#6 Vada PAV

Its been a while since the last blog, blame the excess amount of documentation that am doing in office to fill up my quota of writing.

Better late than never

As I sat down to pen down a blog, in office today, loads of things came to mind that were worth a discussion.
and the winner was VADA PAV's (thanks to the latest trip to city market last weekend)
am wondering why didn't i think of writing bout the vada pav's earlier.

The story says that some time in the 60's or the 70's a mill worker always managed to skip his breakfast to make it on time to his work place (sounds familiar na).
Concerned about his health his mother thought of a new way for him to be able to take his BHAJI (Mashed/diced potatoes mixed with green chillies,ginger and a tadka(tempering) of mustard seeds and turmeric.)and have it on the move.

She made balls of the bhaji dipped them into batter made of gram flour and deep fried them. Thus was born the VADA.
Later came along the pav and so did the Chutney (essentially garlic and red chilli.)

Am not sure if the tale is true or not, but who cares all i know is some smart Maharashtrian cook did magic and stumbled upon what is now the MOST common and exhaustively consumed fast food in Maharashtra.

Well next in line would be the PAV BHAJI and samosas.May be can write more on them next time, this one is all about VADA PAV's.

To think of it, now i cant recollect a single adolescent day when i wouldn't have had them. (barring the religious 8 days of PARYUSHAN when I follow all the rules of Jainism.)
But never did i realize the IMPORTANCE of a vada pav in my daily diet.It is here in Bangalore living alone and surviving on crappy Food court food and Bihari dude'sDUBBA service,
that i realize how much i was dependent on a vada pav to get my daily dose of nutrition.

Skipped Breakfast to reach college on time : have a vada pav in coll canteen and are good to go.
Not feeling Hungry enough to have a full course lunch : Vada pav shall just about fill your tummy to last the time period, after which you can come back to the canteen.
Evening snacks : Vadav Pav and Bhajji Pav, an ideal combination that does not fill you so much as to screw your dinner.
Night time(12 AM - 6:30 AM) : Studying for an exam scheduled tommorrow, need to take a break and are a bit hungry.. just go to the nearest station have a vada pav with a cutting 'CHAI' to rejunivate yourself.

what ever time of the day it might be, it was the ideal grub.

Well here in Bangalore the Vada pavs got replaced with Maggie at office and Idli Sambhar or Khara Bath , not to talk less of these, but they dont quiet give the spice burn and satisfaction
that a vada pav leaves behind.

Have been zealously attempting to hunt down a place where i would get a decent Vada Pav out here in Bangalore.
Considering the sizable population of the Marathi speaking people here down South, the idea of getting a good vada pav wasn't surrealistic.

Calling the initial attempts a CATASTROPHE would be an understatement.

Attempt 1: Bombay special vada pav at some small chat place in a corner on Brigade Road. This place is supposedly famous for its Chats Calcutta style.
Paid 10 bucks for a vada pav with a SWEET pav and vada of the size of a marble.
Was hoping they would balance the size and cost in the TASTE department.
*Munch*

** SPAT**
need i say more.

Attempt 2: About 3 months later got the news of a place in Jayanagar 9th block.
A Maharashtrian style eatery.
I couldn't contain my enthusiasm looking at the menu.
This had to be it. Some place trying to be Maharashtrian to the core cant mess up big time
with the vada pav.
And to an extent it wasnt that disappointing. The lady had put some heart into the vada
preparation but the sweet pav was ruining the taste and the chutney wasnt that great
either.
For a person buying vada pavs at Rs2.50 (early days) and Rs 5 (last time i had it in
mumbai) the Price tag of Rs 10 was too high though.
But it was a vada pav nonetheless.

Attempt 3: 2 more months flew by, and this time i got the news from lets say a bit unexpected
source. The OTHLA (Karthik M V).
It was a weekend and he lead a couple of house trapped frustrated pals Shariq, Shitiz and
Myself to the CITY MARKET.
Was pleasently shocked to see the much hyped City Market, reminded me of the Crawford
market and Walkeshwar locations back home.
Walked for about 15 - 20 mins via the small creepy lanes of the market and made our way
to the BOMBAY VADA PAV centre.
How should i describe those..

"Registaan ke pyaase ko chilled beer mili thi"

Not only was the pav normal (Not Sweet) but they also served fried green chilli with it.
My Joy knew no bounds as three of us started hogging one vada pav after the other. Shitiz
didn't seem that interested in them dispite the fact he has spent last 4 yrs in Maharashtra,
guess its something to do with this NO SPICE mantra.

Attempt 4: This small eatery in J.P.Nagar was brought to my notice by dad's pal who's been in
Bangalore since a long time now.
Well over all the place wasnt bad, the food they served pretty much had the mumbai taste
to it. Coming to the point the Vada pav was GOOD.
Not as good as the one i had in City Market, but considering the proximity to the house and
a nice balance of the taste, this one seemes to be a good bet.

For somebody from Mumbai where i could locate at least 2 vada pav stalls on every main road, this count of 4 that too spread all over Bangalore seems a bit awkward.

Guess this is one of the price i have to pay to stay away from "AMCHI MUMBAI"

A vada pav which once was a staple daily food item has now become a ONCE IN A WHILE delicacy for me.

#5 Bangalore Traffic:

#define Bangalore South Bangalore

Well this is one topic I wanted to write on since my first blog. But of course there were other more important things to blog about then.

It is not that am fazed by the jams and the long waits at those signals, I have witnessed all those in Mumbai as well. What irritates is the huge difference in the reason for the occurrence of the same event in these two diff cities.

If I may give a rough estimate in Mumbai for the jams , 75% of the time the infrastructure would be the reason. The potholes in Mumbai need no introduction to any one and how can I not mention the great ability of the BMC and other service bodies to dig up any and all the roads possible.

But if you search for a reason in Benagaluru, the credit goes to the great TRAFFIC and ROAD SENSE that the people in general have.
let make it very clear... Miserable and Pathetic are not enough to describe it.

Of course am talking about the majority and NOT ALL of them. I have spotted diamonds in this coal field but they are too few to get noticed and most of the times found suffering at the hands of the majority.
The ratio would go as 90:10 for people:infrastructure responsible for the bad traffic conditions.
Am giving that 10% to infra just to cover the at times insane ONE-WAYs that they keep dynamically changing.

(I know there are gonna be a few voices raised at this one, but cant ignore the truth guys.
In case you agree with me well and good and incase not....
WEll it really doesnt matter na.. its my blog and its my vote that rulzz here. :D )


Actually, how much ever i try i cant muster enough words and sentences to portray my heart felt feelings for the same.

What i can do here is .. pen down the unstated but hard wired rules of driving a vehicle on the roads of Bangalore that i have found till date.

THE COMMANDMENTS

1) Entire road is your property and yours alone. Nobody else is supposed to be on it while you are.

2)Thou shall not be ready to wait at any junction , unless the lord (pandu) is standing right in front of your vehicle.

3)Thou shall not allow any one to over take from the right. It is the biggest sin thou can ever commit and thou shall be sent to CHENNAI* to manage auto traffic out there.

4)Thou shall never be dependent on the availability of a tar road to drive thy two wheeler.

5)Thou shall not give signals while switching lanes on YOUR own road.

6)If thy vehicle is the slowest on the road then thou shalt drive it on the right lane of a two lane road. Incase it is a single lane road thou shalt drive it right in the center of it.

Auxiliary Clause: Thou shall never ever follow lane rules and drive at the right most space available on the road.

7)If thou is driving a BUS or a lorry, thou shall ignore the presence of all the vehicles in thy vicinity. In case the subject is making his presence felt , please understand he has already testated a will and written a suicide note. Thou shall do all in your power to arrange the subjects meeting with the almighty.

8)If thou finds a brethren on the road thou shall take thy bus right next to his so that thou can block the entire road to make sure nobody troubles thy brethren.

9)If thou art driving an Auto, thou shall never get an emission test done on thy vehicle and drive like a serial killer whose only aim is to kill atleast 10 bike riders everyday (pillion riders are excluded from the count, are to be considered as bonus).

11) Thou shall drive the vehicle on full beam ALWAYS with in the city limits. This is a universal rule and is also applicable is you are gonna drive on Mumbai roads.

12)Even though thou wants to go straight thee shall be on the left lane and make sure the subject who wants to take a free left turn shall not be able to do it.

13)If thou are a TAXI/CAB driver, driving like a lady driver shall not suffice at any cost. Thou shall how to master the art of driving like a girl, driving at 100kph spots a cockroach under her seat.

Pedestrian decree:
- Not having wheels is no reason to feel low. It is still YOUR own road and you can stand anywhere on it at any given time.
- You shall not look and care about the traffic flying in your direction from the lane closer to you.
HE WILL HAVE TO STOP NO MATTER WHAT.
You would concentrate only on the traffic on the far lane of the road.


Authors Note:
I) Since i live in south bangalore all my encounters and discoveries were local. I have almost no idea how the traffic sense is on the other parts of the city, but it is the optimist with in me that wants to give a chance and believe that it is better than down here in south, hence the initial hash defining of the name to restrict the context to South Bangalore.
AM i a coder or what!!!!!

II) * - I have never visited CHENNAI, but have heard from reliable sources (PM who hails from the city and other seniors) that the condition in bangalore is a lot better than in chennai.. Well i aint dumb to not get the point after that.

#4 I me myself…

Who am I?

Kaushal,

Well the answer was obvious na,

But think of it what is it that relates to “I” part?

Kaushal: means pure Talent (could be at anything).

What talents do I posses wholly to rightfully claim the title?

Who am I?

A student..

On a Philosophical note..

A student who wants to learn, learn and learn. Well that’s what I have been doing with material studies and struggle for degrees.

But the real learning, the knowledge of life, the knowledge of self has always eluded me.

If I am not learning what I seek, then how am I a student?

Who am I?

An engineer, a code collie, a Technician

HMM…

This one I can’t deny, somewhere somehow that’s what I am.

But I don’t feel the oneness with them. I long for small shift out of it.

And if I don’t feel that connection with it, how come I am that?

Who am I?

A critic...

Well this one thing I can be dam good at, Criticizing things.

Be it anything, from food to weather to Indian cricket team’s performance to any dam thing, I can bring out the fault in it.

But I know how to appreciate the beauty of nature, the emotion of love for people you care about, the happiness seeing the smile on a kids face, etc.

And if I know to appreciate, then how am I to call myself a complete critic?

Who am I?

An Individual..

A singular entity that has to stand out on its own in the crowd of millions.

But I can’t really be that individualist, since I need company; I need that crowd around me in the first place.

Then how do I stand out and over all of them?????

How am I an individual then?

Who am I?

A Jain...

If not an individual on the whole then I ought to be a part of large group uh. Born among them I have to be a part of them.

But I haven’t been able to follow the rules and norms followed by Jains.

If I can not abide by the followings and beliefs of the group,

Then can I really be a part of that group?

Who am I?

A life..

Could be the simplest of answers wont it, but is it so simple?

Life as a term, I feel stresses more on the soul side of it. There is one more physical side to existence which the term does not do any justice to.

Who am I?

A Human Being…

Hmm think of it, seems good to cover the physical aspect as well as the spiritual part that a human being is supposed to have.

But is it the complete answer?

Who am I then?

ON the material side of things…

The only option to which I could not find any conflicts was

An INDIAN.

From my heart and soul I AM.

AND

Who am I?

ME.

With all the emotions and individualistic attributes and the part of a group and various small talents which are still on their way to perfection and various other unnamed, unnoticed, unexplored dimensions, which come out to define my character on time need basis.

SON.

Yes I am a son to my parents.

With all the love, affection and caring that I have received.

Some good sons call themselves to be indebted by their parents for everything parents do for them.

Well for a son I am, I feel it is something too powerful and pure to be considered in the petty human forms of calculations like debt and obligations.

Yes that’s it hai na..

Given a question we tend to look into the most complex solutions assuming the thing to be answered can not be a small one, guess that’s human nature. But being wrong and finding the answer to the truth in itself is a power that we have and practice.

Who am I?

ME.