New Delhi Palate Fest 2014- The one place all foodies must visit

Dear fellow Delhites, Nehru Park hosted one of the biggest culinary events in India, the New Delhi Palate Fest-2014. With top restaurants, bars and patisseries, it was heaven for any foodie. The fest lasted for three days, from morning 10 to evening 10. Stalls of Spanish embassy, Mexican embassy, Leela Palace, Red Dragon, The Great Indian Kebab Factory and many more were set up in and around the park. Prices were exorbitant, but the food was exquisite.

Getting straight into it, this fest was a convergence of all the top notch restaurants in Delhi. Some had an on-the go menu, a few had lounge type seating and others had take away. The Spanish counter had an amazing array of dishes, but my personal favourite was the paella. It was nothing but rice cooked in vegetables, but it had its own charm. Although it was bland and didn't have a good kick of spice, I wanted more. 

Keventers, an age old milkshake joint reinvented a shake, called the Oreo shake. That was heaven in a cup. Not too sweet or too cold, the shake reminded me of Oreos in milk. The Hungry Monkey was the next busiest joint. Right from lavish main courses to small take-away sliders, they were the best at it. Walking around the park, trying to choose what to eat and what not to was a difficult task. Leela Palace offered its spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli and the Great Indian Kebab Factory gave us it's best biryani. 

To end it on a sweet note, we had lemon cupcake with buttercream icing and strawberry tart from Sucré. As much as you'd like to go to a proper restaurant, spend a good amount of money and have a great meal, this was definitely better because in the same budget you got to taste a larger variety of food. So all Delhites unaware of this fest need to get themselves down to Nehru Park, Chanakya Puri because today (30th November) is the last day and the fest winds up by 10.

Angels and Demons- Robert Langdon's first adventure

Robert Langdon is your average university professor of the most unlikely subject, symbology. Life is normal and blissful until that one fateful night when his phone rings and he leaps into an adventure before he knows it.

Mr. Maximillan Kohler, the director of CERN, a secret scientific society, calls Robert Langdon in the middle of the night about the death of one of his fellow scientists who has been branded on the chest with an ambigram of "Illuminati". Robert, being a professor of symbology had all the knowledge needed to solve this murder and is flown from one corner of the world to the other within hours. He meets Maximillan Kohler and they go to take a closer look at the victim, Leonardo Vetra. Only then does Kohler reveal that the killer has taken Leonardo's eye ball, which is why he suspects the killing to be connected to his work. He calls Leonardo's daughter, Vittoria Vetra who explains the project she and her father were working on, antimatter. Antimatter is highly volatile and explosive and just a few milligrams could wipe off a small town. The power harnessed by it, if gotten into the wrong hands could cause huge mass destruction. Vittoria and her father had collected a pretty large amount of it, which was stolen.

Our journey begins from here, when Kohler gets information that the canister containing antimatter is somewhere in Rome and they had less than twenty-four hours to recover it. Robert and Vittoria leave for Rome and the Vatican City is also in mourning as the Pope had recently died and all the Cardinals were in the Sistene Chapel to elect their next Pope. With a race against time, the two get help from Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca, the person closest to the Pope, and try locating the canister.

Robert uses an old Illuminati process to retrace the steps of the Path of Illumination which leads him to four locations based on the basic elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. After he gets this information, one by one four cardinals are chosen to be killed. The first Cardinal is killed by earth, suffocating him by choking him on soil. The second Cardinal is killed by air, by puncturing his lungs and the third Cardinal is killed by fire, by burning him alive. Langdon understands the chronology of the events and goes to Santa Maria Della Vittoria Basillica but is too late to save the Cardinal. He is able to get a glimpse of the assassin who also kidnaps Vittoria.

To solve the mystery once and for all, Robert must find Vittoria and the assassin, complete the Path of Illumination and locate the canister containing antimatter.

Angels and Demons is a lightning paced novel with a brilliant storyline. It's a nail-biting experience right from the turn of the first page. The ending is a bit dramatic and unpredictable which some may find entertaining while others won't. The way Dan Brown shifts from one scene to another by the end of each chapter is want makes you want to keep reading. All in all, this is one of the best novels I've ever read.

Why should boys have all the fun?- A girl's point of view

I'm a girl in tenth grade from India. I study in a reputable school, have amazing parents who love me more than anything and friends who adore me. But by being a girl are there a few stereotypes that still go around schools, colleges and workplaces? I'm here to share my point of view and not to point fingers at people and accuse them of something. It's just my observations and I'm sharing it with the world.

Usually Indian schools have an annual day each year where they have a theme on which students perform. And I being a singer have been in the choir since grade one. So, as faithful as I am, I decided to participate in the choir this year too. Choir and orchestra together give a ten-minute long performance after which all students help in carrying the instruments (drums, keyboards, sitars) back to their respective rooms. These "students" are somehow always boys! I mean can't a girl carry a keyboard? Is she that fragile and weak that she'll be crushed under its weight? I don't think so. If we have women like Mary Kom and Martha Salazar, the world has tangilble proof that girls are no less! We can move mountains, tame seas and can change the world if we decide to.

As much as we'd like to believe that the world has evolved into a better society which respects every citizen regardless of sex, religion, caste or race, we can't deny that the third world countries still lag behind. India for instance has come out of the dark world of patriarchy and has learnt to respect and treat women as equals. But still girls face discrimination one way or another. It may not be something monumental but definitely worth fighting for. If a girl is portrayed as weak, shy, gentle and naive, the world will squash her like an insect and keep moving on. We as girls and women need to take the initiative to show the world that we are no less. We are a huge force that can overthrow any country, bring peace at any war and at the same time keep us healthy and happy. Women have a bigger role in everyone's life than what we give them credit for. But hey, I'm just a sixteen year old kid and chances of me being wrong are higher than chances of girls being bullied and being discriminated around the world.

Daughter's love for a mother- Not all girls are "father's daughters"

Hello viewers! Tomorrow is my dear mother's birthday and I wrote a poem for her. It's basically her life, right from the day she was born to this day, when I'm sixteen years old. Here it is.

From one generation to the other 

On a dry winter eve

Came an angel down to earth.

Destined to shape the world,

Into a better place after her birth. 

As the clock struck twelve,

The hallways echoed with the cry of a child.

It was a beautiful baby girl,

With skin so tender and eyes ever so mild. 

As days turned into years, 

She grew into a wonderful girl.

Curiosity budded in her,

When she wanted answers to why the telephone wire twirled.

Even in her school days,

She was bright as ever.

A magician in language,

But when it came to mathematics, it was terror.

Finally she found her ground,

And knew she was destined to be with Biology.

She sprouted into the best student,

And paved her way to become a legacy.

But with great power comes great responsibility,

And she stepped down her biggest test.

All for the love of her life

To make sure they had a future in which her family could rest.

She became a teacher,

And loved her job none the less.

And through the years came another girl,

Much like her mother, to change the world and undo the mess.

As destiny had planned it,

It was another baby girl.

She was not exactly like her mother,

A bit more rebellious right from birth.

She carried her mother's traits,

In both language and music.

Though she also had a few negatives

Like her short comings in maths and physics.

She was more of a dreamer than a thinker,

Thought she'd shape the world with her art.

Her mother stood by her each day,

And she vowed to make her proud.

So for her mother's sake,

She works hard everyday.

To become a better person, like her mother,

And give her an opportunity to be proud of her baby.

After all she was her mother's daughter. 

It is a pretty long one, but it's worth a glance. 

27 Dresses- A bridesmaid's fantasy

All weddings are the same. There's cake, dancing, good music, delicious food and amazing fun. But the best part about a wedding, for any girl, is dressing up for it. The dresses, the shoes, accessories and makeovers, all come in the "pre-wedding fun" for a bridesmaid. But this bridesmaid is a little different. She is the ultimate bridesmaid, the Maid of Honour, the one person who takes care of the bride right from her guest list to her wedding gown measurements. Jane Nichols' life is in and around weddings. She loves everything about them! I mean what's not to love when your friend is getting married and her life is just about to become bliss right? And if it's your sister's wedding, you need to be the captain of the ship, making sure every minute detail is in order, making sure her cake is perfect, her dress fits her perfectly. But a huge kink comes in the way which turns everything around. We'll come to that shortly.

Until then, Jane was having the time of her life, dodging between two weddings in one night! After both the weddings get over, she meets a writer, Kevin Doyle, and they share their perspectives of weddings. He's  more on the negative side while she's all for positive. They part ways as unlikely friends, but she leaves her diary in which all her wedding dates are written for the next six months, which is picked up by Kevin. He sees this as an opportunity to write something about her in his column in the newspaper in the wedding section (really, life is full of irony. A man who hates weddings writes wedding announcement columns).

Meanwhile, at work, Jane has always had a huge crush on her boss, George,(which she denies most of the time). When her sister, Tess seems interested in him, it really gives her a nasty shock. Things get wild between the sisters once Tess and George start dating. Jane almost loses it when she gets the news that the two lovebirds are getting married, but right then our good old writer, Kevin comes to the rescue! He annoys her with flowers and phone calls, desperate to meet her and finally she agrees. They meet and talk about how she feels being the maid of honour for her sister's wedding. What Jane doesn't know is that Kevin is actually writing an article about Jane and has taken her sister's wedding as a cover up.

So he comes over to interview her and sees a clost full of bridesmaid dresses. He forces Jane to wear each one of them and soon Jane sees 27 of her pictures staring at her right form the wedding section of the newspaper. She feels betrayed and upset that Kevin used her as an object, a theme for an article and leaves, never wanting to see him again. A big whole comes up on the wedding when Jane decides to reveal all the lies Tess told George to win him over. Her life turns into a big mess...
How she gets out of it, whether she gets out of it or not? It's all in the movie. This may be a one time watch movie, but it's worth watching.

Monsters University- A prequel-sequel

Everyone has a past. It may be very different from your present or it may be exactly like it always was. Monsters too have a past and in this movie we delve into the friendship of Mike and Sully, the two best mates. Let's see the huge change in them through college years to the working life.

It starts with a dream. A dream of becoming the best scarer in the world. Mike Wazowski was probably the youngest monster to have a dream and the will to achieve it right from his childhood days. Finally the day dawned when he entered Monsters University. It had departments for door making, scream container designing. But the main attraction was the Scaring Programme. It brought out the best scarers from the amateurs and trained them for a job at Monsters Inc. At uni, Mike expected recognition right from day one. But things never really went according to plan (yes, even in monster world things can go wrong) and he was tossed at the back of the class with the other geeks and nerds because that place was ruled by the kids of legacies. As expected, these kids were snobbish, self-centred and had never heard of the word "studying". Soon James Sullivan, the son of the legend Sullivan, took centre stage and immediately was taken as an enemy by Mike.

He felt that if he proved himself better at the theory, even Sullivan couldn't take him down. Mike was right on that, but what he lacked was being scary. The uni had given them a time slot after which they would give an examination. If they cleared the exam they would continue in the Scaring Programme or else they were sent to other departments. Soon the examination day arrived and both Mike and Sully didn't get in because Mike had the knowledge but wasn't scary and Sully was scary but didn't have the knowledge. And inevitably, the two were sent to scream-container department.

On a normal day after scream container class, Mike had a sudden epiphany! He recalled that on the first day of uni he saw a poster of Scare Games. It was the ultimate scaring competition! Brutal, scary, lethal and challenging, this was ultimate challenge for a scarer. So to enter the games, he had to be part of a fraternity.

So basically, all Mike had to do was find a good fraternity (which would accept him), make sure they're good scarers and mainly beat Sullivan in this and rub it in his face that not everyone from royalty are the best. But as things never go as planned, improvisation is the best thing (more like the only thing) to do.

So don't waste any more time and watch this awesome movie! And with that I'm done with my spree of animated movies. I'll be focusing more on Rom-Com for sometime. Watch out for more reviews!

Monsters Inc.- The fun side of monsters

You're in bed and it's dark. Suddenly you hear your cupboard door hinges squeak. The trees outside shiver in the cold breeze and a shiver goes down your spine because you know a monster's going to come and scare you. Reading your thoughts a scary, two-headed, green coloured monster comes out of your closet. You scream your lungs out and he leaves...strange isn't it? It's as though he wants your scream and nothing else. Well, on the other side of your cupboard a whole new story is taking place and you'll never come to know about it.

 That's right an incorporated company of monsters who "scare because they care" bottle up children's screams and use it to power their homes, offices, schools and buildings. Being a scarer was the best career a monster could dream of! James Sullivan was the best scarer of all times (also our protagonist. Coincidence? I think not). With his best mate Mike assisting him with all his moves, roars and other things that make a scarer scary, he broke the all time record and became the best scarer and took centre stage. Just as any predictable movie, a rival, Randal Boggs became jealous of Sullivan and was put to make him look bad and best his score.

How would Randal achieve this goal? By hardwork, determination and perseverance right? If you're looking for this answer, my advice is not read further and never watch the movie because you'll be let down, immensely, because he cheated (shocker) and worked extra hours which is against the rules! The next morning Sullivan and Mike find a door on the scare floor and go to inspect it. Only if they had known it would lead to a huge disaster, leading to end of the world, they'd have stayed clear of the door. But, curiosity kills the cat. So they opened the door and didn't find any kid there. But when they came back to monster-world, a cute, adorable, dangerous, loud girl stood in front of them!

They didn't know what to do! They panicked and security came through searching the place. Sullivan thought of taking the kid to Mike's place and returning her back home the next day. Only the next day it was almost impossible to not get into trouble, and not getting the kid under the radar! They have their bunch of adventures and soon Boo (that's what Sullivan named her. Go figure) and Sullivan got pretty attached. They finally get the door, after a lot of ups and downs, but will Sullivan be able to let go of Boo? It's all in the movie. All you got to do is watch it.

Another animated film worth your time, this one is an oldie but a goodie. The mashup of monsters and humans is so beautifully portrayed and the transitions from fear, to pity, to love is just heart-touching. So, if you're in for fun, laughter, love, monsters and a little screaming, this is the movie you need to watch. With a sequel come out, which is more of a prequel as it tells us the story of Mike and Sullivan's friendship, these two movies are a must watch! More on the prequel in my next post.

Open Season- Animal or man hunt?

Everyday in the morning you wake him up and you get a lick of appreciation. You feed him, give him a bath and play with him. Basically just your everyday routine with your pet...bear. Spooks up on you doesn't it? Well, this is the story of a Boog the bear (not a very crafty name, agreed). When he was just a cub he was rescued by Beth a forest ranger. She raised him as her own pet, with the intention of letting him go to his natural habitat when he is old enough, but she just wasn't able to let go. Boog loved his life as a pet. He had everything any pet would need, good food, water, a loving master, a favourite toy and a lovely couch to spend the night in. He never wanted to go out in the wild! Until he met Elliot, a one-antlered deer and accidentally rescued him from Shaw, a hunter. After the accidental rescue Elliot followed Boog to his home and taunted him by calling him a "pet". So the two decided to hit the streets and have a swell time. Their party turned into a disaster after they rampaged and destroyed a convenience store! Boog was then caught by Beth, who gave him a good scolding after promising the forest officer that she would let him in the wild, soon.

The next thing Boog remembered was waking up in a forest! He flipped! He didn't know what to do or where to go when he bumped into the old friend Elliot who promised to take him back to his little town if they agreed to be partners and if he could share Boog's home. Boog agreed and they started their little trip. Soon Boog found out that Elliot was leading them around circles! Angry and let down, the bear really lost his temper and in the process destroyed a beaver dam, flooding the whole area and displacing a few animals to the other side of the forest, the side where open season was starting. Soon that part of the forest would be sprawling with hunters and the animals had to stay extra careful.

With the help of Boog the animals fooled the hunters and gave them a hard time in the jungle. Beth came to check the wreckage when she met Boog. She decided to take him back home, but Boog was already home. He gave her a hug and licked her, telling her that she had found his home and that he belonged here. Everything was back to normal and life went on well.

A laughter riot right from the beginning, this movie is a mashup of humour, love, friendship and animal rights. So it's time to add another movie to the list of amazing animated movies.

Tropic Thunder - Real war v/s Reel war

You're in perfect attack position. You're unit is ready for battle. The fight was legendary! Blood spurting everywhere, crushing enemies like ants. After all the bloodshed, it's time to head back to the chopper when you realise you're one man down! You run back searching for him, hoping he's alive and...cut it! That's right you're in a movie.

After a devastating war in Vietnam, a veteran wrote a memoir which was being made into a film, 'Tropic Thunder'. Directed by an amateur and starring some of the most reckless yet good actors, this film was bound to have some problems. And they arrived right on schedule, destroying huge tracts of land needed for shooting. The Studios Executive, Les Grossman, gave the team a warning to get back on shooting and just as things were ready to go back to normal, the Vietnam veteran gave an idea. He said that if the actors were put in a jungle for a few days, they'd get the necessary training they need to act as soldiers. They had hidden cameras to record everything and the director had an additional camera for shooting on the spot. What they didn't know was that at that point, that jungle was a hideout for a heroin factory and was highly dangerous. As they landed, their director gave them instructions and before he could take another step he was blown sky high by stepping on a detonator bomb set by the factory.

The actors thought of moving on with the shooting and so they did. Tugg Speedman had taken charge and was leading the unit until Kirk Lazarus realised they were headed in the wrong direction! They decided to go back and abandon the film but Tugg was too devoted to acting to do that. So he went his way and the rest went their way. Tugg then got captured by the heroin suppliers and was held for a ransom of millions. Soon the three others who went the other way reached the heroin camp and saw Tugg being held as hostage. So they decided to rescue him. Using the climax scene of the "to-be-filmed" movie, they get Tugg back safely and are rescued by their special-effects man, Cody Underwood.

Soon they reached Hollywood. After viewing their journey in the jungle from all the hidden cameras, the studio decided to compile it into a film called 'Tropic Blunder' which actually unbelievably got Tugg Speedman an Oscar.

This movie is satire redefined! With actors like Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Steve Coogan and Jay Baruchel, you can't expect anything less than awesomeness. I mean the guard from Night at the Museum, Iron Man, Gulliver, Ethan Hunt, Phileas Fogg and our very own Hiccup, need I say more? The main focus was on Ben Stiller (Speedman) and Robert Downey Jr. (Lazarus), but the rest of the cast really complimented the movie in their own way. A laughter riot right from the word go, this movie is an amazing spoof of any war movie ever made. So if you want a nice peaceful evening, my advice is, don't see this movie. But if you're in for some gruelling action and bloodshed in a heavily satire dripping story, then this is you're pick.

Life of a blogger

Blogging changed my life. There's no denying the fact that blogging has made me a better analyst, a better writer, a better critic and a better reader. Blogging has both its pros and cons just like anything else in the world. So it's time to travel through the mind of a blogger and get to know what happens behind the scenes. Get answers to your fundamental "blogger" questions and hopefully get inspired to start your own blog soon!

PHASE 1- The Begining
This is when the idea of blogging comes to you from all directions. Your family, friends, co-workers, everyone keeps pushing you until you finally say yes and start blogging.

PHASE 2- The Idea
Now just as make your blog, the most difficult thing is choosing an appropriate topic for your first post. Usually it's easy if a certain event lead you to blogging (that's what happened to me). But when you decide to start blogging right out of the blue, it becomes difficult to choose between a huge array of topics. Some would like a small introduction about themselves, others would choose to describe what they'll be blogging about and some might just decide to go random. My advice is to go in all directions. Start with something about yourself, then move on to your likes and dislikes and then top it off with what your viewers expect from you.

PHASE 3- The Bomb
Once you've created your blog you will have a sudden burst of thoughts and things you want to write about. I've experienced it first-hand. When I first started blogging I wanted to go in so many directions ranging from food to movies to novels! So I decided to go simple and wrote a review of one of my favourite novels.

PHASE 4- Recognition
The best thing about blogging is when you reach Phase 5. You start getting readers from all over the world. They view and like your posts and the feeling is amazing! And it just elevates when you get appreciation from someone the minute you post something. That's right, I've got a "blogger stalker" and I hope he or she really does like whatever I write. So, here's a personal thank you from my side to you, if you see this. It really makes my day when I see your appreciation.

All these phases make blogging worthwhile. Though it has all these pros the cons can't be overlooked. Not many to go with, but time-consuming is definitely one. You tend to spend hours on your blog once you've got a good base. Writing more posts and eagerly waiting for your readers to react, it consumes most of your time. Other than that, there really seem to be no more cons from me. Overlooking the cons, blogging can be a fun and amazing experience.