Category Archives: travel in India
A Brief Respite
I can think of no finer sign of civilization than a hotel (Novotel in Hyderabad) which offers spa services from 7:30 am. After arriving a 4 am (and not having slept as much as I’d have liked on the plane, or anytime in the last six months, for that matter), I indulged in some much-needed pampering. Wish I had time to do it again…
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The Classic Indian Bun Omelette
This one includes tomatoes and probably green chilis, and was served on a bun with funky pink and green candied fruit.
Recipe:
- fry onions in butter until soft (or brown, if you like)
- fry tomatoes too, if you’re using them
- add eggs lightly beaten with a little milk
- add green chilis (chopped into small rounds) and fresh cilantro/coriander
- flip to cook the other side
- when cooked, fold in half and serve alongside bun as shown above or (better) fold into quarters and serve ON bun. Bun should be toasted in the same pan so it gets nice and greasy.
- Have sweet, milky tea with it.
Above omelette courtesy of Mussoorie’s Tip Top Tea Shop at Char Dukan:
In case you’re wondering: cheese noodles is Ramen or Wai Wai noodles with cheese stirred in so it melts while the broth is good and hot.
Bollywood, Bangalore
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!
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The Streets of Bangalore
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.
^ “Precaution is better than treatment”, indeed.
^Trying to direct all the mayhem: traffic police in jaunty white hats.
^ Ignoring it all: street dogs who’ve found an uncommonly soft spot for themselves.