Nose pressed up against the glass pane

It seems to be in my face. It's everywhere I turn. And I don't understand why.

Try this little experiment. When waiting at a traffic signal, try peeping into the vehicle next to you. More often than not, you'll see either a piece of orange cloth with gold tinsel around the edges tied up somewhere inside, a small Ganesha statue placed perfectly up front, a large silver sticker with Bismillah written on it in green or black or perhaps a Cross dangling from the rearview mirror.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it or reading between the lines more than I need to. Perhaps it's a harmless gesture to keep the Almighty in mind. However, I can't ignore that it's as though everyone seems eager to make their faith public.

I've grown up in this city and it's home to me. I've strolled it's strets, watched the city's landscape change, people evolve. The changes so far have been good. Flyovers, underpasses, malls and now the Metro under construction. But faith has never entered the public sphere.

It's always been your own business whether you chose to read namaz at home or do pooja, visit the Gurudwara or the Church. My friends have always been from varied backgrounds, the least coming from the background to which I belong. So these subtle displays that make very strong statements creating an obvious difference between my car and the one next to me, concerns me.

Communal chasms are widening in this country. My city is a stark indicator having been one to whom such matters never mattered.

The statistics are disturbing.

Dining delight by candlelight

So there is hope. I don't need to rant about the lack of interesting places to dine in the city. They seem to be cropping up - slowly and in the most unexpected places.

The other ight I ate at Serengiti, which surpassed expectation. A highly creative interior and sumptious food made the evening perfect. Take a walk on the wild side and embrace the carnivore within you to make the most of a visit here.

Oh, and I tried Orange Peel as well which was nothing short of an experience. In buzzing Bangalore, it's now possible to lose yorself in a quiet lounge, complete with soft lighting and frosted glass. We tried the salmon salad, Dukkah lamb, Chicken La Plancha, Tempinyaki Prawns, Duck Confit and glazed zucchini.

We like very much...

To be free

You can choose to wear red, pink or green. Have your eggs scrambled, poached or boiled. You can put your hair in a bun or let it hang loose around your shoulders or shave it all off if you please. You can have one child or none or an entire batallion, eat after sunset or stroll in a park. Stay single, get married, learn to drive or be an astronaut...it's really your call.

Ever wondered how fortunate we are to be part of a free society? The choices are ours. Most of them at least. Of course, there are battles to be won against free speech and expression, free thinking and opportunities. Bigger battles, as some call them. But some are fighting for the basics. For now, savour your physical freedom. It's more than many can ask for.

Disposable Dinnerware

Yawn! This city needs more concept dining restaurants. I'm bored of being bomabarded by the staid choices of sit-down a la carte places or the mind-numbingly subtle derivation of a buffet. Where's all the excitement gone? Dining out is as much as an experience as it is a quest for good food. That means that the ambience, the cutlery and crockery, the seating, service and the manner in which the actual meal is expected to be consumed lends to the ultimate satisfaction gained. Off the top of my head, the only fun places I can think of to eat out is Barbeque Nation, which tops the list, followed by Kebab Studio and perhaps Jalsa, although the food is average. That's about it and that's not a very promising statistic.

Other cities have moved far ahead with their cuisine collections. Bangalore screams for more interesting eateries. I'm thinking performing artists while you dine, perhaps outlandish acoustics or a 3D Movie to go with your dinner, or maybe just an unusual array of offerings on the menu. Whatever the addition, Bangalore's restaurants need, for lack of a better phrase, to spice things up!

I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes

The iconic triple speedline - Adidas

The ubiquitous mark of approval - Nike

The interlinked, incomplete silver circles - Chanel

Marilyn Monroe in a white dress on a subway vent in The Seven Year Itch

The name's Bond...James Bond.

Brangelina and the Rainbow Family

TomKat and Baby Suri

Ten-year run of F*R*I*E*N*D*S

The pair of golden archways - McDonald's

..Media milestones that marked our time.

Heartbreaking News

I'm extremely excited about being a journalist. It's thrilling to think of joining the media industry one day and playing such a pivotal role in influencing public opinion and current trends. Few other prospects give me the same high. But understanding that continues to elude me is..."Why does everything always have to be about sex?"

I'm referring to a new newspaper that has recently launched in the city. (This follows closely on the heels of a advertisemnt or a mango flavoured drink that is a play on words combing the Hindi word for the fruit and the ancient Indian sex manual...children are likely to drink this!) It has an almost nude model posing seductively in a larger than life billboard in full public glare and reads: Addictive - for young minds.

I'm staring at this advertisement wondering what the publication is thinking? Is it's outlook towards the current generation so warped that they think the youth is only interested fornicating? This is a prospective employer who is likely to hire several budding reporters out there. I shudder to think that I once considered applying myself.

Yes, it's true - sex sells. Sex sells everything from cars to condoms. But that's what I find so disturbing.

And if this is any indicator to go by, is this really the industry I want to enter...?

Then I realise that shying away from it is not the solution.

It's just in desperate need of a reality check and a much-needed facelift!

Muted Aesthetics

There is art in the strangest places.

Good food is art.

A pair of Jimmy Choos.

Rain.

A smile.

A pair of eyes.

But there is science in all of the above as well.

An intelligent blending of ingredients to maximise the infusion.

Nothing short of architecture with the help of a chiropractor.

The Water Cycle.

Muscles working in tandem.

Let's not even get started.

Art and Science will always be in conflict.

But there is art in the strangest places.

If we only choose to see it.

Ameobic Transitions

Change is when something becomes different.

Does that mean that you become different while thing saround you remain constant or that you remain the same but the other things become different? In either case, who needs to percieve it as change in order for it to be considered so.

Change is to transform, convert, substitute, alter, modify.

Change is to pass from one phase to another.

Ahh, finally. Something that makes some semblance of sense.

Change is dramatic.

Change is sudden.

It creeps up on you from behind.

Change is good, they say.

Change is good?

Change is good.

Change is inevitable.

Tearful Adieus and a Hopeful Milieu

A few days ago, I said goodbye to one of the most beautiful chapters of my life. I was forced to give up something that was perfect in my mind. It's true - at some point, all good things do come to an end. It's almost as though they must. And that saddens me. But it also allows me to believe that the old is giving way to the new. To bigger opportunities, to better conditions and greater challenges.

I left behind a time in my life when I found friendship, learning, stability and most importantly love, and lots of it. It really was special and it was tough waving goodbye. But I have some great memories to keep the good times associated with it alive for a lifetime.

All Me

So this is slightly personal. But I had so much fun putting it together that I felt like sharing :)

I am not a morning person.

I am a complete foodie, my other loves include reading, writing, shoes, shopping, movies and travelling. So langouring on the deck of a Mediterranean cruise in a pair of Manolo Blahniks, pina colada in hand and my nose buried in Cosmo, knowing that there's a seven course meal waiting for me at the nearby banquet hall and that my room is filled with shopping bags or that I'm headed to a place that would facilitate such indulgneces is my idea of an ideal holiday. Don't worry, I'm not all shallow. And yes, I like long sentences too!

Call it corny, but the happiest day of my life was when my sister was born. It was such a turning point for me that incidentally it is also the time at which my earliest memories began.

Born under the sign of the Tiger on the Chinese calendar, I am fiercely protective about those close to me. Think of hurting them and you might find yourself at the receiving end of my claws.

I'm a work in progress and always will be.

I can be quite self obsessed, which is why exercises such as these are absolutely my cup of delightful tea.

I believe that women need to be given more credit, that they are a powerful lot and that better things in the world are impossible without their empowerment. But I am not a feminist.

Overcoming disability and child-related issues really touch me. I've cried through countless episodes of Oprah precisely for these reasons, although this is not my sole source for a reality check!