World's Best Video Game

Two of my greatest interests are video games and golf.  Both have obstacles and challenges.  This is probably why I love driving in Chennai traffic.  The challenges are immense and there are more obstacles than in a video game. 

This is a photo of Oragadam with similar obstacles & challenges. Photo Courtesy: The Hindu

Yesterday, we had driven to Mogappiar West.  10 years ago, this place did not exist on the map.  There was probably no Pin Code or post office.  There were a few industrial complexes, that polluted the neighborhood, but nothing else. Now it is a sprawling suburb with Malls, grocery stores and restaurant.  It even has a 6 lane elevated expressway cutting right through this Pin Code.  That is where the similarity between this and any Chinese suburb ends.  Once you get off the road, there are simple cut outs that act as roads.  Most are unpaved.  If paved, they have been completely demolished by the school buses and water lorries (trucks). 

This was the highest water point.  At other places it was 2 ft.  Courtesy: The Hindu

During our visit, there was a massive downpour.  We were driving through fast and furious rivers with tar cutouts cutting into the bumpers.  We had to stay away from the trucks that were splashing the water like elephants enjoying a shower at a waterhole. Of course there were cars, bicycles, motor cycles, autos (three wheel motored vehicles), pedestrians, cows, cute goats and every other form of live creatures.  Not to be let down, the adjoining trees were weaving their branches in and out of the road.

Having played motor sports on every video gaming system including Atari, Commodore, arcade, Xbox, Wii and PSP.  I still have not seen anything come even close to this experience.  And the best part is that it is not simulated.  You actually feel the road jerks, the wind blowing, the truck splashing and road rage.  Unlike the US, there is probably no one walking around with a gun.  So, you are safe to shout back. 

Never seen this in any Video Game. Let us see if today's teenagers can handle this. Courtesy: The Hindu

A game designer would get so many ideas out of this single journey than all his imagination can ever provide. 

Best real estate in Chennai (Madras) India

Developers are picking up new patches of land (or old buildings) faster than a cat can lap up the milk in it's bowl.  Construction signs and dust is everywhere.  Chennai Metropolis is getting a massive face lift.  One area that seems to have gone in the opposite direction is Foreshore Estate.  Growing up, I have fond memories of my parents taking me to Foreshore Estate Beach every evening.  We would play on the white sand, make castles and simply run around.  There used to even be a bridge along the beach that went across the Adayar River to the Theosophical Society.

Today I took a walk along the same Foreshore Estate.  It has changed- better or for the worse.  But what is unique is that it has been untouched by development.  No developer evacuating the residents offering them great apartments in Oragadham or Guduvanchery.

Growing up the beach used to be  desolate with an occasional car and a handful of kids running around. Today, there are 100's of tents that double as huts and houses for migrant population that are building up Chennai.  These folks do not have to worry about electricity shutdown, or sewage backing, or broadband access is too slow, or have to pay the monthly rent.  The rent is free, air-conditioning is provided by the waves of the Bay of Bengal, sewage is the Bay, trees provide the firewood and the job provides the minimum food required.  These rent-free folks do not need the basic necessities of Chennai called an Inverter (see my story next week on purchasing an inverter).  Irrespective of whether the Chennai Electricity Board is able to provide electricity, they get lights, A/C, hot water and TV service.  Lighting is provided by the Sun and the Moon, the Bay provides a massive swimming pool, beach is the exercise gym, ogling service at the street edge and an evening of city-lights. What we city-slickers pay $100-600 to enjoy a quiet weekend is their daily way-of-life.  So, should we jealous of them or do we love our stressed-out, time-starved lives?

I loved just walking on the beach road.  Yes, it did stink and there was slush everywhere, but life was going on like normal households.  The kids were bursting crackers, ladies cooking and the men sitting around chatting.  It got me to think about much lower their stress was, and all the great amenities around them.

On a side note, I have found my perfect walking route.  Ok, so it is not quiet, or pristine or clean.  But it has a long walk along the beach road, which is all that I really care about. 

Basera- A BBQ Restaurant on ECR, Chennai (Madras), India

Basera Restaurant, Injambakkam, Nr. Prarthana Theater, ECR, Chennai(Madras), India
3* Restaurant/ Rs 408/$8 (Veg) and Rs 450/$9 (Non-Veg) /Open to lush garden

Happy and Satisfied Customer

Courteous staff, great BBQ and a fantastic dessert layout.  The lush garden is a very romantic setting, but available only for dinner!! During lunch, the A/C indoors serves a buffet.  The place is extremely clean (toilets too!!) and everyone is courteous. The Manager comes to your table to inquire after every course. We ate a buffet in the cool confines of the indoor restaurant. The diners are IT-types that come in large groups on bikes and sub-compact cars, families with kids, lovey-dovey couples like Vaishnavi and myself, and local elites in 7-series BMWs.  There were quite a few regulars but we were treated no differently from them.

Dessert Table

The first thing to say about the food is that the dessert was extremely good.  The fruit salad was fresh, cut evenly and tasted good. The caramel custard tasted was so delicious, that I am out of words to describe it.  Of course they had a payasam/kheer and ice cream.

BBQ: Left are the vegetarian and right are the meat

Lemon-mint drink and the 5 starters

The buffet appetizer had five veg. and five non-veg items.  Five were BBQ items including prawns, mutton, chicken, paneer, and a veggie kabobs. They BBQ on a nice chargoal grill in the middle of the table. Being October and in A/C, we did not feel uncomfortable.  It might be the case in peak summer.  The BBQ items were extremely tasty and were cut to the right size, seasoned very well.  The meats and the veggies felt fresh and firm with a little juice.  They actually made sure that the meats and veggies were placed separately. This was important because my wife is a strict vegetarian.  The other five were fried items- fish fry, veg wontons, gobi manchurian, tandoori chicken and aloo tikki.  The wonton was a little soggy but the rest were very well done.  The fish tikka was immersed in a little too much spices and grease. So, it was a little suspicious.

You could match the appetizers with a lemon-mint drink which was quite refreshing.  We actually requested for a refill three times. They had soda drinks but we did not bother. 

Moore mulaghai- delicious

Salad, Yogurt and pickles

The main course was a combination of North Indian dhals, channa and naans with South India rasam and curds.  The curds was hard and very tasty, with no added sugar.  The The best part meal was the moore mulaghai (chillies soaked in buttermilk,dried then fried), a South Indian accompaniment to rice + curds. The dhaal and the kadai vegetables were very tasty.

All in all, it made our marriage anniversary a extremely good one.  Then we were off to pick up our daughter from the grandparents house.

Shopping for fireworks in Chennai (Madras) India- A video

Fireworks is probably the most important aspect of Diwali.  Of course there are others items of equal importance such as new clothes and sharing sweets.  More conservative types will apply oil on their hair, recite religions slokas, take blessings from the elders, visit the temple, and finish all this by 5 AM.  Then they would start bursting crackers.  For the uninitiated, Diwali is the festival of lights.  It is celebrated all over India except Kerala, where until recently was not even a holiday.

I took this video while the young girl was picking up all the items from the display.  You get a four-page sheet from the desk and mark out everything you want.  Then you hand it to one of these jugglers and they go around the display on tip-toes like Ballerinas, and get the boxes.  After that you have another person make the bill for you and another person that collects the money. 

It is probably the most inefficient system I have ever seen.  There are people asking for prices, there folks with one item request, others asking for recommendation, and more folks trying to get out of the store.  In between all this there are gazers and the people that have already filled out the list for the purchase.  This is chaos theory at work in the ultimate possible way.

There are over 300 different types of fireworks on display.  There are all unique, as you can see in the photo below.

It was such a entertainment just watching the whole tamasha  ongoing in the store.

The real fun occurred at home when the whole family got together on the terrace (roof-top) to light up the zameen chakrams, flower pots, pencils, sparklers, butterfly chakrams, multi-colored rockets, and on and on.  It was a real treat to finally enjoy Diwali like it should be enjoyed- with family and lots of fireworks.

Can't wait until Wednesday, after nearly 20 years.

A different kind of School- V-Excel, Mandaveli, Chennai (Madras) India

I happen to live across the road from V-Excel Educational Trust.  Those who are from Mandaveli, might be familiar with Leelavati Nursing Home.  Leelavati was a legendary gynecologist that has delivered babies in the Mandaveli area for over 40-50 years.  Even my great grandmother was her patient in '50-'60's. Leelavati nursing home is now V-Excel.

Board outside V-Excel

Now, on to V-Excel.  V-Excel is a Educational trust that works with special needs children.  These include teacher training, parent support group, schools and a variety of other groups.  In addition, they have a special community program every other Friday. From my window, I watch the children play and learn through individual care and attention.  The teachers and care-takers are truly dedicated and are all of all ages.  The kids can be very aggressive and the care-givers have to be extremely patient.  Every afternoon around 2:30, the kids play cricket.  It is amazing how a simple sport can bring out the best in kids.  The kids are howling with excitement and the decibels hit dump truck levels.  The kids are running around, making their best effort and playing their very best.  The teachers are very encouraging and helping the kids to really demonstrate their mettle.

One interesting thing about V-Excel is that they welcome the neighbors to attend and participate in their programs.  Last night they had Diwali celebrations.  I took Kaveri and her friends for the program.  They were sharing fire crackers, sweets and excitement with all who showed up, not just their students.  Kaveri got her first action with fire crackers.  Initially she was scared but warmed up when she saw all the other kids playing lighting away.  It was a such a fun experience.  Today, they had a Carnatic music concert.

A month ago, they had a Special Needs Specialist visit from Boston.  He was answer some very seemingly complex questions from the parents.  One parent had a child that was constantly breaking any glass item- tumblers, bowls, flower pots etc.  This Specialist broke it down into a few parts to ascertain the root cause of the problem.  Was the kid attracted to the sound of the glass breaking or the action of something breaking?  And the simple solution was to record the sound of glass breaking and replaying, or to give him lego blocks to throw down.  The second is harmless but he gets his desire fulfilled.

It is truly a remarkable school concept and the way they work with the community.

To learn more about them, I visited their Website.  It has a lot of information and topics of interest on the available resources, suggestions of complex situations and how to bring up special needs kids.  If you have time, visit their site at http://v-excel.org/.  To donate, visit http://v-excel.org/donate.shtml. 

Crimson Chakra- A great meal combination in a Single Restaurant

4+* Restaurant, Average is Rs 500/$10 per person including dessert.  Each entree is about Rs 250/$5.

This place is all about service, ambiance and personalized treatment.  right from the time, I made a reservation the treatment was above par.  Among all the upscale restaurants in South Chennai, I have visited this is the best service.  They call me a few hours before the reservation time to remind me and also find out if we had special requests.  I told them that we want to be in the quiet part of the restaurant.  When we got there, they had reserved a table close to the entrance but was private from the other diners. My daughter felt it was below her dignity to sit in a high-chair. They first put cushions on the existing chair, and when that did not work, they gave her a high revolving chair.  They were really creative.  The diners were also very discreet at this place. Cream Center has better food but this place has quieter ambiance and a more relaxed eating environment.

The best part of their food are the salads that come with the main course, mud pie dessert, and the fresh-baked bread that we start off with.  Their menu of South Indian (Crimson Chakra) and Continental (Cornucopia) is very complementary.  The restaurant is called Crimson Chakra and the Cornucopia name is there just for nostalgia.  The food is anything but nostalgia.  Both these menus have a different chef.  Both menus are very authentic and the selection is wide.  The hardest part is to select the right item out of the menu.  The continental menu has exotic names that could be overwhelming to some, myself included.

Their Lasagna sauce seems like it was allowed to simmer for awhile and it brought out the spices in the sauce. They had a three layer with minimal amount of cheese.  The taste was authentic to our tested American taste buds.

When I want a quiet meal or to chat up with a old friend, I would always pick this one.  The reastaurant closed at 10 PM but they let us stay until almost midnight. They did not show any signs of wanting us to leave and did not try to dim the lights.  Also the entree price is much lower compared to all the restaurants of similar standard in Chennai.

Desserts in Chennai (Madras) India

Fruit Shop on Greams Road. (Sweet without a strong sugary flavor. Excellent. Average per person- Rs 35-75/ $0.8 to 1.6)

Standalone Desserts Entrees are really hard to find in Chennai.  Most of them are glorified ice cream shops with loud music and, even louder paint patterns. The few good one's are simple affairs, without any decor, and carry traditional south Indian treats like badushahs, jilabi, or Bengali Sweets, like srikandh and rasmalai.

One of the first dessert-only places that showed up in Chennai (Madras) India is the Fruit Shop on Greams Road.  Not only is the name extremely attractive and captures your imagination, so too is the decor.  After dinner at my parent's place and leaving my daughter with the grandparents, we sneaked over to the one in Besant Nagar. I have always passed by it but never ventured in.

This place is in an un-modified home built in the late 70's.  When you walk it, you get the feeling of warmth and openness.  The color are simple.  There are bold messages about the health benefits of fruits and nuts. The menu size is probably the only negative at this place. There are over a 100 items.  Many of them have exotic names that mean absolutely nothing.  For example, there is one called Jughead.  Most of them say exactly what they are, like banana milk shake.

I ordered the Chikku milk shake and my wife got the Falooda.  First off the bat.  The Falooda had a great collection of fruits.  They looked and tasted really fresh.  It is impossible to find mangoes in the city and they had an abundance in the drink.  The noodles were soft in the Falooda.  Towards the bottom, it got a little too sweet. On the Chikku side, you could taste the chikku in the milk shake.  There was no extra sugar added or any syrups.  So, the mouth felt really refreshed and fluffy.

All-in-all, it was a great hangout and a great feel-good dessert.  I would highly recommend a visit.  The place has a Website: http://www.fruitshopongreamsroad.in/.

Ambiance without the Ambiance at Lunch

Babal da Punjabi Dabha (Very flavourful and tasty khaana (food) Average per person is Rs. 200/$4)  

Chennai is not known for anything beyond South Indian foods.  There are so many varieties of South Indian food that it can really keep you occupied for years trying them all.  Once in a while, you want to venture out to something else.  One such meal is Punjabi khaana. Babal da Punjabi Dabha is right across the road from KJ Hospital. Most North Indian places in Chennai are expensive and have a huge amount of cream/sugar added to the dishes.  Dabha Express is probably an exception but that is for another day!!  North Indian places are also very pretentious.  Anytime a friend recommends a nice quiet place, I am always game to try it.

This time it was my dear buddy Manesh Sehgal.  I was talking to him about some business ideas that I had.  He gave me a good and quick rundown on the entire retail industry.  My MBA did not teach me these things and I paid over $60K for the coveted piece of paper from a top-ten school!!

Back to food.  This place has absolutely no ambiance.  They have soft music, white tablecloth, low lighting and a few photos on the walls.  The ambiance is really about who you are with and the type of conversation.  In this case, Manesh was it.  Manesh has been a food connoisseur since our days together at DB (Don Bosco). Snacks would be the puff at the Cafeteria and paratha kurma lunch at Atlantic Hotel.  In between, there would be the munching of the fluffy and flaky samosa at the Travancore Egg Mart. Back to the Dabha, the fact that he knew the place and knew what to order was great.

We started off with Fish Tikka.  The fish was firm and soft, the flavors were embedded.  It looked like a perfectly cut slice of fish! There was nothing dripping from it. If you wanted more flavor, onions, chillis and a green chutney were provided on the side. Manesh had his with the spicy chutney and mine was more American!  To prevent any taste degradation, we decided no juices, lassi or soft drinks.  Next we got the palak paneer and butter chicken. The paneer pieces were big and the chicken had butter, but no visible cream.  They were a little spicy but not overdone.  There were no bones in either the fish or the chicken.

The best part of the meal were the naans.  There were fresh, right from the tandoori, and just melted in my mouth.  One of the best naans I have ever tasted outside of a home.  We had the plain, letcha and garlic naan.  The garlic naan was the best of the lot.  After we finished the gravy, we ordered a butter naan.  It was awesome to just eat the naan.

The waiters were always handy and brought the food/water very quickly.  They did not object that we were a party of 2 and had taken a table for six.  I would definitely go back with my family.  Ambiance would then be my daughter talking!!!!

Lost art of eating- Reborn

Mylai Karpagambal Mess 

(Awesome and tasty food, Zero Ambiance, Cheap. Average per person is Rs 90/$1.8)

I am talking about food served on a eco-friendly vaazhai ilai or banana leaf and food eaten with fingers (Photo below and the video following below). When finished the leaves are fed to the cows in the backyard. Everything goes through the full cycle.

Eco-friendly table service

I have heard about a number of restaurants in the old Mylapore area of Chennai (Madras), India. These provide home-cooked food in a decent environment.  Many of them have been around for 20-40 years.  The one I have heard most often is Mylai Karpagambal Mess.  Partly because the house where this Mess is (more on this word later) was owned by Mom's uncle (Chitappa).

Menu Board and coffee corner

There is no menu, just a board with names and prices in Tamil (Above). The names are what they are, no fancy make-believe names or food served on silver platter.  The food is delivered on banana leaf on top of a big plate that the waiter serves from.  There is no question of - Bisleri or regular?  Aqua is all you get. There is a small A/C section but it was full when we got there. Prices are about 25% more. It is one of the few places where Pepsi costs Rs 10/$.20 and Bisleri mineral water costs Rs 15/$.30.

Tasty and yummy-looking food!

How-to-eat with your fingers... A education

The food is outstanding. There is a how-to-eat video above! The best part was the coffee.  My wife is a coffee connoisseur and she said it was the ultimate.  I had a vaazhai poo vadai (banana flower lenthil cakes) and keerai adai with avial (spinach pancakes with a mixed vegetable coconut gravy in curd ). Vaishnavi had a rava dosai (crepes made of semolina) and idi appam (noodles that are steamed after threading) with kurma (mixed vegetable in a coconut sauce).  The food was very tasty.  There were a number of items on the menu that would only be available at homes.  The food was authentic and tasted like home-cooked. Those with a American tongue would find the food spicy. Make sure you drink a lot of water.

They were no fruit juices or other artificial beverages. They had one Pepsi bottle in the fridge, that was it.  They had a shelf at the entrance with appalams, pepper powder to go with the crepes and other essential home items. Below is the photo of the counter and the owner of the restaurant. The place is surrounded by photos of various Hindu Gods and Holy men.

The counter

The ambiance

The food came fairly quickly, the waiter was very good in making recommendations based on our interest and liking. He was almost like the Ask Jeeves Search Engine. There were so many items and his assistance is absolutely essential to select the right items.  I have never seen this type of service by a waiter. The ambiance includes street noises and everyone filling up the next empty chair. You could be sharing your table with 3 unknown, but friendly folks.

Mylai Karpagambal Mess is a 500 meter walk from the rental house we live in Mandaveli.  You can take the sounds of Chennai during this walk.  The blaring religious music, autos honking, hawkers screaming, mid-size cars polluting the place trying to drive through the crowd (or plough through them), birds, animals etc......

Tuscana at Chamiers, A Italian restaurant on Chennai

4* Restaurant/ Average about Rs 500 per entree /Nice decor and Ambiance /2 Thumbs Up.

One of our favorite outings are visits to new restaurants.  Our goal is to never repeat a restaurant, unless we find one we like so much.  Then we end up going there every week.  Since we have traveled widely, we tend to realize which restaurant is authentic and true to their heritage.

Yesterday was Navaratri celebrations.  More on that in a separate Gollu subject.  Tired after a long day of working around the house and the job of entertaining guest, we decided to drop off the daughter downstairs.  Off we went to the new restaurant on Chamiers Road, across from Hotel Park Sheration in the Boat Club Area of Chennai (Madras) India.  It was past 9:30 when we got there but the staff was still wide awake.  The location is a old home that has been slightly remodeled. The interior seems to have been maintained, just painted with occasional paintings. This looks similar to Cornucopia/ Crimson Chakra.

The valet instantly opened the door for both of us.  They waited until we firmly got out of the car, before presenting the token.  I hate it when the valet is just rushing to get you out of the car.  Similarly on the return, he had the car nicely positioned for us to get in.

As we had no reservation, they took us to a quiet table.  Funny that it was the same table that my wife had the last time she was there.  This was my first visit.  They brought the menu and stayed away until we called them. 

Before the food, they brought the bread, sticks and toast.  It was all fresh.  They center tray was really tasty and colorful.  It has a hummus-like spread, chopped olives in a olive oil/vinegar sauce and tomato bits.

My wife ordered the gnocchi in marinara sauce while I order Kritiko Boureki, from their Middle-Easter Menu.  The gnocchi were soft and seemed fresh, as opposed to store-bought.  Now, I wonder where you could buy it in Chennai.  We still have our stock from the US.   Mine had a nice pastry covering for my potato and zucchini pie.  I could actually taste the zucchini.  But stunner was the salad.  The leaves were bright and strong.  The dressing ting to it that make the salad just roll in your mouth.  I did not want to sallow it at all.

I had a Fresh Lime soda with salt.  The drink was strong and felt good after a long days work.

The menu is huge and is split nicely between vegetarian and meat dishes. There quite a few desserts and there is a ice cream shop on the Ground Floor (They also sell high-quality beef). The only negative is that music is too loud and the noise from one table runs through too all the nearby tables.

Neighbors and neighborhoods provide your daily dose of adrenalin

 Pooja at Navaratri- On our street.

In the US, you can stay hidden from your neighbors for a really long time.  We did not speak or make eye-contact with the house next door.  Now, we are not classified unfriendly.  We knew everyone in our neighborhood, where we were the Chairman of the Block Action Committee and the Neighborhood Watch.  So much so, our friends continue to call us after we have relocated to India.  In the US, a good neighborhood is where the school district is extremely good and there are no cars hoisted on cement blocks. 

In India, it is the neighbors and not the neighborhood that makes the difference.  They can protect, impart knowledge, reveal deep secrets of the area, best shopping deals, make your life miserable and demystify daily chores.  Our neighborhood has a little bit of everything- yuppy condominiums(flats), street houses in narrow by lanes, old cozy homes and modern monster houses. The area has easy access to everything- restaurants, markets, beach, doctors, public transport and friends!! But the main attraction are the sounds.  I am not talking about the washing machine or the pressure cooker whistle.  I am talking about the birds tweeting, sounds of kids playing, live classical music ....

The sounds of our neighborhood really make it worthwhile to wake up every day!  The lady across the road does not miss a single happening. She was able to pinpoint that our driver had not shown up for 4 days in a row.  She protects our house.  The neighbor to the right plays the volume up on the afternoon oldies music for the whole street to hear.  In the morning, the neighborhood senior bachelor chants the prayers for the whole street and then turns to news radio.  Then there are holy prayers on the loud speaker from the neighborhood temple, mosque and church.  As the day progresses, we have the vegetable vendor hawking his fresh items of the day, traveling tailor with the machine over his shoulder,old paper wallah (recycle industry), auto rickshaws and so on.

This is a big change from the suburban California living that we have become so accustomed too!!  You need the neighbors here. The lady downstairs takes care of the gas delivery, courier and the laundry delivery when we are out.  Of course, we contribute as well.  We share the open/close of the water valves, pump and motor, cleaning the garden and watering the plants.  The kids are constantly running up and down the stairs. It is possible to leave them alone in the compound and not constantly watch over them.  They test food at both homes and select where they want to eat.  Do they play XBox/Kinect upstairs or Nintendo Wii downstairs?  Is it iPad or iPad2?  Is it Noddy coloring or painting pots? and so on. 

Kids develop close friends from the neighborhood, not just from school.  This is why you need to move to India.  Forget about the comfort of drivers, cooks, maids and convenience of home delivery on everything.  There is little privacy, noise pollution is everywhere and things are dirty. But it is India.