another weekend, another island, another morning with photographs to remember it by

date: 12 december 2010
time: 6 am to 9 30 am
place: diwar island, somewhere along the river mandovi

shooting sirish shooting the beginnings of sunrise at ribandar ferry point.

our car being driven off the ferry as we reach diwar island.

chasing the sun. literally.

..some more sunlight.

trying to make the most of the 50mm lens, since shooting wide landscapes is out :( tragic!

wild flowers. open fields.

and then some.

touch of light.

what can i say. thats 50mm glory.

atop the hillock on diwar island.

piyush paparazzi-ing everything in sight!

an IFFI evening

IFFI times are here. and evidently if youre into the artsy-fartsy movie scene, this is the place to be this time of year. im not, though. so i decided to stick to the food-festival part of it, charmingly set out along the promenade by the mandovi river.

as fas as i was concerned, IFFI could very well have been the international food festival of india, with everything from delhi chaat, bombay pav bhaji, nasik special gola, mysore special gobi manchuri (yes, manchuri!) and seek kababs, dum biryani, baida rotis and rolls.

we made an evening out of it, karishma and i, later joined by VC. beginning with beers at the kingfisher village, where we subjected ourselves to some really bad music and probably the most heavily dressed goans i have seen in a long long time. we then proceeded to try everything from the chaat to the kababs to the chicken lollipops and we also dared to sample the mysore special gobi manchuri.

here are a few snapshots:

This is how we do it

One sunny saturday morning in beach town!

Morning is here!

Another weekend came.

Option 1: Sit at home and waste it.

Option 2: Get into a car, get on a ferry and see what Dewar island looks like.

Well, thats what it looks like.

in which i discover more reasons to love goa

coming from the city of moral policing, where dancing in clubs/pubs is banned, where you give in your last order at 10 30, where you leave your watering hole at 11 30, and you go back home straight to bed, i discovered several more reasons to love goa.

on saturday, a few friends and us visited cavala, posibly the only place in the north that is open, functional and a whole lot of fun even in the rains and the "off-season" time. tucked away in what seems like an old brick house, cavala turns into a web of music dancing revelry and magic on saturday nights. with a completely authentic "pub" feel and atmosphere, a super enthusiastic and colorful goan live band in action, and a whole lot of twisting and jiving people having fun, cavala gave me the chance to let my hair down.

so back to my new reasons to love goa:
- it lets me get dressed, without worrying about being stared at in public
- it lets me leave home to head towards destination party not before 10 pm
- it lets me enjoy some brilliant LIVE music
- it lets me enjoy some lesser appreciated music like the beatles, santana, ccr, gypsy kings, etc
- it lets me DANCE amongst other dancers enjoying the night and jigging their way through it
- it lets me order my last drink whenever i want and NOT at 10 30, thankyouverymuch
- it lets me stay out till way past 11 30, still dancing the night away
- it lets me leave a pub when i want to, at 1 30, when the night is still young for many and the pub is still bubbling with activity
- it lets me satisfy my urge to have ice cream at 1 30 am, at the nearby baskin and robbins place that is YES, still open

the next day however, i woke up with that familiar ache in my muscles, that seemed like it was reaching all the way inside my bones. and i could only attribute it to a lot of alcohol and not enough water. oh, that and dancing on heels, after what seemed like FOREVER!

rat trauma

if you've been following the happenings on my other blog, you probably already know how the highlight of last week was this, this and finally THIS.

with that as a backgrounder, let me tell you what happened this morning. the morning after a crazy afternoon, evening, and a whole night of torrential rain.

i opened my balcony door, to find little stuart curled up behind it. drenched to the bone, wet, cold, almost too cold to move. but very much alive!

seems to me he is a rat with a mistaken identity. his behaviour was much like a cats. coming when he pleased, hiding, lying low, eating stuff, disappearing as he pleased. but yesterday the doors were shut before he made it in, i suppose and he didnt have a way in. so he just sat there getting soaked. when i found him in the morning he looked most forlorn, sad and too cold to move.

i quickly let all feelings of pity and "aww-ness" at how cute he looked disappear as my maid got rid of him. she let him live, though. and i hope he doesnt find his way back.

a walk in the rain

rain food

since most posts these days are about the rain/monsoon, or about the culinary journey i have been on since i moved to goa, heres something that brings both together.

in honor of the monsoons that have well and truly arrived (and HOW!? :O!), and keeping in mind that i have been fairly busy with some assignments, that have led me to neglect the kitchen every now and then, todays lunch is rain food. easy, healthy and perfect for rainy weather.

boiled french beans and carrots, sauteed in butter. with a sprinkle of home made cottage cheese.
mashed potatoes.
toast.

now, im ready to face the rain.

Expert

When your wife asks YOU to check if the tea is strong enough by looking at its colour, you know you're an expert. Even if it is only at making chai.

culinary experiments

one of the best things about moving to goa has been the discovery that i can actually cook! and no, i dont mean just putting things together to make an edible item. i mean i can cook. and well!

very immodest of me, i know. but the discovery ahs been wonderful. while i havent ventured into the zone of exotic and elaborate cuisine, and im sticking to simple home cooked meals (just the kind my mom makes), everyday poses a mini challenge..

will the channa turn out just like ammas?
will i be able to make the rasam as well as i did the last time?
will the rice be cooked just right this time?
should i experiment and make puris instead of rotis?
how can i use the gobi without repeating what i cooked 2 weeks ago?

but the good thing is, in most cases, the experiments have turned out right. and gone well. been successful. most days, i surprise myself with the way lunch and dinner turns out. whats more, it surprises the husband too, and he often asks "how did you learn to make this?" or "i didnt know you could make this!"

and i have only one answer "i have no idea -- it just happened!"

a breathtaking discovery

iv been in panjim for over 2 months now. its a really small place. i think i have been right around the entire town many times. theres only so many places to see. or so i thought.

until i entered the kala academy yesterday. and saw this:





the nicest, prettiest, perfectly quaint jetty. with benches to sit and take in the view.

sigh. the discovery really did take my breath away.

the most awesome saturday spent at anjuna

its weekends like this that really make me grateful for having got this chance in life.

random thought #2

i now know the importance of mommies, and all the things they did for us all our lives, that we just took for granted. like hot meals at mealtimes, laundry, picking up after you, tolerating your messiness, your moodiness and the fact that they're ALWAYS there.

i now know what my mom meant when she said she sometimes gets tired of constantly picking up things, cleaning up, cooking, washing, folding, laundering, tidying...

HOW do mommies do it all? and do it so well?!

random thought #1

one of the most important "settling in" things to do, is to make the quantum leap from moisturizing lotion to talcum powder. when adjusting to a hot and humid city, after living in a dry one all your life, THAT switch makes ALL the difference!

cooking finally!

last night marked the beginning of another chapter in my life, titled "cooking ones own meals". after much confusion, being surrounded by cartons, crying out for help, sorting packets of groceries, tidying up and getting a lot of help from pooja, the kitchen is set.

pooja was realllly nice to come by and help out, give me a few recipes and also go veggie shopping. later she ended up staying and rescuing me from my burnt garlic paste catastrophe!

but it was a fun evening, and the kitchen being set has made the house a home. the aloo sabji wasnt too bad either. and the icing on the cake was that vc claimed he actually like it :)

many firsts..

the move to goa has presented many firsts in my life. its a move of firsts, so to speak!

for one, its the first time im going to be living in a city outside of bangalore.
its the first time im going to have, maintain and manage my own home.
its the first time i went house-hunting.
its the first time i understood what a "water problem" can be like.
its the first time i realized that the happy-go-lucky perspective people have of goans is not all true.
its the first time im going to be in a city where i know absolutely nobody, and that is a scary thought!
its the first time im going to be unemployed for a bit, without an option to fall back on.
its the first time im going to really live life on my terms.

im excited to say the very least. im sure its going to be an experience with its ups and down, challenges and successes, the goods and the bads. but im up for it.