Speed

It's funny what speed can do to you. I am one of those being who commute to work. The mode of transport is not my own. So, for a considerable part of my day my life depends on another person namely the driver.

Now, currently I am in a shift which requires me to start for work at around say 0430 hours. Not a pleasant time to start for work take it from me. When I leave for home say around 1430 hours, as soon as I sit in the vehicle, unbeknown to myself I would slip into a state of slumber so deep (remember, I woke up at 3:30 am?) that even if a popular regional song is blaring near my ear, all a passer by would see that a person is sitting with his head wobbling in all directions, evidently sleeping like a log.

I must tell you, that short nap is equivalent of 2 to 3 hours of sleep. It will be so deep a sleep, I wonder why I don't get it normally.

Anyway, today it was a different story. I sat in the vehicle knowing very well that it's just a matter of minutes before I will slip into that sweet slumber what I have come to like so much. The seats were comfortable, plush leather seat and all. Just as we go out of office there is a long straight stretch of road. I could see a vehicle doing around 80 kmph in front of us. That vehicle's being in front of us became past in the next few seconds as our brisk-looking driver overtook him with an air as if he is driving a golf cart. The speeding vehicle behind us I saw another vehicle being overtaken by ours in the next few seconds. He did a few more overtakes before that stretch ended, touching or crossing 120 kmph.

The vehicles which were a distant speck became visible distinctly and were behind us within matter of seconds. Alas, I am not a speed person.

For the remaining part of the journey I was sitting ramrod straight looking out on the road. Sleep or even sleepiness was not within miles. He drove as if he is driving visiting dignitaries to the nation to safety from whatever, but it freaked me out a couple of times. Do you believe, it's 2330 hrs of the same day and I didn't have a wink of sleep yet. Do you get what I am saying?

On Delhi 6

Apparently the PIN Code of Chandni Chowk area is 110 006, so people say Delhi 6 to refer to this area.

Anil Kapoor's daughter Sonam Kapoor is more than charming. She also has managed to do a bit of acting also, at least better than the miss worlds and universes when they first stepped into the acting world. Abhishek Bachchan is good. Funny at times. These 2 are the only reason I chose to see this film. Otherwise as a general policy, I don't see Hindi movies anymore. More often than not, they don't have much to look forward to. That doesn't translate to mean that hollywood is any better. Bottom line is, you need to be choosy, when it comes to taste. Anyway...

I was talking about Abhishek Bachchan. He did something which I didn't see him do before. He is an NRI who comes to India with his grandmother. So, here is Bachchan Jr. who will speak impeccable and perfect Hindi, without any accent. But when he speaks those scattered English dialogues he will put on this US accent which stands out like raw meat. Apart from that he was good.

Surprise element was Divya Dutta, as Jalebi, the sweeper/ outcaste. I do like her a bit. But the surprise didn't end there. Om Puri was there, with his interesting moustache. Then some beauties like Supriya Pathak and Tanvi Azmi were also there. There is one thing that you cannot deny is it's varied and quite interesting star cast. You will see Cyrus Sahukar sleeping with the very young wife of very aged Prem Chopra, then there is K. K. Raina, whom I think I saw only after Byomkesh Bakshi. Of course Waheeda Rehman is there, still looking good, acting prowess still intact. Theater and seasoned actors like Pavan Malhotra and Atul Kulkarni can also been seen.

There are some footage of Ram Leela being staged. Lot of bonhomie, a bit of the religion harmony and conflict thing, closely followed by a round of philosophy thrown in. At times, especially towards the end, the Director didn't try enough to stop the dialogues being cliche and lame. I thought the days of people ranting poetic dialogues and realising the futility of communalism while the hero of the movie is lying on the ground with a bullet comfortable embedded in him, were over. Apparently not. However, with Director's mercy Abhishek Bachchan survived the bullet injury, but not before the doctor hammered AB's chest with his fist, and administered first aid (pressing the heart with palm of both hands) counting 1... 2... 3... 1... 2... 3... loudly. Was that counting for the doctor himself or the people around? That scene was quite something.

I would probably watch it again, for those glimpses of Delhi, for the scattered comic moments.

Piracy is not a good thing. Please watch the movie in theatres, or buy an original copy of it, even it means wasting your money.

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Sleep

I have heard many people complain about lack of ability to have a sound sleep. Personally I feel that the people who sleep very deep, not bothered about external conditions are really blessed. Sleep is an important part of our lives. Sleep deprivation can do strange things to you, unless you are in Special Forces or Army, and know how to handle it, because you are used to go on days without a wink of sleep. 

Over time I have found a few things which helps in getting a more fulfilling sleep which I will share with you now. 

a.) Calm yourself: Sedate or calm yourself before sleeping by not watching an action movie, or a highly interesting thriller, or an unputdownable novel which will keep you awake till the better part of night. Avoiding such things will lull you down. I would even go to the extent of saying that pick up the most boring book you have got and read a bit. For me it works like tranquilizer. If you find the boring book turning interesting, stop reading immediately. 

b.) Make the room dark: Either make the room dark or put those thingies over your eyes which doesn't let light in. Studies have shown that people who sleep in brightly lit rooms have weaker libido and can expericence weakened reproductive capabilities in the long run. Night is supposed to be dark. Respect nature. If you are afraid of ghosts, as I am at times, put the lights out, and try to think about your last vacation. 

c.) Keep lying: After lying down think of something you have forgotten to do (like keeping the book on the shelf, folding a cloth). Most of the times we don't really want to get up and do that thing. Instead we like to keep lying down. It helps. Suddenly you will feel more happy and cosy to be lying down. 

d.) Honey: Honey is said to have certain amount sedative effect on people. So a spoon of honey just before hitting the bed might help. It has loads of other health benifits anyways (like its capability to burn fat etc.). 

e.) Less water: Do not drink much water before going to bed. You wouldn't want to get up in the night to go to the loo, and then end up losing the sleepy feeling. Drink less water before going to bed. 

f.) Don't use that bed: You have a bed where you sleep. Avoid sitting on that bed anytime in the day. Don't do anything on that bed except sleeping. Do it for 2 to 3 days and you will be amazed that just lying down on that bed will have such calming effect on you. You will have good sleep. 

g.) Be busy: Keep yourself busy the whole day. Generally people who are busy the whole day (but not irritated) do not have any issues in rolling into a deep slumber within minutes of their lying down. 

So, with a mix and match of all the above points you can make sure that oh-so-sweet sleep doesn't elude you. It comes right to you and you just dozz off. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 

Ammi's Biryani

Have you ever seen a large billboard of an eatery and then went ahead and tried it out? Well, I did it last Sunday. The story goes something like this. Saturday morning I was returning from work in the company cab, when suddenly, I saw this large billboard in Brigade Road with Ammi's Biryani's ad. Now I have come across ads of Ammi's Biryani before, but when they seemed like screaming out so loud I thought of giving them a try. Well, it didn't happen on Saturday (it's veg day) but it sure happened on Sunday. So we duly dressed up and went to Koramangala where it is located. We didn't have any trouble finding the place. We went inside. The first floor setup has 8 tables with 4 to 5 seats each. Well, we settled down. The first interesting point was that there were very limited number of items in the menu, Chicken/ Mutton/ Egg Biryani, and 2 chicken preparations. We took one chicken and one mutton biryani and 1 chicken kabab. The person taking the order duly informed that the kabab is more like pepper chicken with pepper in it. I said, no problem there, and asked them to go ahead. Well, in 5 minutes flat we had our Biryanis and kabab ready. Have you seen the silvery contraption in which they serve food in 2nd Class Sleeper coach in Indian Railways. The silvery bowl, if you can call it so, covered with a thin cardboard? All the preparations were served in that. The waiter, and there were too many of them, as an example of exemplary hospitality, neatly removed the cardboard layer from each unit and placed it infront of us. 

I took a spoon from my mutton biryani and almost immediately regretted coming to this place. The rice was normal arwa (small) rice. It was a very bad version of ghee rice. There was nothing biryani about that preparation. The chicken kabab, waiter's confession notwithstanding, was very very un-kabab. Infact it was not even pepper chicken. What it was, is only 3 people knows, the person who cooked it, the person who confessed about it, and God. In short, that too was not good. I tried my best but couldn't finish the complete thing. 

For a place which boasts of specialising in Biryanis and doesn't serve a varied menu, should have a minimum standard. Their audacious attitude towards Biryani and Bangalore's food lovers is almost criminal.