Who Said Pizzas Are Junk Food?

Earlier this week, I went to Churchgate for some work. On my way back, I passed by 210 Degrees, a vegetarian cakeshop, frequented by kids from KC College and HR College close by. The place has some lovely cakes, pastries and cookies on offer, and used to be a usual post-lunch pit stop for dessert for me when my office was in Churchgate.

Now those days of gorging on post-lunch desserts have gone past me. But whenever I get a chance, I do pick up some stuff for home.

This time was no different. Besides cakes and cookies, I picked up a pack of pizza bases with me - the crust was pretty thin and made from whole wheat. At that time, I did not give much thought on how to make something different with them - not the run-of-the-mill pizzas that we usually have at home.

Today after being tossed around like a football by the pressures at work, I needed to unwind. Nothing could have been better than a bit of time in the kitchen. And when I realised that, I forgot the crap of the day and my mind raced at the speed of light.

Eureka! I got an idea for a healthy pizza!

My Mom played sport and blanched a good bunch of leafy green spinach. Onions were chopped, mushrooms were sliced. And a different twist - instead of sausage or pepperoni, how about chicken seekhs?

And how about giving the red pizza sauce a miss? Instead using a blend of lovely green pesto with a few table spoons of red sauce for tanginess?

That's how I "built" the pizza, spoon by spoon, slice by slice and chunk by chunk.

The thin whole-wheat base was oiled with the goodness of olive oil, on top of which a generous 2-3 tablespoons of the pesto-red sauce emulsion were added. On top of that went the blanched spinach, followed by chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, sliced chicken seekhs and black olives! A bit of grated cheese was sprinkled on top and all that goodness went into the oven for a good 8 minutes at 250 degrees!

I waited anxiously, looking at the oven every 5 seconds or so.

Then oven buzzed - the 8 minutes were over. Out came the crispy aromatic pizza.

And it smelt delicious, tasted yum and was quite healthy, all to be demolished bite by bite and morsel by morsel! And who said pizzas were all junk? 

For once, I was pleased with myself and I guess Popeye would be glad with me too!

Sinful Nirvana!!!!!

Today afternoon, Neeti and I had to drive down to Churchgate for an appointment with our home mortgage provider.

The meeting was at 3PM. Keeping a sufficient margin, for delays in traffic, we left home at 1PM.

With the kind of randomness the traffic in the city has, unexpectedly we reached Churchgate at 1.45PM.

We needed to kill time, we needed to quench our thirst in the sweltering heat of 37 degrees and we were famished.

Eureka! Just as Archimedes discovered buoyancy in his tub, we figured out that we were headed to Stadium, despite having a choice of other decent eateries around.

Stadium is an Irani café by the side of Churchgate station.

I first visited Stadium way back in 2000. And that was just the beginning. I kept coming back for more and more of their delights.

This was the place that I used to come to enjoy the bun maskas, keema paos, bhurji paos, dhansaks, keema ghotalas, caramel custards, during those good old days when office was at Churchgate! I once forgot my handphone there after a late Sunday afternoon snack. We had reached Annie Besant Road in Worli when I realised what an ass I was to forget my lifeline there. We turned around and drove back to retrieve the gadget, which had been safely kept by the cashier! Thank God for such souls!

The place is quite old, but is airy, with a ceiling that is at least 7-8 metres high, with a large entrance and fairly big windows - that's the closest you can get to dining I.

The tables were small but neatly laid out diagonally with charming green check table cloths covered with a glass sheet.

But change comes, slowly but surely. The green check table cloths were sadly gone! They were all replaced with brown table cloths.

As was customary, we went straight to the point. The order was for pao-bhurjis. Pao is what Mumbaikars call buns - the word is derived from the way the first colonisers of this amazing called the bread way back in 1500s.

The Stadium bhurji, a spicy scrambled egg preparation, with chopped onions, chillies, tomatoes and spices was greasy to the last morsel.

The paos that Stadium serves are soft, flaky and smell fresh, as though they've just been taken out of the clay oven!

We went for it - impatiently tore open the paos into morsels larger than bite-sizes and scooped out the spicy steaming bhurji, going into our salivating mouths! What a sinful nirvana!

To get all the grease settled in our tummies, I went in for a black tea, while Neeti took a lemon soda! Wow, what a meal.

After we were done with our appointment, we headed home. Both of us fell asleep the moment we left HT Parekh Marg. I was just woken up by the driver, as the Bandra Worli Sealink toll plaza was approaching!

The sinful nirvana had done its magic!

Remembering 11/7 .....

Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of the train bombings in the city.

I missed the 11/7 bombings by a whisker. I was about to leave my office at Churchgate, at about 6PM that evening, when I had to get into an urgent call with a client. Just as I was getting into the call, I received a call from Delhi. Neeti's Dad enquired if all was well. And I alongwith my colleagues stayed on in office till 10PM, when I took a taxi (I was lucky to get one that night), picked up Neelima from her office and went to Abodh's place where Neeti had come down.

We stayed put in Abodh's place, only to move out at 1AM after the situation seemed settled.

Till now we do not have a clue who was behind the blasts, let alone booking the culprits to justice.

As life goes on, we move on one from one terror attack to another, month after month, year after year. The same story repeats itself all over again, in city after city - Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, etc.
Perhaps, the sole exception of a speedy investigation has been the 26/11 case, but it remains to be seen how long it takes for Kasab to hit the gallows. Our track record on that is pathetic too. Isn't it contempt of the Indian citizen that Afzal Guru is still alive, 4 years on after his sentence?

To me, even the fast pace of the 26/11 trial seems more like an exception, as the system was under immense pressure to act, for high profile establishments had been attacked, known personalities were caught in the crossfire.

Had 26/11 not happened at the Taj and the Trident-Oberoi, but only at CST, etc., Kasab may have gone scotfree.

Sad, but true.....

Bombaypolis Moments....

A series of photos, spontaneous mobile grabs, collected over my past few years in Bombay....

The centre of gravity of the city is shifting from traditional business areas like Nariman Point, to newer areas like Bandra Kurla Complex and Andheri Kurla Road. Bandra Kurla Complex, though swanky, lacks the culture and warmth of town!

Not only does Bandra Kurla Complex suffers from a lack of "culture", it looks like a dusty dump, with swanky outcrops, that seem totally out of place.... That's much unlike town, which does have a reasonable green cover, like the evocative banyan tree at the junction of J. Tata Road and H.T. Parekh Marg, at Churchgate.....

But why complain? I am told Andheri-Kurla Road is worse... it's chaotic, crazy, noisy, dusty, you name it, it's all there....

While the commuting lifeline remains the train, some of us are brave enough to drive long swanky cars to work. I guess that would be something like a slow suicide, the traffic kills you....

But commuting by autorickshaws has its interesting moments. Not only do you have to struggle to get an auto to take you from point to point, you also run the risk of getting a bad back as the autos race over the famed crater-ridden roads, which our holier-than-thou BMC would care to repair.

But when you come across graffiti like this on autos, you forget the trouble and laugh it out... But I wonder if the autowallah doesn't want to be kissed or is he warning other drivers to be careful and mot "kiss" his auto?

I once came across an interesting taxi driver, who was playing a crossword while the cab had stopped on a traffic signal. That was real inspiring...

Having India's busiest airport, the CSI Airport is an excellent place for airliner-spotting. Besides the biggies operating out of CSI Airport, one also gets to spot exciting carriers from exotic places like Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, etc. etc.

CSI airport rarely sleeps, but with a slowdown, fewer Indians are taking to the , one is getting to see lesser and lesser crowds at the airport. Sights like this have become common now.....

Landing into CSI Airport has always been an interesting experience. The sight of the mighty Western Ghats is amazing, like this shot. This looks even better in the Monsoons, with a carpet of green covering the mountains. But this heavenly sight soon gives way to the repelling squalor of the slums. While the world-over and closer home, in Delhi, the political focus is on beautification of cities, in Bombay, the elected leaders thrive on slums.

Talking of food, Bombay has quite a few decent options for exotic fare, but does anything match up with a sinful Vada-Pav? Guess not...

Being on the coast, gives an additional dimension to the skyline of the city. The beauty of Marine Drive at night is matchless. Similarly, nothing beats the sunset at the beach...

I hope to continue this blog in the near future with interesting pictures and anecdotes from this city - the metropolis of Bombay, Bombaypolis.....

Haven't we learnt any lessons?

Every time terror strikes, we claim that we have learnt what we need to do and we pretend to do it for some time - albeit a very short period of time. And then, guess what, we conveniently forget.....

We proudly say life goes on and has to go on.... and that we as a nation have to ability to bounce back.... And then it happens all over again.

Couple of incidents that I have seen have make me feel particularly vulnerable.... make me shit bricks....

Not very long ago, we had the 11/7 blasts on the Bombay local trains in 2006. In a panic reaction, metal detectors had been installed at Churchgate station. Cops were deployed and CCTVs installed to monitor the crowd movement. But I don't think, or dare I say, I am convinced that these detectors never work - they barely squeal when pass through them with a metal object - it could be a goddamn bomb. Cops, on the other hand, instead of keeping a hawk's eye on suspicious movement, either prefer ogling pretty girls or just don't care. I have myself walked through Churchgate carrying big bulky carrybags several times, without being questioned a single time.

You may blame that on indifferent attitude of Government staff.....

Now sample this.....

Yesterday, I flew on India's "finest international airline" (am trying to be politically correct here) from Bombay to Ahmedabad. Anticipating a stringent security check at the airport, I reach well in advance - a good 90 minutes before the scheduled departure. Sample this - the CISF at the entrance to the terminal barely at e-ticket printout and my id proof and waves me in. You need to be a tech-geek to forge an e-ticket, do you? It's a five minute job on MS Outlook, right?

Then, why don't we have a bag screening process prior to entering the terminal - the CISF cop at the terminal entrance, just checks the e-ticket and the id proof, without having any clue of what lies in your bag - it could theoretically have kilos of explosives and weaponry, which could wreck havoc in the terminal. Possible? Yes, very much.....

The newspapers yesterday spoke of ladder point checks and zero tolerance towards laxity in security checks. But, my friend, there was no ladder point check at all....

The story doesn't end there. I was assigned row 22 - common sense is that one should board from the rear ladder. But yesterday, the "finest international airline" had boarding pass checks only at the forward ladder point and not at the rear, which was being used by the janitors. Respecting the logic of safety and given that checks were taking place at the forward ladder point, all passengers moved towards there. However, when my turn came, the lady tore the stub of my boarding pass and smilingly asked me to use the rear ladder as it would be kind closer to my assigned row.

I did just that - but..... there was no one to check my boarding when climbed up the rear ladder, neither cabin crew at the rear find anything unusual. It is well known that Bombay airport has porous peripheries. Theoretically, anyone could have sneaked with a cache of arms and handed it over right? Now dare think of what could happen next.....

Landing at Bombay is a nightmare - given the proliferation of slums around, imagine how easy for a rogue to target a landing aircraft with a shoulder-based mini-Anti Aircraft missile - need I say, these are wholesaled in our neighbourhood - the famed arms markets of Peshawar! But the slums, they've got to stay, for Madam says so.... Great, right, what a free for all!!!!

7/11 was just last week, but have we forgotten it so soon? I must say this amnesia so damn shameful....

Let's look at the post 9/11 US on the other hand. No exceptions are made, no compromises are made. I still recall when George Fernandes, our then minister, who enjoyed diplomatic immunity, was stripped to the bone..... Moral of the story - giving up a few liberties is a small price to pay for national security.

There are two problems with us - one we start security initiatives with great fanfare, but lose it somewhere, two, we Indians don't like being checked. Voila, this results in a deadly cocktail.....

Bottomline, neither do we learn nor do we want to learn.....