem to be interested in churning out things, quickly, with the commerce in mind, and not so much the art!

Going beyond the visuals, the film was in a similar genre at a broad level, as 1942, a Love Story, or Mission Kashmir, or even Machis, to an extent. Love in the midst of war. But it certainly was not a copy of any of these films. It had a very clear story, and some very good performances. Jimmy Shergill must be one of the most underrated actors in the industry. When the world seems to be going gaga over the Zayed Khans and Shahid Kapurs and Fardeens of the world, I think Jimmy Shergill is a better actor than all of these guys. And here was one performance where it clearly came out. The new actress also put in a good effort – without fanfare, without much makeup or costumes support, without any item songs, she managed to make a mark. And the look that the director gave her was so beautiful, and very Kashmiri. The red cheeks, the fair face, the eyes, were all a natural Kashmiri look.
The music was also well researched and sounded very authentic. There were no artificial dream sequences put in, to justify and disco song or some unnatural music.

And besides everything, films like this one or Mission Kashmir, bring out so well, the tragedy of Kashmir. A once heaven-on-earth full of prosperity and happiness, now reduced to poverty, terrorism, fear, insecurity. What a shame that things have come to this point. Will the good times ever return? Will it be a paradise again? Films like Yahaan certainly make you think about it, even bringing an odd tear into your eye, even as you are sitting in the comfort of your living room, in Mumbai, and watching the film unfold on your television screen. Now, that is good cinema!

All in all, an afternoon well spent, in engrossing fare.

2. Sheher:
The other movie that I saw at night, was Sheher. Starring Arshad Warsi, popular for his comedy sidekick roles, playing a serious hero, here. And he does a decent job, in this cop-mafia-underworld thriller. Again an oft repeated genre, this film was not anything like a classic or even outstanding. But it was a worthwhile effort, based for a change in Lucknow and UP, and not in big bad Mumbai. There have been several flicks highlighting the Mafia rule in Bihar, and we all associate Bihar with underworld, thugs, dacoits, gun weilding politicians. Here is a film that exposes similar situations prevalent in UP as well.

Well, an okay film, which deserved better returns at the box office, than what it got.

Thats what hit me, about both these films, at the end of the day. At a time when junk fare like a Garam Masala or a No Entry, can light the box offices on fire, well made and interesting movies like Yahaan, and to a lesser extent, Sheher, come and go in a hurry, not getting any kind of a return that they deserve.

Like governments, filmgoers too get films that they deserve. If we do not support good cinema, we should have no reason to complain when we keep getting the No Entries and No Parking Places and No Standing Rooms dished out at us!!

Who would have imagined that radio will be back – and with a bang too?

Those were the days of Vividh Bharati, Binaca Geetmala, radio commentary of cricket matches including early morning wake up calls to catch the Australian games..

Now, if such reminiscing makes me sound old, rest assured that I am not _that_ old! Its been an amazing run – from a lot of radio to no radio, and now again, back to radio!

With the advent of television, and its rapid growth, with Chhaya Geet, Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan and live cricket from all corners of the world, radio died. Those big sets at home became antique pieces and suddenly came in the way, being pretty useless functionally.

And then we had a large number of television channels, and we got bored with them, and we wanted to listen to simple music all over again – especially when we were in a car, for example. And with the government opening up radio to private operators, albeit with large license fees and some other restrictions too, radio made a comeback.

Like all of these new thingies, many people jumped in. But as with every other fad businesses of this nature, not all can survive.

So we are left with now, in Mumbai, Radio City 91 FM (Star TV), Go 92.5 FM (Mid-day), 93.5 FM (India Today) and Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM (Times Group). In addition, there are the All India Radio’s 107.1 and 100.7 FM channels.

I miss a great radio station that came up, and went down, viz. Win 94.6 FM. It went into coma once (shut down for a few weeks), then came back to life (restarted), but has now died for good. Its popular radio jockeys can be heard on other radio stations.

So how’s the radio scene in Mumbai really?

– We have some utter nonsense going on.. with RJs who talk pure bullshit, and get away with it; random love advise, poor language, and modern young RJs who pronounce old movie and singer’s names with an accent. That part stinks!

– There is a Radio Jockey with as corny a name as “Aapka Deewana number one to infinity”.. yes, ALL of that! And he only speaks in superlatives in describing all the songs and the music directors and the singers that he refers to, on his program. But that can only be expected from one who has a name like that.. !

– The most popular RJ used to be Malishka, on 94.6, when it was alive. In recent times, she is back on 93.5, but she’s obviously trying too hard to recreate that old magic, and is failing!

– In programs that have dual RJs, the best combo is certainly Jaggu and Tarana, on 92.5. They have an amazing chemistry that comes through over the radio. They are very quick and have good fun, and come up with smart lines. Its good to start the day with them..

– The most popular music director continues to be Panchamda – R. D. Burman (Why am I not surprised? If you have a doubt, see the URL of this blog!). The most farmaish happen to come for him, inspite of the generation change!

– In fact, the most remixes seem to be happening on RD’s songs… after all, for a remix, they need to start with a popular song to begin with!

– Radio guys are not allowed to do live news or live stock market updates yet, so we are missing that niche from the private companies, but I suppose it will come now,

– Radio has done some amazing local promotions. Like if a store is stuck with a lot of stock of some SKU, they have promoted on radio that for the next two hours, anyone walking in and purchasing that, gets a gift, for example. And these have worked very well. And similar other promos are doing good.

– With that radio advertising has become more expensive. It used to be a steal few months back, but now radio campaigns are pricey affairs.

– One other program that I have loved is what they call, “Hello, mike testing..”. Here the RJ has a guest with him, and in between talking to this guest, they play the guest’s favourite songs. It’s a good opportunity to know that guest from a first person point of view. I have enjoyed listening to the likes of Amar Singh, Kapil Dev, Mahesh Bhat, and many others, on this program.

I can see radio growing even more with niche programming and reality interactive programs. Indeed, Radio Days are here again.. !

It’s been a while since I blogged here. And at least as far as I am concerned, I can see that once the routine stops, it’s very hard to get back to it. Earlier I would blog every now and then, and I managed to keep doing it. This time around, each time that I thought of blogging, I kept putting it off. So the biggest achievement I see about this posting is that “I am back”!

There’s just so much to write, so in keeping with the name of my blog, this one is going to be some genuinely random musings.

Like I think I spooked my good fortune of an ‘under control commute’ to work. There are these few friends whose pet peeve is the infrastructure in India, or rather the lack of it. And I had been defending India with thoughts like “things are happening, even though they are happening slower than what one would wish”. And I used to give the example of how my own commute time has not changed much in the last 6-7 years, inspite of increasing traffic, more people, etc. Well, I spooked my good luck. In recent times, my commute time has truly gone up, on an average basis. From a usual 35-40 minutes average, I am now averaging between 50-60 minutes. The terrible post-monsoon roads in Mumbai, and the consumer boom with more vehicles on the road, seems to be hitting in now, and hurting me, big time.

Diwali is around the corner, but I don’t see serious signs of the festival in Mumbai at least. Seems like an average shopping season at the stores, and the usual suspects of consumer electronics and real estate developers shouting out their advertisements. But beyond that, nothing major so far, in terms of a build up to the festival. Have not heard big time firecrackers, or seen throngs of crowds at the malls, or a true taste of lights and hanging lamps (kandeels) in people’s houses. It is a low key Diwali? Money cannot be the reason because I am sure that people have a lot more disposable income in their hands. Are we having too many things on our hands to worry about Diwali as much? I wonder..

Speaking of many things on mind, I have heard from more than a few friends about how the hardest thing for them, is to get their children to sit and concentrate on studies. And we are talking about class X students. With the choice that everyone has in life today, is that the reason that one thing cannot captivate a mind for too long? Concentration is harder and harder now?

Which also connects me to my Rotary Club and the ponderings about why attendance at meetings is poor and participation in activities is reducing, when in earlier times, it was not so. And I think back to the time when I started with my Rotary membership. At that time, Rotary gave me a forum to meet new people and make new friends. And post-college, there were not many other places that I could go to achieve that objective. It was that ‘third place’ beyond work and home. And today, Rotary is one amongst the many diversions that I have beyond work and home. Thanks to online networking, there are 3-4 networks that I belong to. Thanks to the same connectivity, my college alumni has been revived to an extent and is active now, and the school one is also in the process of happening. All of a sudden, there are so many people that I can be in touch with, whom I can meet if I want to, whom I can interact with. And Rotary has to find space in this congestion and suffers sometimes, on account of that.

And Rotary then, is just a symbolism of the increasing complexity of life and the demands it puts on you. And it requires a huge will and self control to cut out waste in one’s life and put order into it, giving priority to the ‘right’ things! Easier said than done..

There are a couple of huge debates going on with very strong opinions on both sides, in both debates. One is about Saurav Ganguly’s exclusion from the Indian team and whether it’s all over for him as far as his place in the Indian team goes, etc. There are diehard fans of his, who swear by him, and who are aghast at the idea of his not being in the team. Some have suggested that he should be given a carte blanche entry into the team and he should go, only when he wants to do it, himself. Because of his past, his experience, his runs etc. I am on the other side of the debate and find it so strange to read such strong sentiments. I see these as blind idol worshipping. Where is his form? Where is his fitness? Where is his attitude? A slow and struggling century against Zimbabwe, is not enough. And as regards domestic cricket, in every match there are a few hundreds being scored, so why make so much out of his one hundred. If he has to be back, he has to really win his place back in the side. But then that is what I think, a logical way to look at things, while there are other fans of his, who obviously think otherwise. For now, we are winning!

The other big debate in about India’s nomination for the Oscar awards. They have put Paheli up there, at the cost of a classic like Black, and also many other good movies. I have cried myself hoarse deriding Paheli. A cinematographer and fashion designer’s delight, but nothing beyond that. A story that could have been told in 1 hour, but which was stretched to a full length feature film. A stupid end to the film. Lack of character development, beyond the two main ones. Lack of any sub-plots, etc. My own feeling about the film was the an art film director like Amol Palekar got overwhelmed with the budget and stars that he got at his disposal, for this film. And ended up making a hash of it. Even if a director is good, give him budgets that he can handle and not beyond, would be my learning from Paheli. And yet Paheli is the nominee for the Oscars.

As against that, a film like Black, is not nominated. A film that was made of international standards. Excellent in all respects, in terms of film making, it would have had a genuine chance of winning. But there are people who feel that it was copied from “The Miracle Worker” and therefore, it was a mere copy, and should not be recommended. Again, I am shocked at the strong stand that several people have taken against Black. Irrespective of the fact that it was inspired by Helen Keller’s story and hence the comparison to The Miracle Worker, it was a hard movie to make, and the finished product that we saw on screen was outstanding in all respects. How can you belittle the film by trying to say that ‘it was a mere copy’??

Much as I am astounded by the logic of the “opposite parties” in both these debates, it only drives home that point to me, that there are all sorts of people to make this world, and that there can be different perspectives to a point, howsoever convinced you may be, that yours is such a straightforward, correct and only valid point!

Hope to keep writing more regularly now.
Signing off, for the moment..

– Sanjay Mehta

The lilting voice of Jagjit Singh, singing this beautiful song, “Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti, Woh Baarish Ka Pani” had the power to generate goosebumps for one and all, who have left childhood behind, in life.

For today’s children, who will become adults tomorrow, will this song have a relevance?

Disasters come and go. Sometimes soon, sometimes a little later, life resumes to normalcy. Whether it was Indira Gandhi’s assasination, the Babri Masjid demolition, the Mumbai bombings, 9/11, the Bhuj earthquake, Tsunami or whatever.. beyond a point in time, life returns to normalcy. Sure, for some people who are directly impacted, life would never be the same ever again. But for most others, it would be one tough event, which came and went.

But for all the normalcy that we claim to resume to, there are scars that are left, and which last for a long, long time, if not forever. The scars burn and pain a lot in the near term, but they continue to irritate us, for much longer.

In the present situation, what Mumbaikars have seen is:
1. Water levels can rise up to dramatic heights, unseen before, and the rise can happen very quickly, in a matter of minutes, so to say,

2. Water levels can rise in locations earlier known to be “safe”,

3. Water has a force which can be felt not just in the Andaman Islands during a Tsunami strike, but also at the walls and trees of Mumbai, when rain Gods lash,

4. Children may not be safe in school buses, adults in cars, and everyone in local trains

5. The date of 26th of a month can be more dreadful than Friday the 13th

When all and other situations of this kind happen simultaneously, as they did on the dreaded 26/7, a HUGE fear psychosis sets in, and that can be the scar that is left in our heads, post-26/7. So in the future:

a. When a child’s bus is delayed on an average day, and its drizzling outside, the worst fears will come to the mind,

b. When there is some water logging, sitting in the car, we will want to keep our auto car locks “unlocked”,

c. Slight heavy rains (as on Monday, 1st Aug), and everyone will think whether its worthwhile to step out of home at all; schools and colleges may be trigger happy to declare holidays, especially those which have seen the worst of the brunt of 26/7,

d. Ground floor flats will be available at a discount, basements will go on distress sales, and even 1st floor levels will be hard to sell for builders; the premium for floor rise will increase to compensate,

e. When the calendar comes in, in the month of December, people will use a red marker pen, to mark out the 26th of each month, along with any Friday the 13th, that they can see in there; dates to stay at home, if possible, dates to be extra-careful about,

and

f. Parents will admonish a child wanting to go and play with her paper boats, in the rain water. “Stay at home, and watch some TV, or play on your computer games” is what they will tell the child.

Which is why I ask at the beginning, whether the children of today will ever look back and feel nostalgic when they hear Jagjit Singh’s “Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti, Woh Baarish Ka Pani”…

Many disasters happen in India – bombings, floods, riots, and what not.
But they don’t happen in Mumbai.

Sometimes some events happen in Mumbai also – like the bombings in Ghatkopar, or at the Gateway of India.
But these were isolated, one off location events in the city.

It could easily have been thus, even with the rains. There could have been equally devastating floods in Konkan and Raigad, there could have even been some problems in the city too, like floods in Kalyan or Dombivili or something.
But if they had skipped the rest of the city, then….

1. The city would have continued like nothing happened. And they would have talked about the ‘spirit of Mumbai’ and how the citizens continued, inspite of the floods in Kalyan and Dombivili..

2. As commuters trudged into the city in the morning locals, they would have talked about some colleagues who suffered in Mumbai, and chuckled in sympathy. And then gone ahead and changed the topic to Narayan Rane joining Congress, or how there is no Mumbai boy has made it to the Indian cricket team..

3. The floods in Raigad would have featured on page 1 of the morning daily, with a photograph and some smart headline (“Citizens’ vacations to Goa suffer as Konkan Railway goes down once again”); but the page one space would have been shared with other stories like the injury to Ayesha Takia on her film set, or the latest MMS featuring Rakhi Sawant…

4. The sensex would have penetrated the 8000 level by now; under the present circumstances, with Mumbai underwater, the sensex has kept going up, but if Mumbai had been spared, it would have raced faster..

5. Many of us would have planned an evening together, to watch the inconsequential, one-sided cricket game between two depleted sides, on Sunday, just to watch India win after a long time, against West Indies. And we would have arranged cocktail snacks to go with our drinks, as we enjoyed the game. But in the break between innings, we would have also discussed the floods in Kalyan, and how our material cannot be received from there, and how we have two staff members who are unable to attend for last 3 days… along with our analysis of Harbhajan’s looping delivery, and whether Laxman is really injured..

6. There would have been a rush to the multiplexes to see the actual product behind the beautiful sepia promos of “Yahaan”, as it released on Friday..

7. Some os us would have planned a drive to Bushy Dam in Lonavala, followed by a brunch at Fariyas, as ‘finally there are some rains in Mumbai’….

But for once, the rains did not just skirt Mumbai. They came in big and strong.

Have seen three movies recently. Waqt, Bunty aur Babli and Parineeta.

Waqt was a decent attempt. Some semblance of a story which carried through the movie. As expected, a good performance by Amitabh, and a smart one by Akshay Kumar. They seem to have good chemistry, they have had some good performances together. The story was not substantial. There were too many holes. But in present famine times (in terms of getting good movies), the effort was okay.

I had much more hope from Bunty aur Babli. The promos generated good interest. Seemed like it would be a smart one, with Abhishek and Rani pitted against AB Sr. Well, as it turned out, it was a damp squib. Well, at least it disappointed, against the expectations that were generated. There were some high points – a few energetic and well picturised songs (Kajarare kajarare, dhadhak dhadhak to name a couple), sincere performances by the three stars. But where it badly hurt was in the main execution. It is supposed to be a film of con game and chase. These two are the main pillars of the story. And neither were shown with any degree of conviction. The con game was shown of a very amateurish standard. No serious planning or execution shown. And the chase was almost non-existent. The chase part was restricted to Amitabh mouthing some high sounding dialogues. But no real thinking-outthinking kind of chases, of the kind that we have seen in movies like “Catch Me If You Can”, for example. So all in all, it was a big let down.

The best of the three movies, was the last one that I saw, Parineeta. Clearly the most effort put into the movie, amongst the three referred here. A lot of work has gone in to make it look authentic of the times – 1960s Calcutta. The “Oh Calcutta” factor, with Moulin Rouge, Flurrys, the period train to Darjeeling with the Raj hangover still to be seen, were very well picturised. Saif Ali comes up with a creditable performance. A serious role, playing the lead for once, he does a good job. The new girl, Vidya Balan, is also good. Although Vinod Chopra has only produced the film, and not directed it, there appears to be his stamp on the film. At least as far as making the new girl look good. I remember Manisha Koirala’s transformation from a gawky awkward girlish look in Saudagar, to a phenomenally beautiful and matured look, in 1942- A Love Story. Likewise, cannot forget Priety Zinta, singing Bhumro Bhumro, in Mission Kashmir. That look had the director’s touch written all over it. Vidya Balan has been made to come out equally impressive here. If it is Pradeep Sarkar who has created that character, then hat’s off to him to. Sanjay Dutt does not have much of a role and his small bit is done without much ado. The best part is the story. Being adapted from a famous work of literature, there is certainly a depth to it. So that part is taken care of. However that still needs a screenplay to convert the novel to a feature film, especially to adapt an original 1930s story, to one of the 1960s. That is done very creditably.

Not quite a classic, and certainly not as ostentatious as Devdas (same author, similar theme, similar sets, period, etc.), it is still decent value for money, and 2.5 hours well spent! But surely, there is a famine at this time – good movies are hard to come by, very few and far between.. !

I have had Thalis at a few joints, and all of them stuff you, by their super fast service and never letting any bowl in your thali stay half empty. Before you can utter “no”, they fill it up and move on. But with all that, I have gone to a few thali places and come out standing.

And today, I could not.

It was the Rajdhani thali joint, at Nirmal Lifestyle, Mulund.
(For those who have not been to Nirmal Lifestyle, I’d suggest that you must go by, and just have a look. Like a typical American mall setting, lots and lots of branded stores, restaurants, ice cream shops, huge open spaces, large supermarket- Shoprite; awesome!)

I went there today, after catching the owner, Mr. Barot, on radio yesterday. Not that he said much, but that was enough of an inspiration to make it to Rajdhani today.

There was a long queue when we reached there around 1 pm. I feared the worst – like an hour’s wait or something. But we made it to our seats in half an hour. Thanks mainly to the speed at which they get patrons to eat, and get out!

There were like 9 vatis in the thali, so I could imagine that a lot of things would be coming in. Three vegetables, kadhi, daal (yes, both!), shrikhand, sheera (both of which I did not have, being ‘off-desserts’ for now), devgadhi aam-ras, mango-panah, chhaas, rice, khichdi (yes, again both), papad, roti, phulkas, puris, rotla, dhoklas and patties. Most of the items were good, very authentic Gujarati stuff.

They set the pace with very fast serving. I know it, and tried very hard to slow things down. Also I did not have shrikhand, sheera, puris, patties. So I thought I would be fine. I thought I was keeping things under control.

Yet, by the time we were getting done, I had food upto my throat, all the way down my food pipe. There was no space to put a sip of water in!!

I was not able to get up from the chairs. After they stared at us long enough, and came and asked us 5 times whether we wanted anything (after the bill was paid up), I had to get up. Walked down and had to sit somewhere for a good 15 full minutes, before we could make our way to the car. And I had to ask my wife to drive, as I was still feeling so damn full!

Whew! That was _some_ meal.

Catch it, if you have not done it before. Don’t go on a working day, hoping to get back to work. Make sure you have time to laze out after the meal – you would need the rest!

– Sanjay