Mast Kalandar - Bengaluru

Working Singles like me are really handicap when it comes to good food. Girls still are able to manage their food, as generally they are good cook themselves. But a lazy guy like me, who does not know anything about cooking except Maggi, tends to search and research for good food joints. For us, a breakfast is an alien territory. And for lunch, we are dependent on home-made food brought by married office colleagues to fulfill our taste palettes. We look for food, which tastes yum, is lighter on my wallet, and some nutritional value. Moreover being a vegetarian, leaves me with minimal choices.

Mast Kalandar can solve all your food related issues in Bangalore. Mast Kalandar, is a vegetarian food joint with north Indian dishes at affordable prices. Its interiors are youthful and trendy. Its value-for-money meals are well packaged and interestingly named. It has variety of options from Punjabi dishes to Rajasthani dishes. If you are planning to visit their joints during peak hours in weekends, then forget about it. You can see people waiting in a queue outside their food joints during peak hours.

Mast Kalandar is been positioned well. It’s been targeted at the north Indian living in south India. Mast Kalandar has never lost its focus of catering to their target market even after their resounding success. Word of mouth marketing has helped the food joint to grow from 1 food-joint to 7 food-joints in the city in just 3 years.

I would recommend Mast Kalandar to every north Indian vegetarian.

Visit http://www.mastkalandar.com/

The Top Seven - Movies 2009

The year 2010 saw 240 movie releases in bollywood, mostly in the latter half of the year. The year started with disappointments like Delhi 6 and multiplex strike. But ended on a high note with Aamir’s 3Idiots grossing 93cr in the very first weekend.
Here are top seven hindi movies as my personal favorites, released this year.

1. Kaminey
2. 3 Idiots
3. Paa
4. Rocket Singh : The Salesman of the year
5. 13B
6. Luck By Chance
7. All The Best

These movies are irrespective of the fact of their commercial success. These are few movies which I would like to watch again. They made me laugh, they made me cry, they made me think.
 
Which are your favorite friends?

Year 1999 to 2009: From Human to Machine

My weekdays are quite simple. It’s full of work, with professional and family issues, a tired day and 8hrs of sleep! And weekends are spent in watching movie, networking with friends, washing and cleaning etc. But still far far away from mental peace. I have been running after success all these years (thanks to social and parental pressure). And realized, success is yet very far, but in the process, I lost… Myself.

Music was something that had always helped me in connecting me with my soul. Singing used to be my passion, Sonu Nigam, Rafi, Kishore Da etc. used to be demi-gods. Used to love singing for hours and hours. I used to listen to different songs, write their lyrics, and practice those songs. Everyone used to love my voice and my singing. Even though I have never learnt music, it was something that came naturally to me.

Interestingly, I was never the music buff. But in class 7th, school compulsorily asked everyone to attend activity classes. There were typography, computers, dancing, painting, electronics classes etc. I chose music, because there used to be no music teacher in my school in those days. I thought, it would be good to attend music classes as they would be free periods. I would use that time to finish my homework.

But the very day, a music teacher joined, Ms. Pratima Kumar. Every student was shocked. As they always thought, that music classes would be free time. Prathima Ma’am called every student one by one to sing “Hey Sharde Maa”. We all used to sing this song daily in our assembly. After everyone was over, she called me and Sumit Rathore to the stage. We were bit terrified. She announced, they were the best singers, as they struck the near perfect chords. I never looked back. Prathima ma’am was my motivation, my first Guru. She helped me in improving my singing skills, with Dice Sir who was an expert in English music. Soon I was among the best singers in my school. Next, I wanted to learn classical, I wanted to be trained.

In early class 12th, I asked my dad, “I don’t want to study. I want to be a singer. I want to learn music. ” My dad replied, “Finish up your board exams, become an engineer. Once you are successful, do whatever you want to pursue your ambitions.” His point of view was logical. But soon I realised that there is no connection between Passion and Logic.

So here I am today. I am an engineer, MBA, marketer, and yet “Nothing”. First engineering, then interviews, then MBA preparation, MBA, and now job. After 10 years of hardships, I realized, I couldn’t sing. I need to start afresh to polish my skills. I have lost the gift of God.

Programs like Indian Idol, Saregamapa, and Amul Voice of India, bring tears to my eyes, when I saw someone else fulfilling my dreams. Thanks to loved ones around me, as they keep motivating me to continue singing. And I even want to!

But thanks to the last decade, as I am more a machine now than a human. Emotions, aspirations and talent, all are lost in the process to be a machine, like everyone.