Tareef - On Aundh ITI Road

We went to with the recommendation of a friend and Burrp (http://pune.burrp.com/listing/taareef_aundh_pune_restaurants/170879039), and this is what we discovered.

Ambiance : The place looks pretty small, two sections with 4 tables in each section, each table for 4. The lighting is bare minimum and furniture are of solid wood, with non-decorated walls. Feels cozy but might also feel like a closed suffocating den (especially in Summer with no power).

Food : We had order Prawn Jaituni Kebab, which came with a little hard prawn, which gave me a feeling as if prawns were taken directly from deep freeze and put into skewers. Their claimed specialty Murgh Dil-e Bahar turned out to be a dish with no special flavor (as promised in the menu card), zeera rice was slightly less cooked. Overall taste of the food was ok.

Service : Our three item main course came after 45 minutes (that too when I threatened to leave). All rotis were brought together and put in the table under the fan (you can understand what will happen to them). Silverware looked nice (those plane heavy dinner and quarter plates), but somewhat cumbersome to use because of the weight of the spoon, fork, etc. And, finally the cheque came with an extra item billed which we had not ordered at all.
One more point to mention here is, I was told that card machine is not working since the power was out, though I could not understand if lights and fans could be put on backup why not the card machine too?

Cleanliness and Hygiene : Although almost all restaurant's wash areas are questionable, but I could not help notice that while bringing washed silverware to stack, one fallen quarter plate was picked up and stacked again, just like that.

Here are my ratings on a scale of 10.

Ambiance : 5
Food : 5
Service : 2
Cleanliness and Hygiene : 3

I am shorter than my wife!

At first instance, well it seems true, but not exactly. To be precise, I am just half an inch taller than her. I possess an average Indian male height (read 172 cms) and she possesses somewhat at the taller side of average Indian woman height (read 170 cms), and as per the women go, they always seem taller, thank God my wife does not wear high heels (or I would have been beaten to death by now by the criticisms, which I obviously claim not to believe). But the truth is, I have been made aware and conscious of the shorter side of me, that is, my height, which, I can confirm, I have believed I was decent vertically till I got married.
The first embarrassment came with my sis-in-law, when right after the marriage she came to the hotel room and asked both of us to stand to comparison, of course I flushed (red not pink) and said I am shorter and I don't have any problem with it. Then all those questions which followed from people who saw the marriage snaps (I wondered what happened to the extra heels I paid for my new shoes?). Also, my wife's friend, who happened to ask "Why I took so much time to confirm" while she (my wife) was confident on me as an alliance, and just had some doubts about my height. Huh, the question actually came with an information, a knowledge. Doubt? Don't I look how tall am I? What's there to doubt about it?
Anyways, now I wonder, why a man should be taller than his wife? Where did it start and what is the valid rationale behind it? All I can think is a physical compatibility reason (but isn't length insignificant on x-axis??I suppose only in missionary position, all others might be a problem). Is it stage fitting (those who don't know, its just a term which describes how people look collectively when they stand side by side)? If yes, then from where did the convention of a guy being taller than gal come to make them look better together? I just read, few days back in a news paper article, that, girls do not marry guys who are shorter, vertically, financially or socially than them. Isn't it hypocrisy on their part? They want to be powerful, reckon with respect(??), be in controlling position (anybody (guy or gal) who has a female boss can confirm), but still they want a spouse who's more than them? But why, I ask why? Today the girls are saying they are no less, but then why are they looking out for men who make them less, at least in visible ways? I, being a guy, will not mind at all, if my wife is taller than me, earns more bucks or a better social status than me; I would rather appreciate and be proud of her. I suppose women are still bleak about their "equality" agenda, when at times they seek it, and when at times they want to be privileged and when at times they seek their partners to be better than them. But still I must agree to myself that I don't know, what all is this?
Yes for all those curious people out there, I am not shorter than my wife but ya I don't mind even if I was (I would have refrained myself from different positions, and that's it).

Holi Hai!

I too come from a place which is tiny (not small as compared to the big cities we live in today) and has people from all over the country, hence we are accustomed to celebrate all festivals knows to the best of the efforts. But ever since I moved out to pursuit higher education to Pune, I realized how much I missed that waiting in anticipation of these festivals, sleepless nights in preparing, getting all crazy to celebrate everything to last breath, friends, family, everything. Now I was at a different part of the country, which was not as cosmopolitan as my Jamshedpur was, even though it was too big as compared to Jamshedpur; Pune had its own culture and following. Every year when Durga Puja came we frowned and when Ganapati came we joined Maharastra to show our affection to celebrate festivals. The advantage that I had in Pune was a enthusiastic friend circle, an extended family, all from same place, with same sentimates about festivals and same cheerfulness when it comes to mingle. But now I am a differnt part again. A different world, different customes and more improtantly no friends, this is Hyderabad. It has a color and a following which I dont understand and moreover since I belive a company and at times a knonw crowd is needed too to celebrate or enjoy things. I am not that inclined to go to privately organised commercial parties for all these festivals.
So this year when Holi came, I had a company, my wife, but again holi is best celebrated if you have a bunch of people. I dont feel the urge any more for all these, but since my wife is also very very inclined to play holi (but for her, she needs to accept that the life she led has changed, and now she's away from friends and family). So I decided to do atleast something. Eveyone kept asking about my wife's first holi plans too.
We, a group of 5 people, along with me and my wife had a plan to go out to a party, which dint materialize, hence the day started with my wife packing lunch box for me,. Amit packing lunch box for himself, and Anup arriving office before time. Finally something got into me, and I decided to do something better, so I went out and got some color (left Indu thinking that I might have gone to smoke) and came back to show her what holi could be. I painted her red, yellow, blue, violet and green. Then Parul called suddenly asking me to do something to make Amit stop from going to office since all her pleas have been rejected (I mean can a friend stop you from doing something if your wife could not?, I guess yes). So Amit stopped, and me and Indu arrived at their place, only to find them colored but somewhat very very decently as compared to what we had in our faces. So we colored them too and the next plan was to come to office, get Anup out and color him so much so that he cant continue working for the day, and we just did as that and along with Anup we colored Satya too and to great pleasure of us they were not allowed enter the office premises again (Building management policy). Then we headed to one of Parul's relatives and it was fun there too, and then some snacks on the way and back to home.
Back in home we could not think of anything and just the bed, even though we had long evening ahead coz I had invited all these folks home for dinner. It was 4:30PM and we decided to take quick nap to refresh ourselves, get up, bath, go and shop for items required for the night. We did just that and again my bad luck caught with me, when the shop for paper plates was closed, tyre got flattened right infront of a repair shop which was closed, so I had to drag the bike for good 1 Km to get it repaired in a petrol bunk (where it seemed everybody wanted air to be checked in their vehicles that day only). Ah, it drained me again, and then vegetables and then back home. Me and Indu finished all the stuff in record one and half hour with precise planning, and meticolous co-ordination, but alas bad luck again, and the gas goes off. Thankfully all was done except rice which we could get from outside. A nice meal followed with beers and then a nice winding night where I was too much unable to move out of the fatigue.
Overall a good holi, and atleast coz of the adventures evening Indu will remember her first Holi.

Shed that flab!

We all love that flat tummy (perhaps we are not that keen to show off those six packs though). I personally believe that no matter how good looking or what kinda great body do you posses, but once u develop a considerably notable tummy (you can find it out, by standing without your top and looking towards your toe, bending your neck from the standing position, if you cant see your toe, then your are in danger. Now try standing side-wise infront of a full length mirror and see how your bulging tummy has created and concave lining spanning from one side of the waist to the other starting-ending from sides and dipping in the middle below the naval). Once the tummy is on, no matter how much you try no trouser is on properly and you find yourself caught in daily dilemma do decide weather to wear your trouser above the naval or below it (dont worry either ways you look idiot).
The painful task has now arrived, once we have noticed the flab and have fixed our determination to shed it off. As they taught to MBAs determinatio, devotion, planning and execution, way to go!! Do we ever wonder how we expect those flabs to disappear just over night, or when we keep checking our weight or size after every panting session of treadmill, do we ever wonder of all those times, long rice eating nights, junk eating outings and all those accumulated days and nights of non-work laziness?
Eveybody wants the flab to disappear, but gymming or burning it off is the most painfull task, specailly when your work schedule demands you to wake up early in the mornign and head to gym. It needs a daily devotion and continuous effort to get off that cosy bed and from the arms of those comfy blankets (add beautiful spouse to it too). Everyday in night I sleep with a deep determination of surely waking up next day morning to go gymming and every next day I wake up to fight the urget to stick back to the inviting bed. The key here, I have discovered is, to get off the bed at once. The chances of you falling back asleep is invertly propotional to time you spend thinking you would get off the next moment. Also who can deny all those excuses we think for ourselves, my leg is hurting from previous days workouts, I could not sleep properly yesterday night, I have indigestion, etc. Once you are off the bed and in the gym, perhaps the presence of others motivates you too to sweat it out a bit.
Second thing to remember is the diet. We need to time and regualte our metabolism too to help reducing faster and sustain it there after. There are two type of metabolism and depending on them two type of bodies. Consider one as fuel-efficient (who can make use very little enegry taken in and converts rest comforatbly to fat), fuel-inefficient (who just squeezes out last bit of calories taken in). This explains some individuals keeping lean and thin despite eating the whole super market and some of us just putting on even by eating just as much a dog eats (note this dog is just a stray dog, labs do eat good). So we need to time our metabolism, the faster the better. I wont pen down all those ways here, but to name a few, include iron in food to help creat more hemeoglobin for efficient reach of oxygen to burn those fat, break your meal to atleast 5-7 small meals, eat regularly. Rest you find out, I am back to motivate myself to go tomorrow surelty to gym.

Addicted!

The story is not so great or different than of any usual smoker. I am addicted too. I am personally not so happy about my this habit, and constantly keep proving my weakness in not curbing it. Once upon a time, I was not touched by any of the known form of addiction and not even the daily, so usual, tea too. But somehow during the course of my life I gave up to my dieing will power and turned to smoke, and white ash for solace (what a glorified statement to a heinous act of self destruction).
Nevertheless, twice in my life I did try to give it up, perhaps I was overwhelmed and happy the way life was taking me ahead. I always said, that the day I decide of getting married I would start trying to give it up, at least for a new person and coming generation.
Smoking as they say, is an addiction and a rather tough one to shake it off. Few facts to note here are, a cigarette is very easily available, smoking can be done in absolutely any event, smoking can be done absolutely any where (give a damn to the Ban on Smoking), cigarette can come as cheap as 50 paise, almost 80% youngsters are smokers, so easy to find company. Armed with above stated facts (could be more to it), smoking becomes easier to be trapped in addiction. Mostly in personal view, I have noticed youngsters starting it as a sign of being cool or be in crowd. I remember going to coffee joints and our best pass time being, to notice smokers and to tell from the way they smoke, of their catergory, as in, who's faking it just for style, who's chain smoker, who's seasonal and all that stuff.
Now that we have listed what it takes and how you get attracted and then trapped, let me tell you few points in what it takes to quit.
As any addiction, smoking too neeeds a constant effort and renewal of will power, and also constant feed of motivation (now that's a question, coz I hear this more often "How do I motivate you"). Smoking as they say is physical as well as psychological addiction. Physical addiction of necotine subsides significantly after approximately 21 days (that's from some research news) of fight to curb it. Every day you refrain from smoking, the urge becomes more and more stronger; and you should always beaware of that single moment when your will power gives way to the urge and you find yourself holding a stick and puffing again; and that's wht decides how you proceed in your goal to quit smoking. And that's the point of failure where motivation comes.
Smokers find smoking an apt behavior to display at almost all kind of situations, like, waiting for a bus/someone, too much work, being sad, getting happy, and the list goes on, and that's the psychological addiction I was talking about. Smokers are more addicted to hold that cigarette they hold and puffing it rather than the kick the necotine gives them, coz a chain smoker hardly observes any kick. So here you need to be a filler to help the smoker avoid getting psychologically attracted in order to "motivate" him/her.
Also failure is a human nature, and any change can be brought only by understanding the reason for failure, and help solving it, rather than being critical in the weakness. We need to elavate the confidence and free will to curb the addiction of the subject in question.

I am on my way again to curb it, not coz of any stateable reason, than the same, coz of a new person and coming generation. I too have my own point of failures and rather critical view of them, and at the same time of fighting the urge, I am also fighting the frustration which arises by own failures, and critical statments I keep hearing. Let's see where I land.