All posts by Deirdre Straughan

Rajdhani Thali: Great Food, Great Price

June 10, 2008 Deirdre Straughan 1 Comment

Last day of shopping in Delhi, Ross and I still had presents to buy, and it had been impossible to get the neo-graduates out of bed at a reasonable hour. So we found ourselves facing a line of state emporiums that were mostly closed for lunch. After a few minutes’ glance around one or two that were still open, we decided to head to Connaught Place to find some lunch for ourselves.

We struck it lucky: right on the corner was Rajdhani Thali, which looked clean and appealing, and proved to be very good.

It’s a set meal (which I suppose varies with the day and season), at a fixed lunchtime price of Rs. 168 (about $4) each. After you sit down, a man comes around with a ewer and washbasin so you can wash your hands (because you’re going to be eating with them!).

Then the thali – a big, stainless-steel tray – is brought out, empty, with some empty little bowls which are soon filled up by waiters making constant rounds. And they just keep coming, offering various dishes, seconds of whatever you want, and a variety of Indian breads fresh off the griddle. The style is Gujarathi and Rajasthani, not too spicy for most Western palates. I had no idea what most of it was, but it was all delicious (and strictly vegetarian).

As is usual for Indian restaurants, service was excellent.

Rajdhani Thali is a chain throughout India (and in Dubai). Highly recommended, wherever you happen to find one!

Woodstock School

Woodstock Celebrations: Parents’ Banquet 2008

June 10, 2008 Deirdre Straughan Leave a comment

Part 1, including some very interesting speeches by parents about why they sent their kids to Woodstock, and what they think their kids got out of it.

Part 2 : Music!

The very talented senior jazz band, with Rossella singing, begins around 2:30 minutes.

Deathless comment: “We expect everyone to dance. Except my mom, because that would be embarrassing.” Thanks, kid.

travel in India, videoblogging, what I do

Bollywood, Bangalore

June 9, 2008 Deirdre Straughan Leave a comment

One of my reasons for coming to Bangalore was to work with the Sun Cluster team here on some short films. They had great ideas (no, I’m not going to tell you what they were – don’t want to spoil the fun before the films are edited and released), loads of enthusiasm, and the talent to back it all up.

This was my first attempt to direct anything: usually I just film what’s in front of me as best I can. I’m not sure they really needed me to do it, either, except perhaps as a catalyst. Now that the ball is rolling, I suspect the team will find inspiration to make plenty more films on their own.
Just call me Farah Khan, without the choreographic talents.

It was a privilege and a blast to work with these folks. Once we release these films, we’ll issue a company-wide challenge: I’d like to see whether any other team at Sun can do as well!

travel in India

The Streets of Bangalore

June 7, 2008 Deirdre Straughan Leave a comment

I did not get a chance to see any of Bangalore’s tourist sights this trip (I vaguely remember having seen them back in 1980, when I went on Woodstock’s Winter Tour all over India). But I did get out and about a bit, sadly on my own since I didn’t have any travelling companions this time. What I mostly observed was traffic and street life. Which, as usual, had its own interests…

I saw a number of these elaborately airbrush-painted buses, which I guess to be privately-owned lines running fixed routes to the suburbs. “Air Bus” means air-conditioned.

The scenes painted on some invoked coolness, including one (that I did not manage to photograph) incongruously featuring penguins.

^ I assume this bus is reserved for women passengers only.

^ This is a trend I did not see in Delhi: elaborate advertising on auto rickshaws.

^ A family of three on one moped, all sans helmets.

^ These construction workers did have helmets, which wouldn’t help much if they got mowed down by a bus when crossing a busy intersection against the light.

^ Many women in Bangalore wear jasmine in their hair, a charming custom. Many of them ride motorcycles without helmets, perhaps for fear of having helmet-jasmine.