On set with Alia Bhatt

My profession is to shoot content for ad films. Today I am with Alia Bhatt. And most often defending upon the actor and the budget, the service differs.

Today I have booked myself in the executive level, nothing short of first class. First, it's cheers with a Virgin mojito to Alia and her director, Gauri Shinde. 

Spread over 2 days, the catering team laid out a full spread of chaknas, wafers, biscuits for munching. For the calories conscious, there were nuts and chanas, for the kind who favoured savouries, they were actually spoilt for choice. 

This was after we had consumed a King's breakfast of Kheema, omelet and sausages. I actually felt that they thought we were a malnutrioned lot, who needed sustenance..

As the day sped by, we were kept on our toes. Too short a time, so much to shoot. Plus there was the photoshoot and my interview. Stress made another team work double shift, the Kraft Services, who kept our adrenaline in check with tea, coffee, nimboo pani, juices...

The Sindhi cuisine had this cordoned off area choking, but with a deadline looming large, everybody vacated fast. The shoot after all, was primary. 

Towards evening as the energy began dropping, fresh fruits and salads were being distributed..

At the end of the shoot, I was not sure whether I was tired keeping the long hours or just exhausted, munching and filling my stomach. But honestly, no complaints. After all, we work for our bread!!!!

Anika's birthday party

Today's kids, specially Mumbai kids, have a lot of demands when it comes to celebrating their birthday party. And lo behold the hapless mom. Gifts, games, food, location, time... all these factors need a lot of management skills.  Today, I salute Vrushali Telang, who pulled off a great party for her 5 year old daughter, Anika.

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The spacious room welcomed us with an accessory counter. From hair braids to bracelets, from rings to hair bands. The colourful display of yarns and flowered objects, made all of us forget our age and we all queued up to get our personalised jewellery. 

There were several counters for games. The kiddies began running around, trying to win some prizes while hitting the bull's eye with the gun or hitting the runaway balls. 

 

An event organiser soon announced games for the kids, as well as the mamas and papas. A jugglery act had the kids in awe. 

Planning a kid friendly menu that can appease adults too, is a mean task. But rising to the occasion, Vrushali laid out a Chinese spread which also had pasta salad. So from noodles to pasta, from chicken to paneer, there was something for all...

 

Return gifts are actually a mama's nightmare. From simple pencils, erasers and pencil box during our time, to finding a suitable gift that suits all, is a serious time consuming, brain wracking ordeal. 

We had a fabulous time. A birthday party on a Sunday afternoon is a grand way to spend a relaxed day. And now I need to take my friend to the spa. After organising such a lovely party, she needs some serious R and R.

The Monsoon Fish Thali

Come monsoons and Mumbai suddenly faces a fish crisis. Due to high tides and the birthing season for fish, there is suddenly a dearth or the prices sky rocket. 

But the maaza of having a Malwani or Konkani fish thali as the rain pounds outside, is something else. 

So Bobby and I trooped into a small joint with 10 odd tables in Bandra east for one such meal. The presentation can take a hike as everything is coarse. The crockery is stainless steel and it is advisable to have bottled water.

The fish thali was served with roti, steamed rice, surmai fish in a coconut gravy. On the side was golden fried Bombay Duck or Bombil and clams or teesriya in a hot pepper sauce...all to be washed down by a pink juice called sol kadi, made with kokum, a local sour fruit and the milk of the coconut..

The food is piping hot and the taste buds are tickled with the perfect blend of spices. This cuisine is very simple. The fish curry is actually a mash of coconut, onion, ginger, garlic and red chillies, all cooked together in some oil. Once the rawness of the onion fades, add the raw fish and water. Once it is bubbling away, add the salt and serve it.

Don't try cooking this dish thinking the recipe is simple. I have never mastered it in two decades of living in Maharashtra. The gravy always stinks when I attempt it.

It is not cheap either... a meal for two can put you down by a grand. But it's worth it, a simple meal with the perfectly cooked curry made with the freshest of catches, and a darling hubby to keep you company on a working day. It's called a good day!!!

The Vistara Way of Life

New airlines make for great travel companions. They have spanking new aeroplanes, spiffy and smart air hostesses and great service. Vistara recently started its Delhi Mumbai services and I promptly booked myself on the premium dinner flight from Delhi. 

Check in was smooth at the T3 Terminal in Delhi and so was the timely take off. I waited patiently for the dinner service. 

Taj Sats is the best on air caterer and all leading airlines get their on board meals catered by them, including Jet Airways, which is a competitor of Vistara. 

Now here is the interesting twist. Taj Sats is a part of Tata's and so is Vistara in partnership with Singapore Airlines. So, there was no doubt that the food would be a Taj Sats meal. And with Indians, the better meal served is always a winner.

The meal was served on an envelope styled box with neat compartments for the hot meal. So, literally, no stirring the pot or the meal in the wake of air turbulence. As for the contents, the non veg meal with its anjeer pulao and labradar chicken was on a scale of 9 on 10. And they happily served seconds for people with more robust appetites, including your's truly. 

The exquisite food served, blankets and pillows were distributed by the thoughtful and alert crew. This reminded me of the good ole’ days when flying indeed was luxurious and one was pampered by the pretty and smiling air hostesses. A thoroughly satiating experience. Trust the Tata's to do it in style. 

The Chunkie Good Day

A return birthday gift for Zehn contained a box of Chunkie, and it said chocolate chip cookies. I hid it before she could lay her eyes on it.

Since a kid, I had fantasised about chocolate chip cookies, thanks to the books penned by Enid Blyton. Dunking them in milk was supposed to be the ultimate feast for the Famous Five kids. Since then, my hunt for the cookies started.

The coffee chains, the 5 star hotels, the various bakeries... I tried them all, but they never matched my expectations. 

Until I opened a Chunkie... Crunchy on the outside, crumbling as my teeth dug into the baked dough, and then the exquisite taste of melted chocolate chips mingled with the aroma of butter...all in one bite. 

Sweet heavens, my imagination began to finally see the cookie in technicolour. Thank you Good Day, for making a cookie that feeds the palate, the soul and the imagination...

The Swamy of Food

People say, I have shrunk. Not shrunk, like, Honey I Shrunk The Kids types, but by losing a few measly grams. Anyways, the story today is not about my weight, but of a caterer named Muthuswamy.

They cater to mostly ad shoots across Mumbai. Perhaps they are expensive, or they are elaborate in their menus, I have not really had any inclination to figure. Just as long as there is food served by them, I am happy. And so are the Mumbai celebrities. From director Balki to Mrs Jaya Bachchan, they all swear by his food.

So what's so great. Today I will take you on a short tour of the tea served today. Hot mini sized bhaturas are freshly fried in ghee. And served with chole.

 

For the dosa loving crowd, there is sada dosa, masala dosa, Mysore masala, uttapam... And look at the array of chutneys.

For the chatpata loving, the sev puri and pani puri is to die for. Fiery hot chutney sweetened by a tamarind sauce, mixed with boiled potatoes on a bed of papri, sprinkled lavishly with onions, coriander and bhujia or sev.

Today, the bill of fare, though is the hot hunk Salman Khan, himself. A self confessed foodie, the actor revealed that ever since Muthuswamy catered for his youngest sibling, Arpita's first birthday, the South Indian has been doing the honours for any family get together. And that's how Muthuswamy came to serve the ad and film fraternity of Mumbai.

So enjoy the pix, while I moan the calories I have consumed. Just imagine, carbs fried in ghee. 500 years on the treadmill.

To Live By The Bullet

Sitting on a hard wooden bench, sipping hot sweet tea with the Maratha Regiment, in the back of beyond remote area of Arunachal Pradesh, we exchange stories of our lives. One a soldier, another a com patriot. Listening to the heartbreak of their stories of losing their brethren to terrorism. The fear of their families when they don't hear from them in a week's time. Anything can happen. It's just the question of a bullet. 

Today when the world bereaves the death of these innocent children, I cannot help but wonder about the phrase, you reap what you sow. 

The fathers of these children have stood by and let their fellowmen cross their borders and enter into our country to kill our brothers, our children, our soldiers. Would an Indian army soldier ever open its borders to send terrorists to enter into any of our neighbouring countries to create death and destruction. 

These Pakistan army officers now know what it feels to see a coffin wrapped in the national flag.... Just like our brave mothers and wives, who have seen their sons, brothers, husbands leave home, only to return as a body. 

In Uri, we lost our family, our soldiers for our democracy. Like we do everyday, be it a attack on our parliament or our Taj hotel or our gallis in Lucknow, Badlapur or Guwahati. 

For the sake of humanity, for the sake of our future, give up the bullet. It only hurts one and all, someday or the other.