Bring Out The Child In You…
There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.
Read the above somewhere recently and it got me thinking. How I would love to relive my childhood.. feel the wind in my air as I run away from the big neighborhood dog, make mischievous faces as I play a prank on my best friend, run to greet my dad on the door when he comes back from work and sit on his lap, listening to his boiler stories, play ‘gully football’ with my buddies… What I would give to get the carefree days back.
When we are children, we always want to grow up and act as grown-ups do. We expect our parents to treat us as adults the moment we turn 13, not realizing that when we are 23, we would want to be the child again. It is a classic case of “The grass is always greener on the other side”, except you do not have the chance to keep jumping between the 2 sides. Once you are 15 (considering how fast kids are growing up these days, thanks to technology and its ways), you are expected to behave a certain way and if you don’t, you are an outcast!
In my days, our grown-up age was 18.. and no I am not ancient.. but I think I managed to keep and enjoy my childhood till the ripe age of 18. Not a care in the world… Never had to worry about where the money came from, where the veggies came from, how the house ran, investments..err..what?, how the holiday was planned, how the house ran… nothing! The only thing that I had to worry about was doing my homework on time.
The only thing I had to worry about was eat my food. And even if I did falter, the only thing that happened was, my mom yelled at me. There was no catastrophic, life-altering disaster that happened. In the end, mom used to just come and hug me and the world would be a better place again. Oh! what I would give to be a child again.
Remember when you came back home running from the school bus, with your mother waiting at the door to receive you… Remember when you used to dump the school bag at the entrance and run to the TV to catch that cartoon or Nikhil Chinappa on MTV Select coz that is the only time you can watch TV… Remember when your mom ran behind you, so that you can at least take your daily dose of greens inside your mouth and chew… Remember when you would keep looking at the clock for it to be 5PM, so you can wear your shoes and run outside to play with your buddies… Remember when it turned 7PM and your mother called for you to come home and you said, “5 more minutes Mummy, please” … Remember when you saw your dad on the scooter/car returning from work, you would chase him and greet him at the door, jump on his lap and vie for his attention…Remember when the only talks that happened at the dinner table was how you made it to the football/cricket team and how your teacher gave you an A+…. Remember when your mom would put you to bed at 10PM and you would crib, telling yourself, “when I am older, I will do what I want and sleep when I want and watch as much TV as I want”…
Well honey, you are all grown-up now. Are you enjoying your late nights, your mindless TV? I am not.. well that is not entirely true.. I am.. very much… but sometimes the child-Tanu, inside me, speaks in her squeaky tone, telling me to be carefree again. I so wanna listen to her, follow her and be that carefree, happy-go-lucky, chirpy ME again.
I wanna live with my parents forever and not worry about where the food came from. I wanna have my mother to tuck me to bed. I want my dad to teach me maths. I want my sister to do all the whisper gossip when everyone has gone to bed and the lights are out. I want to play ‘London statue’ with my friends on the street. I want to dirty my clothes in mud and come home and not worry about how to get it clean. I want to LIVE.
I wanna keep the child-Tanu, in me, always alive. I wanna always be that child, who I loved…and miss sometimes now.
Childhood is a Short Season… But I it to Last Forever…
Restaurant Review: The Egg Factory
I love Eggs. I have always turned to eggs when I don’t have a ‘meal’ in mind. They are not only a source of protein, for me, they are a source of ‘comfort food‘. Double egg omlette, hard-boiled, poached, scrambled, french toast, egg roll, egg curry… endless on-the-run recipes. These are dishes I have learnt since I have picked up that frying pan in the kitchen.
Every cafe worth its continental food serves its share of ‘eggs‘. What caught my interest was a complete restaurant dedicated to EGGS. Yes, I am telling you that each and every offering in this restaurant is purely and wholly Egg-based. I am talking about —- The Egg Factory. The name, itself, means business… and boy! they do take their ‘eggs’ seriously!
The Egg Factory is located in Bangalore, off St. Mark’s Road and is easily visible from the main road. It is the brainchild of Yogesh Mokashi and it hatched its way into the world in August 2008 (yes, that is my pathetic attempt at being funny!!). I am usually the first one to check out a new eating joint in the city, but somehow, The Egg Factory, evaded me for so long. But as they say, nothing is never too late, I present to you, my fabulous experience at this Egg-land.
I went with S and 2 friends for breakfast at The Egg Factory on a gorgeous Bangalore Saturday morning. The weather was only perfect for such an outing. The place has a very inviting feel to it. The moment I entered, I had a ‘good feeling‘ closing in on me.
Cozy yet Bright, Warm yet Airy, Uncluttered yet Cluttered.
The first thing that I noticed about the place and that caught my interest was — the decor. The place has character. It has a personality which is not your average college-cafe but very uber-cool. It almost has this aesthetic feel to it where I could expect writers to come and do their daily writing and expect advertising gurus sitting over their daily doze of eggs and coming up with fabulous ideas. The seating is comfortable with wooden chairs and tables (which I feel is the reason why the place has a ‘warm feel’ to it). There are wide, open windows overlooking lush-green
trees. What caught my eye was the attention to details that has been given to the place by its owner.
We settled ourselves into a nice cozy corner and picked up the menu. Now the menu, itself, is extremely entertaining (again..attention to details!). The menu is in 3 languages — English, Greek and Chinese. The menu is divided into — Eggs on the Menu and Eggs Trivia. Headings such as Egguction (Benefits of eggs), Eggxplanations (explains various signs and symbols seen at the restaurant and on the menu..again displays eye-for-detail) and Eggxotica (which simply means, the chef went wild with eggs). After behaving as wide-eyed children in a toy store, we, the egg-lovers, placed our orders.
I ordered a Spanish Omlette, which is absolutely gorgeous. Fluffy, filled with bell peppers, kidney beans and loads of onions, it was delicious. The omlette came with 2 slices of brown bread (you need to ask for brown bread) and butter/jam. It was the perfect omlette. S ordered ‘Scrambled Egg Spaghetti’ from the Eggxotica section and it sure was Exotic. The spaghetti was Al dente. The scrambled eggs were perfectly cooked and classic. The two were tossed up in Parmesan cheese and black pepper. S loved it and went ‘mmmm’ with every bite. The dish came with a large piece of Garlic Bread on the side. 
Atul (friend 1) ordered a Garden Frittata which was actually just about ok. Frittatas are originally supposed to be super thick, should look like a ‘pie’ and should not be ‘just another omlette’. But for an omlette it was pretty ok. I wish they make their Frittatas a little more authentic. Ram (friend 2) ordered for a 4 Chilli omlette with loads of peppers and chillies and that was 1 fabulously uncomplicated creation.
We ordered for 2 side dishes, just coz we wanted to taste a variety of ‘eggs’. First was a portion of Classic French Toast which was nothing like I have tasted before. The bread looked home-made coz they were thick slices and beautifully grilled (not fried…the diet-conscious girl in me was super happy) complimented by Maple Syrup.
The bread melted in the mouth and had a sweet tinge to it which made the classic french toast a hit. The second dish was ‘Boiled Egg Bhurji‘ from the ‘Manipal Connection‘ section. To give you a background, the Manipal section is inspired from the University town of Manipal near Bangalore, which is famous for its multitude of egg dishes. Some of the names of these dishes were penned by the students and that gives originality to this section. These are rustic, inspired and totally mind-blowing dishes that one must definitely try. I would like to term Boiled Egg Bhurji as my personal favorite contender for ‘Comfort Food’. 
My mouth exploded with a variety of flavors with one bite of this wonderful delight. It was home-made and exotic in one go. To drink, we ordered Fruit Blast, resonating with flavors of strawberries and cherries. We also had Chlorophyll Fix (another innovative name) which was a heady mix of Basil, mint and soda..definitely woke me up!
Well, all in all, this was one Eggliciously eggcellent breakfast that I am unlikely to forget for a very long time. A very well-spent 2 hours over Conversation, Friends, Laughter, Good food and, of course, Eggs!
Rating (1-bleh; 2-Yeah,whatever; 3-mmmmm, naice; 4-Woah!awesome; 5-Fantabulously Yum):
Food: 4 1/2
Ambiance: 5
Service: 3 1/2
Overall Rating: 4 1/2
Tale of the Travelling Bug!
Ever since I remember, I have been a travel freak. Ever since I had barely learnt to walk, my parents had packed up that suitcase, filled up the water bottle and stocked up on food for one of our innumerable trips. Mum and Dad have been travel freaks forever. I think my very first trip as a child was South India. Barely 5 and waddling all my way through Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kanyakumari, became my earliest memory of a Road Trip. Ever since then, Mum, Dad, the lil sis and I have explored the length and breadth of India.
I like to call myself a Dedicated Travel Freak. I dream of visiting destinations that need to be seen through a Magnifying glass on a globe. I cherish all the destinations I have visited so far. I re-visit those memories by rummaging through my photographs, of course criticizing my oh-so-sad clothes and hair!
The adventurous road trips through the lush mountains of Himanchal Pradesh, 3-times visited Mclaudgunj became my choicest destination to live when I retire, the trek up Gangotri, the pit stop at Harshil experiencing the purity of the Ganges River, history revisited in the temples of Orissa, watch the last of the Indian Lions at Gir Sanctuary, exclusive family time at Daman & Diu, then-happening-now-embarrassing-visit to Pune & Goa, experience the fall-in-love feeling with Mashorba Valley, Walk through clouds at Narkanda, living the village life at Patnitop by taking a tea break at a local’s house, watch my mum gather wild plants and moss samples whilst on a road trip and crack insane jokes, hang my head out of the window and sing loudly with the lil sis through winding mountain roads, crib when Dad plays sad music…. Just some of the memories that strike me when I think of Road Trips with my Family…
My parents have been extra enthusiastic about travelling (Didn’t I call them freaks some time back?) and have always insisted on packing our lives in our little car and get set go! Let me tell you another instance that just goes on to prove that my parents are Travel Freaks (there I said it again!!). I am a History graduate and have studied the Egyptian History in detail. My dad decided to take the family to Egypt and his explanation was “you have studied the history. What is the point of it if you do not experience it?” Awww right? I know!
Hence proven: I am a Travel Freak. Travelling and experiencing the sounds & sights of the world has been instilled in me since I learnt how to walk. Fortunately for me, I have found a partner who wants to see the world too. Our 1st trip after marriage was the awe-inspiring, utterly romantic, the picturesque French Riviera followed by Christmas Eve in Paris. Don’t get me wrong here, but we were not really the by-products of the Kings. But somehow, the travel itch did not compel us to fall for the very regular places. We wanted to experience a place that had some meaning to it, had a culture that had a meaning related to our love and what better place to celebrate our commitment than Paris and the French Riviera.
Since then we have travelled a lot of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and a bit of Kerala. I keep a cheat sheet. It has a list of all the places around Bangalore, almost unknown to almost famous; I want to see it all. I have another list. This is the Golden List of places I need to visit before I Die. These may be your regular destinations or destinations you would not dream of going, but they make to my list. As explained earlier in my post on the love for Discovery Travel & Living, I have been brought up on a staple diet of Samantha Brown and Ian Wright. Watching them experience the world and its beauty made me draw this list. So here goes:
- Venice & Florence: Maybe on the list of every romantic, the mere mention of these 2 destinations makes me go awwwwwww. I must have been a Roman Queen in my past life!
- Greece: I love Mediterranean everything. I think their outlook towards life, their love for the good life and their love for a non-run-your-ass-off-through-life attitude makes me want to live in Santorini for the rest of my life. The idea of history entwined with culture, beauty, beaches and parties in one single country – makes it all worth it!
- New York: Yeah Yeah! I know, it is so very regular. But I want to experience Times Square and 5th Avenue, feel the fast-paced life and watch what I have only experienced thanks to celluloid.
- Bora Bora: The sound of the place makes me very happy. Doesn’t it sound like a happy place where life doesn’t rush and lets you feel each moment as eternity?
- Jamaica, Costa Rica… The Caribbean’s: Something about the Caribbean’s makes me swoon. It reminds me of singing and dancing on the streets, music flowing out of cafes till the wee hours, white sands and blue waters. It somehow reminds me of Heaven by the Ocean…
- New Zealand: just for the majestic feel of it. I just think it has the kind of natural beauty I have never seen anywhere else. It is so Raw!
- Marrakesh, Morocco: The charm of the old world entices me. Period.
- Austria (Salzburg), Hungary (Budapest), Germany (Black Forest), Poland (Warsaw), Belgium (Brussels), Czech Republic (Prague), Norway (Oslo), Denmark (Copenhagen) – Need I say more?
- Laos: The colonial charm, the lifestyle, the royalty charms me to this place.
- Scotland & Ireland: The Irish Cream and Scottish Highlands I think do it for me. What say you?
That would be all Ladies & Gentlemen… I know there are many more places that are waiting to peep out of my brains and say “Hey you forgot me!”… I will put them in as and when they come to the forefront! This is me, bitten by the travel bug (pretty badly), signing off! Till the next trip…
My 2010 Resolution List
New Year Resolutions. Everyone makes them. Everyone breaks them. They say “Rules are meant to be broken”.. I think they were thinking of New Year Resolutions that millions of people keep try to keep… when they wrote that. Two resolutions that I hear every year from a minimum of 5 people are — Quit Smoking and Lose Weight. I don’t bother asking these people if they managed to do any of the 2 because by 2nd week of January they would be broken.
I stopped making resolutions a couple of years back. They never appealed to me. Well I will contradict myself just now – I have made 4 Resolutions for 2010. I have made them on a whim and I hope I stick to them till Dec 2010. I feel documenting such things always help. They work as constant reminders for your disorganized brains. So here goes:
- Get a job by May 2010, that pays me what I deserve. I think (and i am sure I will have a dozen people nodding aggressively with me) I am highly underpaid. I love my work and I once-upon-a-time had a philosophy that I don’t care how much they pay me but I should love the work. I still believe in that. But I really think that if one is a lover of the good life, then the green bills go a long way. So I feel, if I am working my ass off and I am being passionate about my work, I need to be paid accordingly. Period.
- Start saying NO to things I do not believe in/do not agree with/do not want to do. I think this is one thing that will improve the person I am, if I succeed. I have a habit of saying Yes to people (mostly bullies) for things that do not appeal to me just so that I don’t upset them. Well, stopping it starting today. I need to stand up for me and not have people run all over me. Just because I don’t say No and just because I smile and take your s**t, does not make me a wuss. Therefore, “NO thank you. I am not interested.”
- Do not get overtly emotionally attached to people/places/things. I have an amazing knack of getting myself sucked up into an emotional mess. I also have a brilliant way of getting attracted to people with emotional problems. Not that I hate it (I love to get people to smile and make them a happy lot) but I think end of it all, I tend to get emotional about it and it affects me. I don’t think I want that. I get attached to people/places very easily and when I show it, it seems I am the only fool. Therefore, control on emotions STRONGLY!
- Make a trip to Greece OR Italy OR Thailand this year. I have seen enough dreams of visiting these places. My Internet Explorer ‘favorites’ is teeming with bookmarked ‘Great Hotel Deals’ at Mykanos, Places to see’ at Koh Samui and ‘Best Beaches in the world’. This year I want to accomplish travelling to 1 of the 3 locations for sure! I used to have a sob story of I-have-no-money ready with me when anyone asked. But I think its time I started shuffling my account and allocating funds. The bikini is ready and my travel guide print-outs are in hand – all I need is the plan!
*Cross my fingers and hope to stick to them!!*
Ramblings of a Feisty Spirit 