“The lost Symbol”-The quest which let U NOT move from your seat

It’s almost a year after I’m even attempting to blog, but never mind I said to myself. So here I am to type out a few of thoughts over this thriller.

The only object which drove me to write back is Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” which I read over the past weekend. Well! This is my first book review ever in my life, Not sure if I could really write an actual review ..but yes at least my views about the book.

Yet another feather to Dan’s hat I must say.He has done an impeccable job.

The author overall has done a decent job in keeping the same pace as of the previous Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon’s out of the ordinary experiences. The plot revolves around Washington DC, unlike historic Europe detailed in his previous two books(RL series). This time Dan takes us around the whole of Washington DC’s historic events, monument‘s, public places , people ..Etc are relating even to the dollar bill.

Though the plot and story flow was more similar to his previous books this one also urges you to complete the entire book at one shot. I say this because of my very own experience with it. In general I am a slow reader and I sometimes take more than a month’s time to complete a book. Indeed I am doing it amidst my tight schedule at work/travel/house hold stuff and many more. But this book just took 1.5 days and a night and kept me occupied throughout this weekend apart from the regular other activities.

Like many others I too have a feel that Dan could have done better in the last few pages.
Once the true identity of Mala’kh (The Killer) was revealed there was a slowdown in the flow as the rest of it was more of information narration by key character “Peter Solomon” & Co.

Nevertheless I enjoyed reading it and would recommend you too to do so in case you have not read it.
90% thriller guaranteed.

My bitter experience with one of the Chennai’s famous hospitals !

13-Sep-09, my brother was down with all the common sickness, high temperature, Body ache, Joint pain, .etc. My brother is about 5’10” and of good frame except for some fat deposits here and there. Usually he is not very complaining but I guess he was really feeling down the other day. Well like anyone else my parents & myself was a little worried only because the entire symptom’s was close to the symptoms of H1N1.
So we did not want to delay anymore, henceforth I set to take my brother to the hospital. It was a Sunday, as the first resort, I took my brother to the near by doctor and as expected the doctor was not available, so next I ventured to MMM hospital which is about a kilometer away from my house. Apparently it was my first visit to the place.
Unfortunately did not expect that would be my last visit as well.
It was indeed a big hospital and could make out that with the number of in-patients & visitors too. So I assumed that there should be some kind of facility available to meet a doctor and if required finish the basic medical tests.
I checked with the reception and they told me go the “Emergency” block to meet the duty doctor. Like a pet obeyed his master, I followed exactly the instructions of the front desk person. I went quickly to the emergency block and little taken a back by the words of the security at the door. I’m sure you must be wondering what could have been the words he uttered; he simply pushed me off in dismay saying the “Only heart & kidney diseases would be treated in the emergency ward.” In fact I tried again to explain the situation but he wouldn’t bother to listen.

I could not wait anymore and delay anymore the way there.
Then I checked with my local friends and took him to another nursing home a few away from MMM, which I felt was 100 times better.

It still leaves my thoughts questioned, “Will all hospitals treat a common man the same way? No wonder they not affordable for people below poverty line”.

Relocating to Chennai!!!

It’s been a quite some time now that I was away from home.
Though not very far still my parents did miss me and vice versa even when I visited them twice in a month.
Well that’s over now, as I am back home after 8 long years. Yes, I have been transferred from the Bangalore office to the Chennai and have been operational from 3rd of August 2009 from the Chennai DLF facility @ Ramavaram.

Chennai! Singara Chennai – Surprisingly has transformed a lot in terms of infrastructure, new trends, lot of multi-national brands in food & clothing , culture .,etc
I loved it, No second thoughts about it, in fact you might be wondering why is that all of it surprises while I mentioned that I visit this city every fortnight.
Understand this could be expected reason being, in 2 days I visit, I generally did not have much time to venture the city.

Having said this, there is something I wish Chennai could have improved, that’s the ATTITUDE.

Between Heaven & Earth !!!

Between Heaven & Earth !!!

I was just about to leave next weekend to India as my project was coming to an end. So I wanted to make one last trip to one of the astounding European countries and after thinking for a long time considering the different aspects including logistics, accommodation and to make it one of the most memorable one I decided to go to Switzerland.
This time I was lucky to have one of my colleagues (Gautam Bhat) accompany me during the trip. Since it was just both of us we had to carefully do the trip planner to make it more cost effective and to enjoy the max. I had taken charge to book the bus journey tickets from Brussels to Switzerland, while Gautam took charge to find a nice hostel for both of us. Now the basic arrangements were made and next task was to figure out our skeletal plan for the three days in Swizzz ! And yes , after googling for a couple of days on the internet we were able to arrive at a consensus of the trip planner. The best part of the plan was that both were ready to ignore the usual tourist spots in the country like the museums, Art Galleries and discover more of the Alphine region.
Finally we were off to the extravagant picturesque place in Europe to the land of the snow clad mountains, may be called as queen of Europe according to me “The SWISS” .
A quick tip bit here; as soon we reached we bought the SWISS TRAVEL PASS which costed a big hole in pocket, however worth the price for 4 days to cover the entire swiss by all possible transport system available.
After arriving at Zurich on the first day and 1st spot on the target list was Mt.Titlis. We got to the Mountain bed via Luzern which is the 5th largest city in Switzerland. Finally to the top by Cab car .

Well I don’t have much to say you can might as well see it !

The next day followed to another beautiful town “Interlaken”, the main attraction is the magnificent Jungfrau(peak-Top of Europe). Indeed the town offers tourists a peaceful base from which to explore the surrounding areas by train or bus.

That’s called magnificent! Don’t you agree with me?

The last day we explored “The Canton of Zürich”, which is the major banking & insurance area in Switzerland. The end of trip was perfect with a recap of the nature’s charm in a cruise.
Overall it was one of the unforgettable trips that I have made in Europe.

Raclette Party – on Valentine’s Day | 14th Feb 2009

Raclette Party – on Valentine’s Day 14th Feb 2009

I think, we (Meera & Myself) are blessed with luck for food this month. The week before we were wishing that it WOULD be great if someone treats us every weekend. And this week the saga continued.
Yannick De Backer” my colleague invited a few us for dinner the following Saturday on the 14th Feb 2009. And you are absolutely right, I NEVER said NO ;-)

The venue was pre-decided by the host and was at his beautiful little apartment. He wanted a view about the variety of drink & food that everyone would prefer the previous day. I was open to any food & any fruit juice as I don’t drink alcohol and was ready to taste authentic Belgian Food. It was decided to be “Raclette” cheese meal for the dinner for 5.

“Raclette” – A typical mountainous dish ate widely in Alps/mountainous region. The dish is a native of Switzerland, Wallonia and France and normally accompanied with wine or hot beverages like tea or coffee during the breakfast.
I think that’s more than enough for an introduction to the main course meal. Well let me kindle your taste buds a little with a bit of garnishing about the rest on the items and the way it was served.

We arrived at his apartment at around 19:00 accompanied by Michelle Sandford and Damien Geeraets who generously picked us on the way to Yannick’s crib.

The usual start of with the drink where I was still stuck to the Grape Juice and Meera to Orange and rest of the folks toasted with Champagne. Michelle just spotted of the curiosity in my eyes about champagne and you know what, I took a sip from her glass when she offered and indeed it tasted good and not bad at all.
ah ! ahem :-)

We moved on with the main course, it was served in an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles, to heat slices of raclette cheese in. We had 2 varieties of cheese on the table and indeed the Goat cheese was excellent which I liked better than the Cow cheese and I still feel the taste lingering in my mind. The melted cheese on hot boiled potatoes & bread with freshly ground pepper and salt to taste. Served along with pickled Onion & Gherkin and a mixed platter of Ham Salami. How could I miss the mention the rich salad with raisins, corn, cucumber & green veggies? Awesome ! is the only word I can think of right now.

I have heard Michelle say, she usually spends the entire Sunday afternoon having lunch with her beloved Damien and his parents which takes about 3 – 4 hrs and a nap after that. Well! I would ask the same question to myself like you are asking yourself now. How on earth can people sit and eat for 4 hrs ! OMG. Well, Today I understood it ALL, How you enjoy your entire meal and relish each and every morsel of food you eat.

During the meal, I enjoyed the way Michelle tried to keep us entertained with the puzzles for Meera & Myself to guess the difference between French & Dutch when Damien & Yannick spoke and of course there were a lot of other topics which we discussed on the table.By now Michelle was already sleepy and she demanded a cup of coffee.And guess what? it was already 21:45 and we still had our last course of the meal to complete.

Finally the third course was ready and yummy as usual with bold & bright strawberry and the dusky husky vanilla based chocolate with a tint of coffee cakes. The list is not over, Ice Cream sorry sorry , ICE CREAM’S he just offered 4 flavours Mango , Vanilla , Strawberry and Chocolate.

Guess , what was the time was by now ? Half past ten. The duration was just 3.5 hrs for the entire dinner. Just praying the melted cheese slices that I ate should go away invisible instead of adding some extra pounds.;-/

Ok with this I will stop cause I can hear what you are thinking and can smell your stomach burn ;-).

More Info :-
http://www.food-worldwide.com/article/40/Raclette.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raclette

Do MEN cook well? A Spicy treat!

Do MEN cook well? A Spicy treat!

Hmm! I know it’s a dicey topic to write nevertheless as I am going to talk “FOR” the topic, I think it’s OK”!!!

Two week’s before these men were strangers from India to me , But this week , They turned to be 4 of my buddy’s in my friend’s list. Usually I have heard women inviting friends home for lunch/dinner. For a change and astonishment this morning I had been invited for lunch to their home. Well, what did you expect?

You’re right! I happily and gracefully and readily agreed to be there at 13:00 for lunch.

Meanwhile Meera and I completed some cleaning at our homes and get set for the party next door at the 6th floor.

Both of us were greeted by the Prince’ in his name and heart – Yuvaraj.
Then we met the crew who was indeed busy at work. Well! Don’t you agree, May be the picture below will serve as an evidence.

Within a few minutes all set and done with arrangements complete.
On the table was a blend of all south Indian menu which was inclusive of Chicken curry & Rice on the main dish, with some Chicken Kebab for the Non-Vegetarian’s.
Tomato curry & Rice on the Main dish with some spicy pickle for the Vegetarian’s.
Oops ! How could I forget the second course. Rasam on the menu is something both of us relished and did remind me of my Mom & Home :-( . All credits to Yuvi for the Rasam. To conclude with creamy yogurt.

We feasted for the rest of the hour and of course Meera trying to deligently listen to Rajesh on the preparation of the main courses. And you know me was in line for my 3rd helping. LoL

Alas ! Nothing like a good FOOD!
The food was awesome and I genuinely thank the gentlemen for the invite.

On the way back to our homes , Meera & Me wished that we get treated every weekend like this by someone. ;-)

Never want to push you to boredom while you are reading this hence forth I conclude accepting the fact that “Men Do COOK Extremely well” from what my perception was.

THANKS FOLKS!!!

A typical LOOOONNNGG Day :-/

A typical LOOOONNNGG Day:-/

You anxiously wait for the weekend for what?
For a break after 5 tiring days of work would be a simple direct answer to the above question.

Apparently this weekend was even more tiring with a lot of my pending work to complete ASAP. After an extended sleep on a Saturday morning which I did not want to break , however eventually had too ! As my dear FRIEND woke me up at 11:30 AM calling my mobile. I am still wondering if I should thank him or curse him. If you ask me , if he did good to me by waking me up?
Well, I would say a YES and a NO!!!

Anyways, let me cut that out now.

Had a quick breakfast since I had to rush for achieving my target of buying a monthly BUS pass for conveyance. Buying it before a new month started benefited me by saving around 50% of the overall costs spent for the whole month. So now you know why I had to rush. Once I reached the destination, I had to see what I did not want to see. Huh, a long queue. Got a token for myself and one for my colleague who accompanied me. 159 & 657 were the numbers.
Excuse me, Do I have an option to jump the queue ? I know, I know, I’m asking for a little too much. ;-)
Finally, my turn came after a short wait for about 2hrs and 30mins. The process was a little decent and did not take much time for me at the counter, may be 5-7 mins. Trust me its worth the wait.

Then , Quickly went and grabbed a burger to put out my hunger.

The time was already 18:30, huh ! And I still had to complete quiet a few activities for the day.
Then my next venture was to locate the Indian Store in Brussels. Yes, Being an Indian how could I afford to miss the garam masala flavour in my Curry, Kootu, Poriyal .,etc. A couple of my other Indian neighbors joined us and off we set to “Port De Namur” as guided by another Indian Stranger whom I met in a store the week before.

Finally after about 35 Min bus ride we reached the location and I cannot explain the sense of relief once we saw the shop with almost all groceries that we get back at home. Managed to buy whatever was required quickly in about 20mins and set back to home.

It was about 19:55 in the evening, we were waiting for the bus to come as scheduled for 20:05.
Like all stories with a twist or suspense or tough situation before the happy ending my story of the day also had a happy ending with a tiny drag before the end.

It was 20:15 and no sign of the bus. A passer by walked up to us and managed to convey the message in his broken English with a mix of French “Buses don’t come here today since the road is blocked this way” and he was not sure of the bus route from here or rather the way to the bus stop. Huh!, That was indeed the last thing I wanted to hear.
At last all F-O-U-R of us walking in 4 directions to find the right stop, while we did so, we saw the bus arriving from one of the directions, and guess what all of US ran to the stop like we used to do back at HOME always.

I thank the driver who made a stop for a minute more than the usual for us to get boarded in. Finally reached home at 21:00 and had to carry the rest of my planned work as backlog to the next day. :-(