Hyderabad Weather

The monsoons find a different way to begin every year.
This year, it came a little late around second week of June, 2-3 showers, after which the ACs were turned off.
The summer this year was horribly hot compared to all the summers in Hyderabad.The entire country seems to have experienced the hottest summer this year. Yet, this year we didn't experience those hot humid phases that happen in the beginning of the monsoons. Once the rains started, the weather had turned cool.
And, what happened the last two days, Friday and Saturday, was really a bit too astonishing: it poured not just cats and dogs but I thought every conceivable animal was dropping from the skies...so heavy was the downpour!
I had gone shopping in the afternoon but scooted home when the skies relented a bit. Good that I did that because what started at 3 pm on Friday didn't relent till 3 pm on Saturday. 14.2 cms according to records!
Thankfully my family hadn't stepped out. Or else, we know what happens to the traffic in even moderate rainfall in Hyderabad. Vehicular traffic almost comes to a standstill and reaching home gets to be a nightmare.

Life ephemeral

Yesterday, I woke up with a start in the middle of the night.
Sitting up in bed, I glanced around at the cupboards which held all my possessions...clothes, books, and a whole drawer of trinkets which I hold close to my heart.
This collection seemed so HUGE! Something which needed  four cupboards to hold. Apart from the thought that do I need so much, was also another scary thought-- that once I am no more, people around me would just dump all this. What meaning do these things hold for anyone? Some times I grieve over the breaking of my favorite bangle, sometime a lost ear ring, sometime a dress that gets torn or spoiled. I cannot carry even a fistful of these. I need to leave them all behind.
These words may sound cliched but when this thought runs through your mind, that moment  can be quite overpowering.
Some kind of premonition?  Maybe, I thought, as the next morning, news of passing away of the superstar of Bollywood, Rajesh Khanna, filtered through. The biggest superstar...and the loneliest one. Even as I was around 8-9 years of age, Rajesh Khanna's fame was on wane, with his movies failing one after another. Plus the fact that there wasn't the TV in those days to give us an insight into the celebrities' lives. So there wasn't much I knew about him then, apart from the repeat broadcast of all his hit songs through the radio channels.
In more recent times, the internet provided an insight into the lives of these Bollywood actors...of the destitute lives of actors like Bhagwan who squandered away all their earnings (which was so much more than they ever dreamt of).
To compare,  actors of Rajesh Khanna's age were more prudent with money, not wishing to end up in penury or live their evening years in chawls. He built his estates but again died a poor, lonely life.
Actors this generation have realized the value of balancing work with family and hopefully they'd have had a more fulfilling life. This is so important, because worse than dying of penury, is to die due to loneliness. 
After all, you can't carry even a fistful of all that you possess.

ek kafan ki khatir

‎Bina libaas aye they iss jahan mein... bus ek kafan ki khatir itna safar karna pada..!

Olives & Cheese, Ristorante Italiano

This restaurant with its raving reviews has been on my radar for a long time. When I eat out, I am usually in a fine-dining mood and hence had never ventured there. It is situated at Trimulgherry beside the RTA office.
It is a tiny place beside the Axis bank and opposite ‘mom & me’. Just about 15 tables, all placed close together. I went at 2:50 pm and there were only two tables occupied at the time. I had called and asked whether it was the 'downtime' for the restaurant as is the norm in all Hyderabad restaurants and I was assured that they have service running from 11 am to 10 pm, every time preparing food afresh. Well, the ambiance isn’t much to speak about. Looks more like an artist's studio with little pictures from/of Italy hanging around. One part of the ceiling is painted yellow and has cheese-like holes in it.
I was full of expectation and my order didn’t let me down. There were 10 sections to choose from: soups, salads, appetizers, breads, pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, cold and hot beverages, milkshakes and desserts. As I went alone, I ordered just two of these: one was the salad Mexican supreme. This consisted of a bed of lettuce, jalapenos, olives, corn , topped with nachos and mayonnaise dressing. This had a crunchy taste rendered to it by the crisp lettuce and topped by crispier nachos. Priced at 129/-. I didn't find any distinctive taste of spices and feel that it was the mayonnaise that had rendered the flavor.
My second order was a Hawaiin pizza topped with olives, red capsicum, paprika and pine apple. The pizza base was quite good. There are choices of deep pan and thin crust pizzas. It was slightly spicy though.
Each order took about 20 minutes to deliver. The quantity of salad was overwhelming. I could have only half of it and got the rest packed. The pizza also priced Rs. 129/-, was about 7 inches across. After having eaten the salad , I couldn’t finish the pizza either and had to get that packed as well. The bill came to 270/- with taxes.
The waiter at my table was polite and answered all my questions about the menu. And when I wanted extra cream or nachos, he helpfully brought them instantly. But he was not proactive in informing about the various pizza bases or explaining about various pasta choices or speaking about the cream choices for the salad. Also, tomatoes were substituted for red capsicum in my pizza. In the salad, corn was missing. Upon asking I was told that it was over. The basic idea of having a salad is that you go for all ingredients mentioned and not with some of them missing. The pizza toppings were rather frugal, though the base and the cheese used were awesome. So, if you are a person who is well-conversant with Italian food, you'd better customize your order because whatever you order, the taste is quite awesome.
It no way compares to Little Italy. Do not even attempt to compare, yet in its own way, it presents some decent food. Also to be remembered that the price is at least one-fourth of what you spend in the big one. I wouldn’t call it a must-have experience but by not eating here, you are sure going to miss some great Italian-Italian food.

ps: When microwaved the next day, the pizza tasted as though freshly prepared and hadn't become tough like the ones we get from other (bigger) outlets.

Tao of positive expectations

Had this forwarded  to me and I feel it is too beautiful to keep it all to myself...

Dr. Robert Rosenthal of Harvard University conducted this experiment in a San Francisco Bay area school:
At the beginning of the school year, the principal called three teachers into his office.

He said to the teachers, "As a result of your teaching excellence over past years, we’ve come to the conclusion that you are the best teachers in this school. As a special reward to you, we’ve identified three classes each with 30 of the brightest students in this school—the students with the highest IQ’s. We're going to assign them to you to teach for the entire year.

"Now, we don't want to be accused of discrimination, so it's very important that you don’t tell these children in any way that you know they've been selected for a screened class. And second of all, we're not going to tell their parents, because we don't want to cause any complications there. I expect you to teach exactly the same way you normally do, using exactly the same curriculum. And I expect you to get very good results with these students."

The results: At the end of the school year, these students led not only the school, but the entire school district in academic accomplishment.

Calling the three teachers into his office, the principal said, “Well, you've had a very good year."

"Yes, we have. It was so easy!" replied the teachers. "These children were so easy to teach. They were so eager to learn. It was such a pleasure to teach them."

"Well, maybe I'd better tell you the truth," said the school principal.

"This has been an experiment. These 90 children were chosen out of the school population at random. When I assigned them to your class at the beginning of the year, I had no idea what their IQ’s were at all."

"That's incredible!" exclaimed the teachers. "But how could it be that they scored so high? They did so well. They got such good grades. Ah hah! Yes! It must be because we are such excellent teachers."

At which the principal said, "And I think I should also tell you the other side of the experiment. At the beginning of the school year, we put all the teachers' names in a hat, and yours were the first three names that were drawn."

***

You can understand why these average students did so well if you understand the Tao of Positive Expectations: you achieve what you expect to achieve and what others expect you to achieve.

Pizzas at White House

I hadn't ever been to the White House before, neither of them, our Begumpet one nor its more famous namesake in the US, that is :)
Well, egged on by a  review of Pizzas there, we decided to visit one of these outlets.
For people like me who haven't been to the eateries at the White House, let me tell you that it looks more like a  bazaar set up at one of our Hyderabadi exhibitions, only with far fewer people at each of these stalls. Starting from the entrance to the exit, you have these mini outlets going all around the ground floor. Most of them stand- and-eat types or those which encourage a take-away. Now that you have the ambience visualized, here's the rest of the story.

I had read about a 'Viva Italia' here, a place supposed to dish out Italian stuff. But if you assume that the fare is as grandiose as the name, there is nothing far from truth. It isn't. A tastier and more interesting Italian food was found in the more honestly named 'Grabz.' . The name of the restaurant doesn't really have your expectations soaring, yet dishing out some awesome vegetarian Italian stuff.
Well, Viva Italia serves both, veg and non-veg. It has only one selection in veg pizza and one each in pasta (red and white sauce). They also have sandwiches and toast. There are also the ice creams and shakes which are actually no great shakes :)
So, why do I write about this tiny eatery? One, their thin crust pizzas are truly enjoyable. Very thinly rolled out, right in front of you and crisply baked. Two, there is a lot of sincerity of effort to make this newly started outlet work and to adhere to a standard. When the owner is not around, though, the workmen there are at sea and need to be asked several questions before you can place an order.
The fare for the two of us was Rs. 275/- for a shared Pizza, a Bread Toast, a soft drink and one dessert each.
Go here if you are in a quick-snack mood and not for a sit-in leisurely dining experience. The pizzas are a must-try and hopefully the rest of the fare does pick up fast.

A goat, a dog or...actually a bull!

Yesterday was a wonderful day as, coincidentally many of my acquaintances, some with whom I haven't been in regular touch, had called and we talked for quite a while.
Towards the evening one of them called to wish me on my birthday. I thanked him but told him it isn't today. Later in the evening, I had a call from an US number. This call I expect on my birthday, as an ex-student of mine who is currently in the US, calls every year to wish. The same kid had called and, yet again a correction. I told him it isn't today.
When I logged on to my mail, there was a mail from JobsStreet site wishing me. When I turned to my  Gmail, there was another message from another job site! I was as confused as the brahmin who was bewildered when thugs kept calling the goat that he was carrying on his shoulders, a dog. I started thinking that perhaps it was I who was wrong about my birthday, and actually clicked on the calender to check!
I wasn't. I grinned thinking of the double greetings that I'd get now.

In reality, I am not a goat or a dog but actually a bull...well, all Taureans are :) And like the well-known adage of a bull in a china shop, for my birthday, I wish I was actually left in a China shop and give vent to all pent-up feelings and break every item within. The bull does need to really give in to what he has been holding in for so long.
Once done, lie down  in a mud pool for a long time, in a lazy stupor, flicking an imaginary tail this way and that and once the body has cooled, be served a delicious meal after a clean bath and finally get presented with a spacious home with my own cozy corner to retire to...
Just the basic necessities of a Taurean, you see  :)