Thursday, November 23, 2006

Piggybacking on Sachin again ... !!

I thought it was over. But calamity seems to hover around the Indian team forever. The mid 90's were audience to the Indian team being over dependent on Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar but with the recruitment of lotsa youngsters at one go, the onus had shifted from the little master. Well, welcome back to work Sachin ... how was your leave .. ;)

Those were the days. Sachin in the pavillion meant switching off the TV. It was only the flambuoyance of young guns like Yuvraj, Viru, Kaif, Pathan, Raina, etc that made an Indian cricket fan wait till the last wicket fell or till the last run was scored by the opposition. Ths ghosts are back with a little bit of help from injuries and the constant countrywide debate on the coach.

I was just talking to one of my colleagues. We were saying that Ganguly should be back in the team and at the helm too. It may sound like finding a scapegoat for the failure of the team. Maybe. My colleague was of the opinion that Greg Chappell should be expelled immediately coz John Wright was doing a great job. What I feel is totally different. There should just be a captain of the team. Im a big non believer in coaches. What I feel is that neither John Wright nor Greg Chappell can make a difference. My reason of bringing back Ganguly is that he didnt listen to anyone. He executed according to what he thought was right. The fact that John Wright didnt object was to Ganguly's benefit.

All this makes me feel that Im back at school lazying around at home on a weekend watching India play some X country at Sharjah. Sachin going great guns. He either gets out to a great delivery, a great catch, a wrong decision or he gifts his wicket to the bowler. And within 50 to 80 runs of his wicket, we are watching the presentation ceremony.

Those were the days .... and these are the days .... Welcome back to Indian cricket folks ... !!

Cheers ... !!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Pav Bhaji ... !!

It seems the LAW of AVERAGES applies to food too. I had not had Pav Bhaji for close to 5 or 6 months until last week when I had it for both lunch and dinner. Though it wasnt planned, I was more than happy to lap it up. And if you are in the mood to have junk for dinner, you have plenty of options to choose from.

I was wandering away with Amruta last evening in front of Marzorin when she decided to have an ice cream at Pasteur. After the ice cream was safely deposited into our junkie tummies, we were still yearning for more. Next stop ... Anna's stall behind Victory theatre. Lip smacking Bhel ... yummy ... gave company to the ice cream in our tummies. And then the big brother ... Pav Bhaji.

The place was Juice World just before George if you are walking down from East street to Aurora towers. Apparently the Pav Bhaji was so good that we ordered a second plate after we had first one. Still not done .... the third made its way down too. Seriously, after Jayshree, this is the best Pav Bhaji I have had so far.

Nice places to have Pav Bhaji are : Juice World, Jayshree, Shiv sagar at Aundh, Jyoti at Kondhwa and of course ur state of the art thelas outside Saras Baug. If you are low on cash and need a quick bite and you are at VT in Mumbai (lots of ands), then dive into the the subway of VT, get out of it on the other side (towards Xaviers college and Bombay Gymkhana)and BANG .... mouth watering Pav Bhaji at less than 20 per plate. The taste may not be top class but better than most hotels in Pune.

Cheers to Pav Bhaji ... !!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Favourites ... I cant run away from them ... !!

I thought of writing this blog after stopping for fuel at the petrol pump in front of the RTO near Sangam Bridge. Since accidentally running dry of petrol 2 years ago near this petrol pump, I have never compromised on the petrol for my bike. I make it a point that I always fill petrol from this petrol pump. My bike has been transformed since I started visiting this petrol pump. A better average, better pickup and less oil ... some of the reasons for me sticking to it. Just how many such things exist ...

If it is ice cream, its always Poona Cold Drinks behind Hotel Kohinoor in Camp for its rich-in-taste Faaluda. If at a party at Naturals or some other similar outlet, its always Kesar Pista.

If its sweets, I never go anywhere other than Karachi or atleast I try not to go anywhere else.

Clothes ... more specifically pants or trousers ... I only buy jeans .. I dont know why.

Movie halls ... well ... it might be expensive ... it might be crowded ... but I still prefer Inox to any other movie hall.

Most enjoyable piece of road ... the one that goes from Yerawada Jail towards the Airport. Its a joy to see a 3 km road in front of u with nothing but greenery all around u ...

Hotels ... always George.

Paan .. always Maggai.

Kitos ... always on socks ...

Watch ... always a loose metal watch on the left wrist.

Shave ... always on Monday unless forced ... that may change now though.

Bike ... always Yamaha .... will never buy any bike of any other make ....

Candlelight dinner ... always Prem's ... what an apt name.

Beer ... always Canon.

Beach ... Diveagar ... not always ... but its an overwhelming favourite.

Fish ... always Baangda.

Sugarcane Juice ... always the one opposite Blue Nile.

Junk food ... 90 % of the time ... Pani Puri.

Newspaper ... always start reading from the last page to the first page.

Church ... always St Patricks.

well there are lots of others that I keep doing ... no wonder people call Pratik Beri boring ... ;)

To sign off ... Blog titles ... always ending with a "...." or "!!"

Cheers .. !!