I am not loving it...at all:(

I was seeing this advertisement flashing…for spicy delights on hoardings by the roads or in newspaper…making a seemingly normal food affair tempting and just out of the world.


I never fall for this evil and nothing in McDonalds please me anyways. It tastes downright bland, tasteless and Yuk…and not at all appetizing. But I thought something really good. Especially when the TV commercials said that it’s downright spicy, I somehow thought why not try it. And the Sunday promenade with momma dearest gave me an opportunity to taste it. I shelled an exorbitant 95 rs. for the a ‘mc spicy paneer’. It should have rung a bell of alarm but unfortunately it didn’t. But yes, coldish parcel did. I wondered if the burger was directly from the freezer. We came home, amidst of drizzling rain. And I opened the parcel first, mainly because of curiosity and later wondering. The closed pizza of merwans left behind. A mistake made. A brown bag gave way to white pristine hard cardboard gift like box, my self anticipated more. But perceptions can be misleading. The bread was fresh which was a relief since once my better(?) half and I had stale bread burgers in a McDonalds in thane. I bit in to it. And please give me a break; it didn’t take me to 7th cloud or rather even to first one. The first bite did not resemble ambrosia or a delight. It was cold tasteless stuff, sprinkled sparingly with a spicish sauce .the only thing that was required and which was in such a less quantity. The lettuce lacked the crunch and cabbage or mayonnaise. The fat wedge of paneer which was sandwiched between the two buns was cold and tasteless. It looked fiery red, but the color had little to do with bland taste. It lacked the soul of tandoori paneer or paneer tikka. The smell…no smell at all…the hybrid kind…nothing of its own. The paneer was just a piece of “staedler” rubber. A cold paneer pakoda or bhajias would have definitely tasted better. I have tasted the rubbery kinds of paneer in our office canteens and luscious heavenly paneer in some curries in good weddings. And mind you, this reminded me of the office canteen stuff. Strictly avoidable. I don’t know about the non vegetarian stuff, bur definitely the vegetarian stuff was out of the world. This new addition McDonald’s list was definitely a punishment from hell and if you are a glutton for punishment, go ahead and have it. I am always happy with my garam vada pao …at least its Indian spicy and warm.

Pintya

This song is from the movie shaitan, having some other such good (I mean different) songs. A twist from the usual lovey dovey songs. When I first heard of this song , it was through a colleague who was humming “pintya chi handi phutli re pintya gela re gela”, I thought that he had lost it, since he was under tremendous work pressure. I started laughing “ Nice combination mota bhai (he is a guju)” I said sympathetically. His mischevious eyes cringed at the corners “abbey..ye sacchi mein gana hai??”, I looked at him puzzled, “haan baba. Ye gana “shaitan” mein se hai…its used as a chase song…between an honest and corrupt inspector”. I didn’t say a thing…but my food oriented antennas suddenly sprung to life. Those who have been following this blog dutifully (excluding Umang ofcourse ) must have come to know till now, that unless a lovely song actually holds my attention, only weird songs can rouse me and make me taptaptap on the blog (except lovely food…but I am not very keen in turning my blog to food blog yet) so “pintya” stayed in my mind. Refusing to go. The first thing that I did when I returned after break was download the song. But earphones not in sight. Finally a day later, having loaned them from a colleague, I heard this song. The start brought a tingle down my spine, and I knew instinctively that I will love this song. One more addition in my overflowing basket of sidey songs 
The song starts with an “aroli/ a sudden shrill and loud shout” , that is very typical in folk music in Maharashtra.and later with rythmatic beats on dhol and “peep/pipani” , the song starts “pintya chi handi phutli re pintya gela re gela”…guitar comes a bit later, the electric beats mingling with the desi instruments making a lovely “bhel” that is not quiet Indian nor western. A totally folk music bhanang/bhel. Spicy but not overly..with a dash of lemon. If you have heard the song “govinda re gopala” on gokulashtami, you will somehow find this song very much close to that song, and a part of which is also included in the song. (you can actually visualize the chase) The voice of the singer has an apt rawness , no refinement and technically rightness. A more simple voice which still has that rustic innocence.
I don’t know how many of you actually know laxmikant berde, one of the best comedy actors of his time. There was a movie of his which came called “hamaal de dhamaal” in which there was a song called “Dhakkumakum - Govinda Re Gopala”, now in this song not only there is pintya, but the song also has govinda re gopala…some similaries, the music being a bit similar, pintya is still unique in its own way.
This song definitely makes me feel like dancing like I have lost it…has anyone seen “balya” dance, then maybe you can understand what kind of dance this song requires.
As always “pintya” is reigning in my now playing list to be heard again and again

Current obsession

Mangoes are long gone…esp. my love hapoos but new obsessions come and go. With medu vada making me sick this week, making me regret of not eating veg/vegetable cheese sandwich instead, I finally turned to chutney sandwich today. Having lovely fluffy soft idlis and Sāmbhar with bobbling tomato bits but at 7.30 am in the morning and with the “chotu giant” in my stomach, I managed to get famished by 10.30 am. Our office has a completely forgettable canteen (which incidentally had only one good item which was medu vada…that monster which made me sick for two days) and an OK lovely sandwich corner. The reason for this compliment is that since this sandwich corner came to existence, my remaining ties with the dreaded canteen got severed. If no lunch, there is veg/vegetable cheese club sandwich, and breakfast usually is a veg/vegetable cheese toast or sandwich (cheese n veg/vegetable constant ha-ha). Evening again sandwiches of above kind. But today I was not that in a mood for a toast or a heavy veg/vegetable cheese (strange but true) and I thought of chutney sandwich (not existing in menu) “chutney sandwich milel kai?” (my love for ma langue maternelle crops up at moments when I see that the person serving is Marathi speaking, be it the lovely lady who is assisting in the rest room, or the gentle security guard who greets me good morning every time I give my bag for scrutiny in the office or the BEST bus conductor or driver or a rickshaw driver a shopkeeper in vile Parle, I feel really encouraged to use Marathi…and in this case the sandwich maker…now this is the height of digressing ) after paying a real modest 10 rs, I caught hold of the plate having a simple yet amazing fare. What it would do to my taste buds was yet to be experienced.
The bread was brown (real brown bread since this one crisps when toasted/grilled and not turn to be chewy, which a white bread slice does) and there were three slices of bread ,quartered, neatly arranged one upon the other. Non toasting had kept the bread moist and soft. The edges removed (a waste). A bite sent me to fluffy cloud 7. The slices abundantly buttered…diet may be damned (and currently not required), with a thinner but adequate layer of fiery green chutney. Each bite was fragrant and soft as cotton, flavored with garlic, ginger, coriander leaves and green chilly chutney, salty with addition of a bit of salt and pepper for taste, and of course the slippery, smooth saltiness of yellow amul butter. The quarters got over just a bit soon, leaving me satiated only physically but mentally I wanted to have just one more bite of chutney sandwich

gaiir dekhne mein gair kya hai

Marathi/ regional language movies didn’t give me hives, but I managed to see them half heartedly leaving aside some precious gems like “ashi hi banvabanvi”, “gammat jammat “and”gupchup gupchup” and more recently “aga bai arrecha”“jeta”,”mumbai-pune -mumbai” end now “gair”

I am not allergic to comedy, but recent comedy definitely never ceases to give me hives.(pls mr bharat. Mr siddharth and mr makarad I am not ur ardent devotee) so when I came across premire of this movie on “star pravah” I was skeptical. Mom and I wondered if its next agnisakshi kind of movie. The movie started and half hearted with a book I started watching. Within half an hour I kept a marker in the book and started watching the movie closely. The songs were forgettable and forgotten soon. But yes, they were well placed and not too many crammed, cropping up at inopportune moments.

The movie was pure suspense and if you have not seen it, it’s definitely a two time see. Once to get the feel of the movie and next time to enjoy the feeling. The story is classy, and suspense is not revealed an ounce till the end. Not many complications, but the way of direction is great with no stretching the story and an apt end.Definitely, Gaiir is now in my list of all time watch moviesJ