When Pondy took the cherry

The agenda: Chill out (or... get wasted - depending how teetotaller-ly you are)

The place: Pondicherry (now Puducherry.. duh!)

The time: Weekend

We set out from Chennai early enough in the morning to hear the cock-a-doodle-do. The ride to Pondy is smooth and splendidly scenic. The road (East Coast Road, as its called) runs along the coast all the way and the cool sea-breeze is a fresh break from the Chennai heat. Going by bike, rather than taking a bus, is not a bad idea. It allows for stops on the way to just admire the vast sea, which is sometimes on both sides of the road! It takes us about 4 hours, but can be covered quicker in a car I guess.

Once we get there, we head straight for the dazzling rock beach promenade/ beach front. Its difficult not to fall in love with it... Its a complete experience; enchanting, powerful, graceful and dangerous at the same time...

There are a few hotels in the area to suit various budgets... We check into the Ajantha Guest House, for a room overlooking the beach. Its a steal for 700 bucks a night (non a/c)! The restaurant/bar alongside it, again called Ajantha (if I remember correctly), makes for a perfect afternoon by the sea.

Being a Union Territory, the booze in Pondy is dirt cheap. 65 bucks for a bottle of beer.. some 250 bucks for a pitcher! The weather is nice & warm and chilllled beer is certainly the drink of choice in the afternoon. The snacks to go along with it are delectable, fish tikka, assorted veggies, all are devoured during the course of the 'session'.

Along the promenade, a 5 minute walk from the Ajantha Guest House, is Le Café. This is the perfect place for breakfast. Good, inexpensive food and the view, outta this world! The mini idlis with sambhar are the best of the lot and I suggest you definitely give 'em a try. On the Sunday that we were there, there was a film being shot at this place and we got box seats (inside the café) alongside the actors after the shot was over!

On Saturday evening, we set off on a 1/2 hour ride to the world-famous Auroville. Along the beach front we could see some foreigners taking walks, but Auroville is teeming with them - Attracted by the promise of a peaceful, better, life... or doing some voluntary work for the local community... We meet people from Chile, Italy & Germany among other countries and they seem to have settled down quite well - an old German couple even bargains in TAMIL with a store-keeper! There's not much to see here otherwise...

The Auro beach is a great place to take an evening walk. If you're with your girl/guy, this place is a must-visit. I imagine it'd be quite a romantic experience... (Of course, I was with a drunk Somesh, who was too busy losing his slippers in the water - and crying that the sea took them away - until it threw the worthless crap back ashore :-P )

Dinner's at the chic Promenade hotel, on the promenade, again... Its a good place to have a nice, proper, sit-down family dinner types... There're two old French couples playing cards and generally having a good time, so I think you get the drift...

The next day we head to Arikamedu. This place about a half hour drive from Pondy is an archeological site and is supposed to have some Roman ruins. But there's absolutely nothing here and if you're archeologically inclined, you can make a trip to the museum which is said to contain most of the remains from these ruins.

So without wasting too much time amongst the ruins, we head straight for Paradise Beach (about 10 mins further down the road). Its advisable to leave for this place just around lunch time to give yourself enough time to spend at the beach. You've to park your vehicle, take a ticket for a ferry across to this island (about 10 mins on the ferry). The last ferry back is at about 4 pm, so plan accordingly. The beach itself is breathtaking. Its a touch crowded on weekends and the guy with the big speaker shouting out to public to stay away from the water can get to be quite a pain. Otherwise, the place really is paradise...!

Pondy was once a French colony, and there're several French restaurants dotting the city. We headed to Satsanga for a drink and snacks. The ambience is nice and quiet with enough light around coz of the open top. The service though is deplorable and the waiters are totally unresponsive. But once the beer & snacks are on the table, all this is easily forgotten :)

There's a beautiful Church, Church of Notre Dame, I think, and we spend some time there. I get to revise my french as I follow Jesus' story on the pictures on the walls. A good place for a nice peaceful afternoon...

After a final refill of food at Le Café, we head back to Chennai... The ride at night is completely different. The vast sea now is completely lost in the darkness and looks like an endless abyss. It'd have been different on a clear, star-lit night... But cloudy night, 'twas a touch unnerving & scary! There're also police checks on the way to ensure we're not carrying back cheap booze or drunk-driving.

--

And so ended the perfectly chilled-out weekend... As it happens, P&G is now taking us for an offsite there this week!! Can't wait!!! Wuhhooo!!!

Jacaranda flowers in Brisbane!

Thanks to my lovely aunt for these pics...

Jacaranda trees in Brisbane... B E A utiful...!

Australia!!

(Written about 3 weeks back, completed today..!)
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Although I still had more to write on the 'Happiness series' that I started, my thoughts have been completely occupied with my first trip to Australia earlier this month. (I'm still recovering from the hangover of the 'high' that I received from the trip - to Brisbane, Singapore, Bombay & three weddings!)

Given that I was there only in Brisbane, and that too only for three days, which included the wedding (my cousin sis', wuhooo!), one can say that I've not really seen Australia at all. But the flavour that I got of it in this time has me convinced that I will go back there for more!!

Notes from Brisbane...

The first thing that strikes me about Brisbane, (as soon as I land) is the weather. Its just the start of summer here and its not too different from a regular Bombay day. The familiar humidity in the air is gladly welcomed. But then, unlike Bombay, there are hardly any people around. The roads are wide, all of them seeming freshly painted and traffic (whatever little there is) is very orderly.

My uncle turns on the GPS to get to our apartment and it immediately starts barking directions. I can't really imagine using GPS in the narrow roads in Bombay, (or chronicling all the addresses that are there!) but then I guess its already started happening.

The heart of Brisbane is the Brisbane river (innovative name eh!?). It runs through the city and most of the city's happening spots are dotted along it. Our apartment overlooks the river and gives a breathtaking view of the city from the 25th floor!! Its in an area called Quay (pronounced as just K). This also seems to be the office area with buildings of IBM, Oracle and several other big companies right next door.

The parties here sure seem quite a do, with people going around wearing weird costumes with especially fancy head-gear ('tis a Friday night).

There's something about the place which makes me feel instantly at ease. Perhaps its got to do with Australia's history itself, as a vast, welcoming land with people from several countries & continents and races & cultures making it their home. Talking of people, and welcoming, the folks here are simlar to back home in Bombay; always ready to lend a helping hand, give directions and speak with a cordial smile on their face (as opposed to Delhi, where people are cold and unhelpful - Sorry Delhi-lovers, couldn't resist a dig at your fav city :-P ).

When we make a trip to my sis' place, the landscape, awash with purple jacaranda flowers, is breath-taking! (I feel like such a dud not having taken any pics of it! I guess I was too busy admiring the scene!). In general, the residential areas, away from the city, are quiet and peaceful. They remind me of my uncle's place in Sunnyvale, California. Although they're a lot more greener... The neighbours dog is an ageing Golden Retriever and immediately offers himself for a petting. He's a lot bigger than my old pooch Jimmy, but has the same innocent eyes.

A short trip to the Gold Coast makes for a wonderful evening by the sea. There are truly weird looking birds around and about wherever I go. The beaks are almost always twisted at the tip, the for some reason; the birds themselves look stronger, sturdier, than back home.

The Aussies are crazy about fitness. Early in the morning I see several people walking, roller-blading, cycling on the streets... a 'regular' fitness thing I'm told. And with most of the country living very close to the coast, scuba-diving, snorkelling & surfing are also usual ways of keeping fit, and most importantly enjoying oneself while doing so! Folks also go 'bush-walking', taking treks into the bushes (foresty areas basically)!!

But apart from the way of speaking English (the Austraaalyan way), I can't really find much uniquely Australian. I meet people originally from Ireland, Argentina, Korea, England and a host of other nations and each bring about their own bit of flavour to Australia. One common thread though is that all of them truly love and enjoy their freedom.

A longer trip is now certainly on the cards, perhaps 3-4 years down the line... 'til then I'll have this post to reminisce the beautiful time spent in this world away from worlds...

Stop

Two unpublished drafts stare at my numb mind as I watch in shock at the events happening in Bombay. I'm sick in the stomach. Uncontrollable tears. Confusion. Anger. Despair.

Please stop. Please.

Happiness - I

Despite the lack of passion with studying finance theory from the books during my MBA, I've loved to follow the general goings on in the financial world. Especially, the crazy world of the equity markets. Its fun following it on TV, the likes of CNBC et al going "today has been a landmark day with the Sensex crossing the 20,000 mark..." etc etc.

Although what happens there doesn't directly affect me (I've no investments), the whole packaging and the passion involved in their reporting really captivates me. It also helps lift or in some cases even dim my spirits sometime! When there's a bull run, example, with all the smiling presenters going ga-ga over how great the economy is, it kinda rubs off on me too and I find myself smiling too. They say, smile and the world smiles with you... clear case of that I guess.

Off late, the gloom in the markets has the presenters coming in with gloomy faces and muffled voices. I feel the drop in their energy levels and its difficult not let it affect me as well.. Its like watching a sad movie praying there's a happy ending. I can't even begin to imagine what it is like for people whose investments have been hit. The same thing that made them happy a few months back is now stealing that happiness away from them. And... also those who've lost their jobs.

Because of some smart-ass derivatives structurers, people have had to part with their life earnings or the source of it. UNFAIR.

Sitting here, in a small town away from the mayhem, it makes me feel small and powerless. It would be easy to drown myself in the melancholy along with the rest of em... But I open my eyes and I also see happy locals all around as it is raining! The landscape is lush green (pics from my new phone soon :P )and the weather is near-perfect. (Apparently, since the rains were really bad this year, some major puja was done a coupla weeks back at Tirumala, specially to appease the Rain Gods - and now the whole most of South India is under threat from floods :-P )

Anyways, people around are happy and rejoicing, with Diwali also round the corner.... Happiness is most certainly about managing expectations... People here have only few (compared to what a city-dweller would for example).

Its probably a reason why we see so many happy faces in the villages and little towns... Something for us city-bred folk to think and reflect on perhaps...

Here's a link to Subbu's post, which along with a chat with him about this, got me thinking on this subject... More thoughts over the weekend perhaps...

xx

Desperate Measures

One month almost since my last post and my blog's started complaining that I ain't giving it enough time. A combination of a string of parties and of laziness rearing it ugly head again has forced me to take these desperate measures to get a post going. The thing with laziness is, it fires your creativity to give excuses to not do something with your time as well... like saying that I was too busy to write a post! Or worse still, I was suffering from a lack of motivation... writer's block... mental pneumonia or that my mind felt like it was being squeezed from all sides by a boa.

Anyways, as I sat to write this, I had to start fishing for what I'd write about. Hmm.. lets see..

*F1*- season's gotten boring, Schumy's long gone, and altho Vettel's looking exciting he's in the wrong car this season at least...

*Football*- Clubs are all off for the moment and nothing much apart from some uninteresting qualifiers going on...

*The economy* - So much said and so much read... from Iceland becoming worth a loaf of bread to a multi trillion $ bailout across European countries... The gift of foresight for coming into FMCG :-P

*Travels* - I've only been to campus, Bombay & Hyderabad. Bombay & Hyd there's not much to write about.. and if I start writing how awesome a time I had on campus, I'll prolly need a week's vacation to complete the post :-D

*Arbit fiction* - Two unfinished posts already and no way forward, sure to hit a roadblock, not something to take up when 'the flow' 's a bit iffy.

So after the round of presentations that each category made to the unimpressed blog post control center in my head, the decision still remained as open as before the presentations started.

And then, arrived the unknown presenter who wowed the singular audience with aplomb. 'Movies' made a spectacular surprise appearance with WALL-E... the super-cute love story about a robot and his visitor from space...

Now I must admit I'm a total sucker for cartoons and would probably find even an ok-ok cartoon movie pretty good. But this one was simply fantastic...

Hard-working as any robot should be, but with a touch of human romance about him, Wall-E is an instantly loveable character. The movie takes its time to describe Wall-E's motivations and the little nuances that make him what he is. His trusted mate, a little cockroach (yuck! I know! But still one can't help but like him!), is also portrayed wonderfully, which just adds to the feel-good factor at the start. (Scientific reason - even if all life has ended in the world, the likliest creature to survive would be the cockroach!) Anyways, the ride only just begins when Eve, the 'sexy'-robot-from-outer-space-looking-for-life, touches down and completely blows Wall-E away with her moves. After this its just an absolute roller-coaster as Wall-E follows her to a space station and while attempting to profess his love for her, ends up saving mankind as well...

The plot is simple, the execution is brilliant (Pixar! Need I say more!?) and its difficult not to fall in love with it all.

If you've seen this movie, lemme know how you liked it!? If you haven't seen this movie, get a copy and watch it and then lemme know. :-)

xx

Twenty-five already seen by me,
Many more I shall roam free!

Also a toast,
To many more a post.

xx

Career advice in difficult B-school times

With the US economy stuttering as it is, and threatening to pull others down with it, its certainly a nervous time for fresh graduates (expecting to pass-out this year). Lehman & Merill were aspirational names for the fin dudes on campus. I remember people in my batch looking at these names with awe; the toppers knew they'd have a good shot at cracking into 'em; the bourgeois, on the other hand, mocked them for being so 'topper-friendly'.

For the two years I spent on campus, there was never really a fear of not getting the job you wanted. Of course you couldn't really get into a consult with a shitty academic record. But people were fairly chilled out about where they'd be going.

Now though, I imagine the situation is quite different. There's a good chance that the big names (and even the not-so-big ones), would be either entirely missing or recruiting in lesser numbers compared to previous years - more so for fin, but generally across sectors. I still expect 100% placements in the IIMs without too much trouble. But, people will, by and large, not get the companies and offers that they'd have thought of getting 6 months back.

While the situation might seem grim at the outset, there are still a lot of very good companies and jobs out there. This will force the students to look beyond those top few that they'd always been dreaming of, and they'd find that indeed there are still excellent jobs for the taking.

They do not offer the high pay-packets and aura of the large i-banks, but they can still offer roles which are deemed challenging. Its a hit the students should be expecting and willing to digest. They've put in a lot of effort to get here, no doubt. But a slowdown can be thought of as an opportunity to explore what you want to do - try out another industry or profile perhaps for a few years.

That's where in fact I think the problem lies. Folks want the first job to be in the exact field they always thought they'd fit in best. Instead, if you can change your line of thinking to - what could this job add to my profile, to my skills, which would help me in the long run - then it would make it more objective comparing profiles on offer (as opposed to pay packets & brand name).

Now, of course, the question would arise, what's 'long run'? Most people I knew on campus did not know what they wanted to do 5 years - 10 years, down the line. They either had a notion that they'd want to be in a certain field, and/or, have made tons of money by then, or, just generally doing well in life.

Lets consider these one by one.

If you're sure that you want to be in a certain field, its best that you look at all the jobs on offer that would give you skills and build your profile to do well in that field.

If you're looking to generally do well in life, look for skills that you feel you need to build. Then look for jobs that will help you build those skills to make you a more well-rounded individual. Instead, if you're extremely good at something, you can leverage that and become an expert in jobs that require that skill.

And, if all you want is to be a billionaire by 35, then there's prolly just a coupla ways to do it:

- Work your ass off. Lose your life. And with a coupla lucky breaks you'd get there by 35.
- Open your own firm with that big business idea, work your ass off, and you just might be the next Larry Page or Sabeer Bhatia.

[ Of course, there's 'marry-a-billionaire'... but I don't think I'd count that as a 'career option' :) ]

All in all, what I just want people to realize for themselves is this - there's still a lot of time left in life. You might as well live it up now, rather than lose sleep over where your next job is going to be. Do your research well, think 'long run', and that elusive happiness will come-a-courting.

xx

What to do when you have time for you

Imagine a time... when you have time to kill. No work worries. No study. No nothin. Just you, with the clock for a change, rather than against it.

What are your options?

1. Turn on that idiot box - movie, sport, news, soap, arbit music channel, cartoons, discovery/Nat geo... soo much to choose from :-)

2. Surf the net - chat up with friends, news, download that killer app, read up on your hobbies... the works

3. Blog - If you already have one, you know what a nice time pass it is :-P ; if you don't, no better time to start, eh!?

4. Read - Read that book that's been lying on the shelf, begging to be read for so long. Re-reading a good book is also a very attractive option, always something new to discover!

5. Call - Catch up with an old friend, relative or any of your best buddies

6. Listen - to some music. Some peppy numbers to up your spirits, dance along for added effect...! Or some calming classics to relax your mind, slow down time.

7. Write - a letter. It could be a nice long email to that friend you haven't been in touch with, or it could be an old fashioned pen & paper letter by snail mail to your granny...!

8. Walk - Take a walk 'round town. Notice the people around. Feel the rain, the sun, the breeze. Listen to every sound.

9. Cook - yourself a treat! Try something new... that dish in the cook-book that looked o-so-delicious... hurry up, stomach's waiting...

10. SLEEP. Need I say more? :)

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Now, yesterday, Somesh & I planned to drive down to this hill station place called Horsley Hills. But as it happened, Somesh's bike broke down on his way from Chennai to Tirupati, so the trip was off.

And I had no Plan B.

So, I'd to think up of something to do. It didn't really help that the power went off (some once in a month thing for repairs in Tirupati!). So that meant TV, internet, blogging (my top three options, always :-) ) were not possible as I had no charge left on my lappy. That kinda got me thinking about this post.

Of course, there're several other things one can do in their free time. Meditate, draw, paint, exercise(!!), get a massage... But I guess I just wanted to keep the options down to 10, coz 10 seems like a nice number for a list of things that can be done :-)

What did I end up doing then? Well... The cell had enough charge for about 1 call.. so I spoke with a friend. Music & reading were ruled out, coz I aint got no songs or books, and I'm not much of a music person anyways. Taking a walk was out of the question, coz it was burning hot and I aint really first in line for people who need a tan at the expense of a headache. I wouldn't have minded cooking some stuff for myself, but the kitchen's just got a sink and a platform as of now.. so..

After all that thinking... I didn't really have any choice but to get some more sleep :-)

xx

New house setup for dummies

There will come a time in almost every young person's life, when they'd have to setup a house for themselves. I've had the good luck of doing this so young :P ... over the last month or so at Tirupati.

Here's a short guide, if I could call it that, on setting up your house.

Note: Its not easy, but it ain't tough either.

Every time you think "Now, I've bought everything", something that you're doing in the course of the day would remind you.. "Damn, I forgot to buy xyz..". For example, you wake up in the morning, brush your teeth, and pick up your razor for a shave. Then you realize, "Damn, there's no mirror over the wash basin". And then you go and scribble 'Mirror' in your list of things to buy.

If you're attentive enough, and diligent enough to write down stuff you need on a piece of paper, then with 3-4 trips to the supermarket, you should have your house up n running.

So... What's the stuff you need to buy??
Here's a list...
(The prices in this are for stuff for the average household, not too fancy, but not off of a garage sale either)

What - how much(rupees)

Big ticket items
1. Cot with mattress - 9-11k
2. TV + TV Table - 14-18k
3. Washing machine + stand - 12-15k
4. Refrigerator - 10-13k
5. A/C - 20-28k
6. Dining table & chairs - 11-15k
7. Couch (3 seater) :) - 15k
8. Cupboard + dressing table - 10-12k
9. Geyser - 3-5k (I guess)
10. Gas kit - 5-6k (I guess)

The rest
Doormat, bathroom mat, scissors, dustbins, buckets, mugs, mop, broom, dust-pan, toilet cleaning liquid, toilet brush, floor cleaning liquid, soaps, toilet paper, washing powder, bed cover, bedsheet, pillows, pillow cover, mirror, shirt hangers, clotheslines, table mat, few plates, glasses, spoons, other utensils....

All of this stuff shouldn't cost more than 6-7k.

As a rule, you'd HAVE to go to the market at least 3 times though as something would always be amiss!

And of course, once you buy all this stuff, you're left with the simple task of deciding how to arrange it in the house... :)

xx

The Chamelion

An intensely engaging, yet sad, read about a brilliant mind...

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/08/11/080811fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all

PS - Suggest you read it completely in one go

Tirupati Tirumala Deivasthanam (TTD)

I had ideas of other posts in mind, but this was one I had to write before anything else!

I was in Tirupati on Tuesday nd planned a trip to Tirumala early next morning with a colleague. Tirumala is what Tirupati is actually famous for.. it has the Lord Venkateshwara temple, which is supposed to be the world's most visited religious site - at an average of 60,000 pilgrims a day! (Tirupati is the city.. Tirumala is a hill a few kms from the city)

I prefer to visit a temple if its nice and quiet and peaceful. So I was a bit skeptical about going to this temple. There was going to be one helluva rush, no matter what time we went.

So we woke up at around 3 am, ready for our 'adventure'! By 3.45, we were off in a tiny Indica up the hill. The ride was interesting. At this time of the day (err night), you really don't expect too many vehicles on any road.. But there were buses upon buses, full of people, screaming up the slope! There was a jeep rammed into the side of the road, an eager driver turning too fast for his own good. It got chillier as we climbed but I was still quite comfortable in my t-shirt and jeans. It must've been like 21-22 degrees C.

4:35 am - We reached the top, had to leave our cellphones and chappals in the car.. and headed straight for the serpentine queue which had already started forming!

The queue moved quite slow. The point where we joined the queue, we really didn't know we were entering a temple. In front of us was a huge building that seemed to be full of halls, and the queue was heading right for it. As we got in, the queue split into two.. one going up a flight of stairs and another going down... Both eventually of course leading to the same destination.

As the queue moved forth, I could get glimpses of the humongous complex inside. It was a large space, prolly the size of two football fields, and on one side was the temple.

The queue then emptied out into a seating hall of sorts and the door at the far end was closed. We waited there for around 30 minutes. Without much notice, the door was pulled open and pilgrims spilled out towards another entry, again falling back into a queue. This queue finally led up to the temple, just before which, it merged with the other queue.

There were just so many people around. But there was very little noise. Occasionally someone would cry out "Govinda", and everyone would follow the 'chant', saying "Govinda' twice or thrice.

As I neared the idol, there was quite a mad rush of pilgrims as the entrance to the temple was a bit wider than the queue. The entrance to the temple is from its left side. One has to go straight towards the centre and then turn left to get a glimpse of the idol. As I moved forward, being shoved from all directions, I thought to myself.. well what's really there to it!?

But as I turned left, I had a clear view of the idol - Lord Venkateshwara.

Now, I don't really know how to explain it, but I was transfixed. There was some energy holding me at that point. My mind was clear, still, motionless, at peace. And as I reached the closest point to the idol and turned left away from it, I felt a sense of deep contentment. I walked out amongst a crowd of smiling, happy, people. Perhaps, I was smiling too...

--

It had been a great experience, and a most unexpected one at that. The cherry on the icing on the cake was the sweet laddu packet at the end, which I had, and shared gleefully with my team the next day!

Wine & dine in Chennai...

Chennai had been quite a gracious host for the two weeks that I spent there. Apart from the fairly good weather though, something that really struck me was the awesome food joints sprinkled all over the city. I've really only now found the time to write a bit about em all, and hopefully my memory's still holding those experiences in near totality.

So here goes...

1. Taj Coromandel

Ambience - Fairly well lit. Well decored interiors. Live Indian music (ie flute, violin n the like) playing. Nice, comfortable seats. High ceilings. In short NIIICE..

Food - Only South Indian (various states), but thoroughly enjoyable. Do try the fried fish starters. The soups can be given a miss though. The prices are ok though.. about 800-1000 per head (without drinks)

Service - A bit on the slower side, but what the heck, its a 5 Star.. enjoy it while it lasts :-P

Company - Generally small corporate groups or families. I spotted Narain Karthikeyan as well. Good place to spend some time with the family or a quiet evening with close friends.

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2. Bella Ciao

Ambience - Rooftop. Perfect for a breezy evening. Setup with largeish tables with mosaic kinda tiles, sposedly to give an Italian feel. Well, thanks to the Italian waitress, everything even remotely Italian, looks Italian :-P

Food - Excellent. Reminded me of Little Italy (which is there in several cities in India). Authentic Italian. Loved every bittuv it.

Service - Can get really slow when its crowded as only one person takes the orders for about a total of 10-12 tables.

Company - Young crowd mostly. Couples. Groups of friends. And a few foreigners.

--

3. Mainland China

Ambience - Fairly run-of-the-mill. Dullish. They do also keep candles on the table, but that really doesn't lighten up the atmosphere. Some really cliched music playing in the background.

Food - GOOD QUANTITY. :-) Taste's ok to good. But seriously value for money.

Service - Quick n efficient.

Company - Families. Bored couples wanting to get even more bored.

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4. Sparks (Pub)

Ambience - Low light, with those twinkling stars in the ceiling Good music, DJ et al :-P Perfect to settle down with your drink. PS - The couches are goood.

Food - Complementary popcorns go well with beer. Rest's usual. Some really good mocktails for the teetotallers.

Service - Fairly good. No complaints as such.

Company - For some reason, this place was almost completely empty on a Saturday night, whereas its a pretty darn good pub.

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5. 601 - The Park

Ambience - Nothing special. Well lit. Gives a feeling of being outside, whereas its really well inside.

Food - The buffet's ok. I'd have it just for the desserts though. :-P A la carte's expensive and not all that good.

Service - Shabby. Waiters seem strangely under-trained.

Company - Mostly foreigners. Oldies. CxO ish people, reading books while they eat!

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6. Minar (Savera's rooftop)

Ambience - Again, rooftop. But very dark and the chairs are not quite comfortable.

Food - Good north Indian food. Good quantity but a touch expensive for the kind of place.

Service - Ok. Nothing to write home about.

Company - Pretty much all kindsa people.

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7. Malgudi

Ambience - Similar to the Taj Coromandel, but of course without much the grandeur. A magician walks around showing magic tricks. Interiors seem like a room of a palace that wasn't really done up as much as a room in a palace should be done up.

Food - Pukka South Indian, but again can't resist a comparison with the Taj.. its pretty ordinary.

Service - On the slower side.

Company - Big families. Small families. Not really a place to go n hang out with friends, unless ALL of you are crazy bout South Indian food.

---

And that's 'bout it.. went to a few others like Northern Spicey, Opal Inn & Tangerine.. all of which were ok ok. Tangerine has a live band though that played some good music.

So Chennai sprang quite a surprise on me by treating me to some excellent lunches & dinners. But I must not forget the "Meals" & "Mini-Meals" available in most restaurants round the corner. They are the closest that I can get to home food, and to me, still the best food available anywhere outsida home.. :-)