Best books of 2015

I read over 50 books across a variety of genres  – literary fiction, fantasy, YA, memoirs and more – in 2015. Here’s a round-up of 8 of my absolute favorites. Please enjoy.Continue reading→

Year-end Wrap-Up: Top 20 motivational posters

I’m a sucker for motivational posters. I have a whole folder of them on my phone, my Facebook feed is filled with inspirational messages, and I follow a bunch of inspirational tweeps on Twitter. Needless to say, I’ve found tons and tons of inspirational and fun posters over the year, and made a few myself. Here are my 20 absolute favorites.

Enjoy!Continue reading→

Year-end Wrap-Up: Top 10 lessons I learnt in 2012

Image courtesy: Jamie Oliver

1. I enjoy cooking! Not everyday cooking, but trying out new, interesting recipes that make people’s jaw drop in awe. 😉 This was a year when I tried some great new dishes, and  all of them turned out really well. So well, in fact, that it can serve as an alternate career! From yummy pastas to baked fish and roast chicken, I served it all on the table with elan.

2. I’ve got no head for finances, or rather, for tracking investments. I’ve let things slide too long, though. Next year, I’m going to work on changing that for sure.Continue reading→

Year-end Wrap-Up: Top 5 books of 2012

2012 was a stellar year for me in terms of reading and all things book-related. I read over 60 books this year, across a variety of genres. I came across some brilliant writers, and some not so brilliant ones. I was approached by Random House India to participate in their book bloggers program, under which they send me books to read and review. And I joined a cool Twitter book-chat – TSBC.

So, what better way to kick-off this year-end wrap-up than by sharing with you my 10 favorite reads from the year? Without further ado, here they are!Continue reading→

Looking back 2010 – Top 10 movies

There were some excellent English and Hindi movies released in 2010…from among those, these were my 10 favorite movies during the year (in no particular order).

  1. Dabangg
  2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – part 1
  3. Eat, Pray, Love
  4. Rajneeti
  5. Inception
  6. Anjaana Anjaani
  7. Iron Man 2
  8. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
  9. Sex and the City 2
  10. I Hate Luv Stories

What were your favorite movies in 2010?

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Looking back 2010 – Top 10 books

girl reading a bookMy love affair with books started at a rather tender age. I grew up with Enid Blyton and Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Since then, reading is my escape from the world, a time to step out of my life and live in different times and places through the trials and tribulations of the characters that inhabit the book that I am reading.

I’ve read a lot of books that I enjoyed this year, so choosing just 10 was hard! Still, I tried…so, here’s the list of the top 10 books I read in 2010 (in no particular order).

  1. Immortality – Milan Kundera
  2. Nefertiti – Michelle Moran
  3. The History of Love – Nicole Kraus
  4. The White Tiger – Arvind Adiga
  5. The Girl triology  – Stieg Larsson
  6. Late for Tea at the Deer Palace – Tamara Chalabi
  7. The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
  8. Journal of a Solitude – May Sarton
  9. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
  10. Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichei

If you’re curious to see the entire list of books I read during the year, check out my book shelf.

You might also enjoy reading Dagny Taggart, or Scarlett O’Hara, or maybe…

What were your favorite books in 2010?

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Looking back 2010: food and drink

Fez Dining, New Delhi

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

This simple pleasure has become such a huge minefield in recent years, with the media telling you that almost everything that tastes good is actually bad for you. If you were to believe all that’s thrown at you, you would have to eliminate from your life red meat, bread, chocolates, pastries…everything that tastes so divine that it gives you a little glimpse of heaven each time  you bite into it. (You might want to read why I think the Twinkie diet is a breakthrough for dieters.)

Large, naked raw carrots are acceptable as food only to those who lie in hutches eagerly awaiting Easter. ~Fran Lebowitz

I think that’s enough of a pre-amble to establish the fact that I am a foodie! I love, love, love food! I constantly try out new restaurants and different cuisines, experiment with new dishes at my favorite hangouts, and enjoy collecting and keeping recipes – it’s a different matter that I’m an extremely reluctant cook, but, oh well!

10 of my favorite meals and drinks in 2010 would have to be…

  1. Fez Dining, Malcha Marg, New Delhi – This Eastern Mediterrean bar is one of my favorite places to hang out. I love their ambience, and their food is to die for! You can close your eyes, flip through the menu, place your finger on an item and order it, and you wouldn’t go wrong.
    Recommended: To eat: Shish Taouk (succulent pieces of charcoal grilled garlic and saffron flavored chicken served with hummus and a divine gralic dip), Tas Kebap (braised lamb cooked in Turkish spices served with rice – yummy!). To drink: Pasha (orange juice, cherry liqueur topped with champagne), Moroccan martini (saffron infused vodka, vermounth and orange juice)
  2. Brazilian chicken, made by a good friend for a farewell party she hosted for me recently. Surrounded by friends, music, laughter and lots of alcohol, this was one party that turned out to be surprisingly fun!
  3. Basil Leaf, Gurgaon – This small little eatery in a sleepy market is a hidden treasure. It offers Pan Asian and Italian cuisine, as well as delectable deserts. Each item on the menu has a blend of flavors that will explode in your mouth, sending you to orgasmic highs! 😉
    Recommended: Oriental sea food soup, Basil chili stir-fried shrimps, ravioli in tomato sauce, grilled vegetable pizza, blueberry cheesecake
  4. I never realized how much I enjoy hosting parties until we hosted a card party at home this Diwali. First, hosting parties is the best way to clean up the house. Second, it’s fun to have friends over, laughing and enjoying themselves in your house. Most times my friends just invite themselves over home, we never get around to inviting people, but in 2011, I hope to change that!
  5. La Pizzeria, Bund Garden Road, Pune – Excellent Italian (vegetarian) food at really reasonable rates.  My entire family (parents, the husband and the little sis) had a 3-course meal for Rs. 1,500 — in Gurgaon, you’d pay that much for two people, main course only!
    Recommended: Spinaci Salsa (spinach and cream dip with crisp bread), Ravioli in tomato sauce, Gnocco (pasta stuffed with three types of cheese, spinach, Italian herbs and tomato sauce sprinkled with parmesan), Tiramisu
  6. My ultimate soul food, apart from chocolate truffle pastries,m has to be prawn rice. The flavors and the warmth of this dish fill me with joy.
  7. Monk, Galaxy hotel, Gurgaon – Serving up Chinese cuisine with a twist, this is the place to head to if you’re tired of “chinjabi” Chinese food. Their sticky rice bowls and udon noodles are to die for!
    Recommended: Five-spice chicken dimsums, seafood sticky rice bowl in celery sauce, sticky rice bowl with prawns and greens in XO sauce
  8. When I was home ill sometime in the middle of this year, I was overtaken by a sudden, over-whelming craving for chocolate cake. I was not too well to drive out to the market to indulge, so I did the next best thing – made a 5 minute chocolate mug cake! Yummy!!
  9. Swiss Cheese Garden Restaurant, ABC Farms, Koregaon Park, Pune – I went to the restaurant the last time I was home. Done up in wooden logs with dim lighting, the restaurant has an excellent ambiance, whether you’re with family, friends, or someone special. Recommended: Cheese fondue! That’s what they’re most famous for
  10. Some of my best weekends this year have been spent with friends. Be it an impromptu visit or a planned one, I’ve had great times with P at her house, eating, talking, standing out on the terrace capturing pictures of the sky; and with J, experimenting with new restaurants or getting together for drinks and dinner.

Great food is like great sex.  The more you have the more you want.  ~Gael Greene

What were your favorite meals in 2010?

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Looking back 2010: journeys

Prayer bells, main monastery, McLeod Ganj

For someone who loves to travel, this year has not been too great. I’ve taken only two trips this year (boo!), with one to come in the last week of December (yay!).

So from the two trips I took in 2010, here are the 5 things I enjoyed the most:

McLeod Ganj, May/June 2010

  1. This was the first time the husband and I traveled with friends; we generally travel alone. It was a different experience – we quite enjoyed ourselves.
  2. Carpe Diem, Jogiwara Road – excellent food, a must visit at McLeod Ganj
  3. Norbulingka Institute, Sidhpur – located about 7 odd kms from McLeod Ganj, it’s an excellent place to stay, even if just for a night. If you don’t want to stay far from McLeod Ganj, do visit the institute – they have a lovely monastery, a beautiful doll museum and artisans at work.
  4. The Monastery, McLeod Ganj – courses are held here when the Dalai Lama is in residence. The thangka paintings and statues are magnificent.
  5. Shopping – avoid the shops along the Monastery – they’re overpriced and rude. Explore the many tiny shops along the three main roads in McLeod Ganj, you’ll be sure to find plenty of treasures!

    6.  

Read more on my visit to McLeod Ganj.

Jaipur, November 2010

The Bazaar, Jaipur

Johari Bazaar, Jaipur

1. All girls trip – no husband, no men – fun!

2. Silver shopping! We went to Johri Bazaar and explored the many silver shops there. Found one that had awesome, unique  stuff – went back to him thrice!

3. Getting fooled at Johri Bazaar – and finding out and giving it back to the shopkeeper. That was fun! Once we got to know he sold us fake stuff, we went back to his shop, created a scene, made him give us our money back, and made off with the earrings we had bought from him to boot! Served the bastards right, I say! 😉

4. Discovered three excellent places to eat and hang out –

  • Flow at Diggi Palace – great ambiance, good food.
  • Clark’s Amer – rooftop bar – great drinks for cheap
  • Anokhi cafe – excellent range of organic tea, coffee, pastries, and sandwiches.

5. Late night talkathons over drinks and snacks.

I haven’t written up a blog post on this trip, but you can read more about Jaipur from an earlier post I wrote on my travel to this wonderful city.

What were your favorite trips this year?

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Looking back 2010: top 10 songs on my playlist

Music is the soul of life. I typically listen to a wide variety of music – rock, jazz, instrumental, and everything in between. I’ve tended to stay away from Hindi music, though, because until recently, most of the songs were quite terrible. But since a couple of years, Bollywood’s been surprising me — not only have there been some excellent Hindi movies, the music has been great too! So here is my list of the 10 songs I totally loved this year, in no particular order. I’ve thrown in YouTube videos for the Hindi songs, so my non-Indian friends can listen in if they’d like.

  1. Need you now – Lady Antebellum
  2. Gypsy – Shakira
  3. I feel good – Anjaana Anjaani OST
  4. Airplanes – B.O.B.
  5. Watch me burn – Rihana feat. Eminem
  6. Waka Waka – Shakira
  7. Iktara – Wake up Sid OST
  8. The catalyst – Linkin Park
  9. Boogieman – AC DC
  10. Dhan te nan – Kaminey OST

What songs were on your playlist this year?

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