Tag: Around the city in a MH-12…

Posted on

Fishy encounter

This was on fishy encounter where the enjoyment has continued for a long time…
Let me explain.
For days we meant to visit a restaurant called Masemari on Tilak Road (it belongs to Lalan Sarang- an eminent actress in Marathi theatre) and specialises in coastal Maharashtrian fish cuisine. Somehow the thought of reaching the crowded congested Tilak Road had successfully sent us to other eating joints in the city.

However on this particular day we set off on our two wheeler determined to net this catch!!
Masemari situated a few steps off Tilak Road (near Hotel Girija) and we could park right outside the hotel itself but the by lanes had plenty of empty space. This seemed like a good start (oh yes it was, just read till the end…)

There is a fairly big model of a ship on the gate which was quite clear in the dark but may be interesting at daytime. Being Shravan, there wasn’t much of a rush.

The restaurant is not very big and is quite cozy. The wall decorations leave you in no doubt of its food specialty! While I knew of some Konkani food preparations I was not quite prepared for this huge range. The staff was both courteous and knowledgeable about their offerings. They helped clear our confusion and we finalised our order. Sol kadhi was a must, Pomphret and butter garlic Mussels followed accompanied by Vade and Amboli. We wanted to order more but there is only so much that two persons can consume however tasty it may be…

I heavily recommend all fish lovers to vist this restaurant. They deliver at home in a three kilometer radius.

Here is the best part.. I reviewed this restaurant on Zomato (we had referred to this website for the address) and I WON the weekly prize in their Write for a Bite review contest!
This has encouraged me to try out new restaurants and yes review them as well.
You can too. Visit Zomato.com
Enjoy!

0
Posted on

Street food surprises

We have been reading and drooling about street food delicacies available in Pune during the holy month of Ramzan. Never really made the effort of actually going out to sample the goodies. Last week however it was Determination with a capital D that drove us away from our computers and out on the streets.

The article in Sakaal served as a starting point and after consulting Google ‘Baba’ for local maps, we zeroed in on Babajaan chowk in Camp…

We reached there just as the last rays of the sun disappeared from the horizon. Camp with its low rise British era buildings was bathed in a warm golden glow. The determined would be dazzled by the glimpse of the changing colours of the Shravan evening sky, that is, if you could tear your eyes away from dodging kamikaze two and four wheeler traffic..

While we had a general idea of its location, asking shopkeepers and cart vendors was unavoidable. They probably thought we were gluttons of the worst kind, who kept asking for ‘biryani kuthe milel?’ (where can we get biryani?).

Hence the sight of the covered pandal and wafting aromas at Babajaan chowk reassured the surging gastric juices that a return to varan bhaat was not imminent!

My apprehensions about cleanliness were largely unfounded (for the time and day of our visit). Various stalls were arranged in the periphery with several seating arrangements in the centre along with the cashier and coupon seller. One could consult the menu with him or better still, take a walk around the stalls and check out what was on offer. In our case, we ended up getting more confused as to what we wanted to eat. Finally one could only consume so much and importantly our trip was self sponsored! So indulging on dishes we did not want to eat was out of question!

There were kababs of many kinds all sizzling and spattering on coal beds. Aromas from the biryanis and kebabs and rotis and parathas of different kinds rose up to engulf and smother us. They competed as it were to be on our order list! And the meal was completed with delicious phirni and doodhi halwa!

Some difficult decisions finally made, we got our food packed and headed home though eating there was not uninviting. Prices were reasonable and the experience was ‘priceless’!

Before Id, do make it a point to check out these khau galli’s, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Other areas you can explore are Rasta Peth and near Azam campus.

Yenjoy!
0
Posted on

Sinhagad (again)

Sinhagad holds a special place in the hearts of Punekars and I dont mean for its history. If one has not been there, its simply not done. And I do not mean driving up in a vehicle to this hill located at about 25kms from the city. Nah! That’s for non-Punekars! Any self respecting Pune resident will climb up the about 800m (please recheck for precise figure).

Note: its a good idea to double click and view these images…
We had not ‘logged’ a visit for a long time and could finally trek up only recently. The climb up and down was as exhilarating as always. However this time I did find several interesting developments…

For a start the base was swarming with cars with no space to park even at 630AM. This probably is a good sign of people preferring the outdoors… The path that leads up now boasts of solar powered lamps. These must be tremendously useful for several Sinhagad enthusiasts who go up as early at 530AM. You see the true Sinhagad ‘fans’ take the first early morning bus from Swargate, climb up and then come down to the fort- in time to board a bus on its return journey.

As soon as you reach the top the vendors tempt you with dahi, buttermilk, roasted bhutta, nimbu pani, groundnuts, mangoes and cucumbers – all of which I must add are excellent to revive an exhausted trekker! Further ahead one can savour pithla bhakri, bhajee.

Over the years their offerings have remained the same. I cannot say if this a success of desi over FMCG but the cost to transport packaged goods to the peak and then manually carry them to stalls cannot be an attractive proposition for marketers. You see, despite a tarred road going up to the top of Sinhagad, one has to walk all the way inside.

These vendors physically carry their ingredients on their shoulders or head to their stalls so visitors can enjoy a piping hot meal. This dissuaded us from arguing about the price of a cup of tea or dahi!

Looking around I was pleasantly surprised to find the area quite clean, no garbage and surprisingly was free of the usual unpleasant odours. I did not peer into the valleys or the undergrowth but that surely must have had a wonderful plastic collection! But I did find signs that Homo sapiens have not lost their ability to damage nature- note the engraving on the Agave.

The climb down is tougher than going up, or may be as tough. If you are lucky you can get ride downhill in a jeep. All in all, a trek up is highly recommended in this season or the next for that matter!
Dont delay!
Ciao!

This is the link to my earlier post about Sinhagad: https://yenforblue.com/2008/04/sinhagad-calling.html

Posted by Picasa
0
Posted on

Empress Garden


The Empress Garden is one of the jewels of our city one that activists and nature lovers are striving to protect. This is the link to its website: http://empressgarden.org/

Situated in the Cantonment area, it has several huge and old trees that offer cool respite from the heat. While you may have read of the ‘cooling’ shade, one needs to experience it to truly understand. For this there is no better place than the Empress Garden.

On a recent visit, we were mesmerised by a huge creeper that seemed to rise up from the ground and soar to the tree tops. It formed a natural canopy of white flowers that no decorator can match. The vine had some kind of a tall stand erected for its support, but the plant had long left it behind and had used other trees to spread around the entire garden.

A bit of searching and we learnt that it was the Bauhinia vahlii. Some flowers were white, some yellowing with typical bilobed leaves of the Bauhinia. Here is a link to some botanical details: http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Maloo%20Creeper.html

Our camera proved incapable of capturing its glorious bloom but I have added our meagre efforts just to get an idea. Experts say the creeper blooms till June, so those lucky may still be able to enjoy this spetacle.
Enjoy!

0
Posted on

Exotic Trees: Good or bad?

We often read and hear ecology experts criticising trees growing around us. Wait a minute, the criticism is about their species and not trees per se. Their contention is that these trees are exotic (non-native) hence not suitable for our environment.
I was surprised to know that trees like the Gulmohor (Delonix regia) and Glyricidia that grow rampantly everywhere are exotic. Other commonly seen trees that are exotic are the rain tree (Sanabea saman), Shewga (Moringa oleifera), Buccha (Millingtonia hortensis) and Tabebuia varieties. Ecological experts opine that only native trees must be grown in any particular region and not exotic ones because:

  • Exotic species attract pathogens that may damage native species.
  • They compete with local trees for water and space.
  • Their leaf and soil chemistry may adversely affect our native trees. (there may be more reasons, these are just an example)

Their arguments seemed convincing to me till I heard another point of view from learned botanists.

  • The much maligned Glyricida actually is very useful in rural regions as fuel wood. Its branches can be broken easily into short straight bits that can easily be put in the wood stove. The tree grows back rapidly hence provides fuel again. In barren regions, trees like these grow rapidly and provide a green cover.
  • Trees are trees and they carry out their basic function namely photosynthesis. Hence they provide us with useful oxygen and remove CO2. In a highly polluted city this is highly desirable.
  • If our environment was unsuitable to these species, they would not have survived and flourished in our land all these years. We know from our evolutionary history that species may die if environmental conditions are unsuitable.
  • 60% of the food we eat in Maharashtra is said to be exotic. Potato, wheat, tomato, chillies, guava and chikoo are examples of non-native plants that we eat, experts told me. So then what do we eat if we shun these exotic species??

I guess we cannot just kill off trees growing around us. They give shade and greenery in a cement and concrete jungle. What can be done is to make sure that native trees do not suffer, there are new plantations of native species.
What do you think?

By the way, an excellent resource to know about trees around Pune is a book called ‘Trees of Pune’ by Shrikant Ingalhalikar and Sharvari Barve.
Cheers!

0
Posted on

Botany at Forty

I love trees, plants, herbs, shrubs… in fact almost all green (and not green) things that grow in nature. When setting up our home at each posting the sight of similar vegetation growing in our garden or even our residential campus gave a comforting familiarity. I almost looked upon the trees as a friend. While the Neem was rampant in Bidar, this tree was not as easily found in Assam. I never did think I would miss Neem even amidst the widespread greenery of the East. Yet miss I did. Ditto for the bamboo when we moved out from Assam. Often I recognized the tree or the blooms but did not know their names… I did try to Google their identity but success was not assured… The feeling was akin to not knowing the name of a close friend…
A course in Field Botany seemed just what the doctor ordered. I would be able to learn not only know names but habitat, classification, growth patterns, characteristics of many many more green friends. Full of josh, I made copious notes, referred to my old photographs and supplied notes. The first discordant note appeared after a few lectures. It was March on the Tekdi and being a dry/moist deciduous forest (my newly acquired gyan!!) the trees that had become bare in winters were just springing forth with tender shoots. While previously I would have admired their different shades of green and so on, I now found myself trying to analyze shape of the leaves, their arrangement on the stem, the stipule (if any or if modified), petiole, venation etc etc.
I started carrying my Cell Phone just to take photos of leaves for my homework. I did not have time to admire the forest that was bursting back to life nor for the few flowers in full bloom that tried to attract my attention with the fragrance…. Walk became work and study. Suddenly it began to lose its charm particularly when confronted with an unidentifiable specimen… I seriously contemplated going back to an indoor work out…
On the botany front, we had progressed to inflorescence. This is not to be confused with flowers. Our module was so designed that we would be able to view (study) most angiosperms that grow in our part of the world. Naturally my bonsai too were blooming. My daughter and I were admiring my Kamini (Murraya panniculata) with when she suddenly dropped a bombshell. At least that was what it was to me…
“Aai what is this type of inflorescence called?”
“Hmmm… Looks like the inflorescence is of the determinate type…”
“Yes- that is cymose. Go on…”
She has a biotechnology background so I knew I would not be able to bluff my way through this one…
“Is it a dichasial cyme?”
“You tell me…”
I started at the bright red fruit looking for inspiration. How come that branch had escaped my pruning shears after the flowers had wilted? I felt about three feet tall and was immediately transported back to the early 1990s but with roles reversed. To be specific, I was the child answering a viva!! I wished the flower would talk back to me describing itself. I did talk to my plants did I not?? There was no help in sight…
The Cell phone rang and took my daughter’s attention away and I breathed a sigh of relief… That call saved my day.
I still have to work on a presentation and luckily I have the freedom to choose a topic. Mainly I have to describe in details whatever trees I choose. That means I would have to undergo more of what I have just described and plus some more. I have to describe the stem, leaves, inflorescence, fruits etc etc… Is it an herb or a shrub or tree?
The timetable shows that our ‘abbreviated course’ will have four lectures on the flower even though we will not be studying microscopic characteristics. Will I ever be able to enjoy the fragrance of a Tuberose or admire the colours and shape of an Orchid without analyzing its petals, sepals etc etc. Does it have to be beauty or science and can the two not go together?
Suddenly I hated myself for joining this field botany that did not allow me to enjoy my flowers or greenery around me. Did one really need to know the name and biodata of every tree around me? Would I like the Nerium lesser if I did not know that its leaf arrangement was decussate or that the ‘flower’ of my Anthurium was actually a spadix? Would I be less aware of my responsibility to maintain the fast disappearing green cover over my city? I don’t think so….
I have to rush now, my books are waiting…
Wish me luck!
0
Posted on

Tulips in Pune

A very popular song of my childhood (Dekha Ek Khwab…) in the movie Silsila was shot against the backdrop of tulip fields.. Since then I have been wanting to see these flowers up close and luckily for me I did not have to go all the way to Holland for it, nor to the local florist…
I was privileged to see Tulips grown with extreme love and dedication, not to mention hard work by the mother son duo of Madhumati and Ashutosh Sathe. Not only did they generously allow us to view the flowers but gave us a detailed explanation about how they managed this feat (getting the flowers to bloom) in Pune weather, which is not their natural habitat. Mrs Sathe and Ashutosh have been growing Tulips since 2000 and the secret of their success is in the ‘forcing technique’ that they use to get the bulbs to germinate and grow.
According to Mrs Sathe, yellow, red and purple varieties bloom quite well in our climate. Once a flower blooms it stays fresh on the plant for eight days and then fades away. The flowers have a mild fragrance and ‘close’ every night and ‘open’ the next morning.
This year, they were happy to have a flower blooming on Valentines day itself and expect their flowers to continue to bloom till March end. Presently the tulips are the star attraction of their garden.
These flowers are indeed a sight for sore eyes.
Cheers!
0
Posted on

Art to Treasure

In this era of soaring prices, inflation and what have you, one is always looking for new avenues to invest. Avenues that will not be subject to such pressures. Gold, precious stones do not appeal to all or cannot be worn/displayed at will.

However there one more option to consider is paintings. While masterpieces by well known painters may cause you to empty your bank balance, its a good idea to invest in works of other good artists. Hang up the painting in your drawing room/study and become the ‘neighbour’s envy!!

In Pune, a selection of artist Preetima Pande’s paintings is being exhibited at Malaka Spice at Koregaon Park. (This is the link to a report in Pune Mirror: http://punemirror.in/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=Entertainment%20-%20Variety&sectid=63&contentid=201101182011011802203116748291a23).

Hurry, the display is on up to 31 January 2011.
This is a not-to-miss opportunity to acquire some excellent art.
Cheers!

0
Posted on

Ninth Pune International Film Festival 2011 (PIFF)

Not an avid movie aficionado, I decided to become a ‘delegate’ for the ninth Pune International Film Festival (PIFF). At Rs 500 per person (other than for students and senior citizens) it seemed a steal as one could watch movies for the entire day (four a day at some venues) – obviously you had to have the stomach for it … And I refer to more than an overdose of movies. It takes quite something to move from theater to theater as the mind is bombarded with expressions of tormented feelings from across the world extending from love, hate, violence, forgiveness, religious extremism and so on. Spoilt for choice we learnt to ‘study’ the brochure and match it with the schedule and our work and tried to watch as many as possible (11 is the latest score and we have two days to go…)

Not all movies were what we expected but some notable ones were ‘Zeppelin’, ‘On the path’, ‘The Cherry Orchard’, ‘Puzzle’, ‘The Tree’ and ‘How I ended last Summer.’

One way to know about different places is to physically visit them. For couch potatoes reading Outlook Traveller is a good option. I have just discovered that watching movies from different countries is a good way to see that countryside up close. So do make it a point to visit an international film festival being held in your city… We enjoyed the accompanying Japanese arts exhibition and free sushi at the PIFF 2011!!

The disadvantage is that with the movie overload, we do not have time to savour, introspect and let the movie’s thoughts and emotions sink it. So make your choices and enjoy every screening.
I remember a very apt dialogue by the character Matthias Silcher about films in the movie ‘Zeppelin’, he says they”… make time stand still but also fly past…”

Overall the PIFF was well organised but there is huge scope for improvement if it wants to go places. Buying the passes was a stressful experience. I have not yet fathomed the need for Pan card or electricity bill for the same. Of course as films did not have the usual Censor board certificate and had very explicit content I can understand that organisers wanted to be sure that attendees were over 18 years… The screenings were at several venues across town but we were unable to make it to Fame and NFAI Kothrud. My comments on organisation/actual presentation of the movies are in the table below and are obviously based on shows that we actually watched and feedback of other delegates who regularly attended that particular venue.

Quality

Venue: E-square

Venue: Inox

Venue: City Pride Kothrud

Venue: R-Deccan

National Anthem

NOT Played

Played

NOT Played

NOT Played

Announcements

In Marathi and English

Only English

Only Marathi

Only English

Censor Board Certificate

Not Displayed

Not Displayed

Not Displayed

Not Displayed

Interval

No

No

No

Yes

Punctuality

Excellent

Excellent

Excellent

Excellent

Presentation Skills of announcers

Needs vast improvment

Needs vast improvement

Needs vast improvement

Needs vast improvement

Age Group of Delegates

Predominantly youth

Mixed age group

Predominantly seniors and baby boomers

Mixed age group

0
Posted on

A divine experience

Overcoming considerable hesitation I went for the first day of the 58th Sawai Gandharwa Festival being held at New English School, Raman Bag Pune. Obviously reached late but enjoyed every second of what was in store for me and thousands others. I am sure you will find many articles that will analyse fine musical aspects of every artist’s performance, this post is anything but that…

The Kabir Nirguni bhajan by Bhuvanesh Komkali pierced the deepest layer of my soul – mind you normally I would never go to such superlatives but his performance demands it. This is the link to the original rendition by Kumar Gandharva: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Vlsdv_z0s

Many of us (self included) may be puzzled by the magic of Lord Krishna’s flute. Can breathing into a hollow wood pipe really create such power over people’s emotions? My doubts were fully eliminated with Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia’s performance yesterday. I have heard his music before but mostly on a CD or the television. Age has not curbed his creativity as the melodious and powerful strains subtly calmed the several thousand strong crowd. No one spoke as one and all surrendered to Panditji’s magic.

By now it was about 945PM and Pune Police are quite strict about the 10PM deadline for public concerts. It was difficult to decide who was more disappointed- Begum Parveen Sultana or all of us as she was given less than an hour to perform. But this very constraint seemed to bring out the best in the Begum as she captured and held the audience enthralled right from her opening notes. That is what mastery over a skill is all about.

I hope artists’ on subsequent days can live up to the high bar set on Day one.
I hope in future the organisers learn to manage time better and ensure that all artists particularly senior ones get sufficient time to present their art.

This year the event organisers have installed a new type of music system. To get feedback about it the ‘sutradhar‘ shared his cell number and then as expected was inundated with a barrage of text messages asking to switch off fans, requests for songs, sound issues etc…

As usual there was a veritable feast for foodies as the line up included modak, puran poli, thaleepeth, karanjee just to name a few…
Here is a photo of the event..

This is the link to the Mahotsav website: http://www.sawaigandharvasangeetmahotsav.com/
Don’t be satisfied reading this post. Go out and experience this one of a kind event.
Cheers!

0
Proudly powered by WordPress