Meethe Miya - Authentic Hyderabadi Desserts

 Vasu likes Phirni. So do I. So the last two times we went to Sarvi for a meal he asked the waiter for a Phirni. Both times it was a negative. This time however Vasu remembered that there was a new place called 'Meethe Miya' near Meridian School. So we headed off to find the place.

It was the quaintest of stores. Apparently has been around for three years. Specialises in authentic Hyderabadi desserts. From the royal kitchens of the Nizams it says. 

So we have Hyderabad Specials like Double ka Meetha, Qubani ka Meetha. Shahi Tukda. Seviyon ka Meetha, Sheer Khorma, Ande ke Lauz, Dum ka Puran, Qubani Triffle, Shahi Roll, Badam ki Ashrafi, Badam ki Jaali, Halwa Puri, Meetha Samosa, Bismillah Ka Laddu, Zarda, Gulgule Malida (the last three on order only). 

Then we have halwas like Gajar ka Halwa, Chane ka Halwa, Kaddu ka Halwa, Jauzi ka Halwa, Nariyal ka Halwa, Anjeer ka Halwa, Badam ka Kund, Piste ka Halwa, Miya's Special Halwa. 

Then the Kheers - Chawal ka Kheer, Gile-e-Firdaus, Phirni, Anjeer ka Kheer, Zafrani Kheer, Badam ki Kheer, Miya's Special Kheer, Rabdi like Malai Rabdi, Leechi Rabdi, Anjeer Rabdi, Seasonal Fruit Rabdi.

Vasu enjoying his Phirni

All of them mouthwatering. We ordered Phirni which was served in a clay bowl and thoroughly enjoyed eating. I have many plans for this place. 

The address is Meethe Miya, road no 9, Banjara Jills, Opp HDFC Bank, Lane Opp Meridian School. Ph 63092 63092. Pretty simple.

An Off Road Experience Near Bopdeo Ghat

 So Malay, award-winning architect, springer of surprises, one of the most thoughtful and compassionate people I ever met, invited me over last weekend to his place with the promise of an evening over drinks, dinner and an off-road drive in his new 4x4 acquisition the next morning. It sounded like a lot of fun, but knowing Malay, I knew it would be way more than we could ever expect from his two-line proposition. So an evening with Malay and Sarah, full of fun discussions bout his award-winning design and other stuff, and then an early morning wake up to the India-Australia match and we were all set for the trip. By now Lewis and Maxine were up and about and playing with Anjali.

By 830 or so we wound our way down to the Pajero which looks in superb condition, loaded it with some stuff Malay had already got and then loaded ourselves - Malay at the wheel, Sarah, Shobhs, Anjali, Lewis and young Maxine - and off we went - past Kondhwa and then into this ghat that heads Saswad-ward. It is so steep that buses and trucks are not allowed on it anymore but a whole bunch of picnickers infested the road, stopping at critical points to take selfies in rather suicidal poses. The Pajero climbed surely and easily and then we turned off near a temple, the Bopdeo temple with steep steps leading up to it, and found Kalpak waiting in his Duster, with Shraddha and Gauri, not to forget Milou (Snowy's original name in Herge's Tintin). 

And then began the off-road experience.

We hit a trail that leads to Katraj ghat, no road, but a path that is used by a few bikes, perhaps carts. Not an easy one with ups and downs, rocks and slush, but it led us into farmland on one side and the ridge of a hill on the other, and very few trees. The experience was fun, a first and we all enjoyed the thrill of being off-road, out of comfort. I always felt our lives are dictated by roads, by civilisation, by order, and we should get off the roads a lot more to know ourselves better. (Finally, we did it.) Kalpak followed us in his Duster until we reached the destination - a solitary tree that offered some shade.

Malay had planned breakfast too and though my mind was not fully on it I was surprised to see (as always) what he pulled out - complete with a folding table, some superb food - croissants, quiche, cinnamon rolls, ham and cheese and juice, very colonial. The top of the hill was short walk and promised a view of the city so I could not resist lugging myself up and Milou decided to give me some company for reasons best known to her. Perhaps she thought I needed some assistance and she led me up the hill, panting away happily. At the highest point, it offered beautiful views of the landscape around, the city to one side, the farmlands to another. It was wonderful.

Kalpak, Anjali, Gauri and Lewis joined me up there. Lewis kept running off at supersonic speeds with total disregard to the heights and slopes (and to our fragile emotional condition), and we somehow managed to convince him to descend in a rather sedate fashion (which included holding on to my hand and taking off in a big leap using my hand like Tarzan uses the vines). We headed back to the food and plied ourselves with some of the delicious stuff that was laid out, before lying down on the brown grass that so clads the western ghats and looked at the blue sky and wondered at life. A chat with Malay and Kalpak about receiving, holding and flow, summed up the essence of abundance, and we rounded it off by heading homeward by noon.

For a moment it seemed rather surreal, this colonial setting, a picnic like in the sixties movies, which itself was a fast forward from the British times perhaps, and we were so glad we were part of this and to Malay for organising this experience. This spot in itself is brilliant and needs more exploration, apparently giving its best for walkers and trekkers in rainy seasons. Thanks Malay for a wonderful weekend and like always, you managed to surprise me way more than I expected, which is how I like my surprises. Looking forward to more meetings, surprises and chats about this and that. 

Trek to Vetal Tekdi

So Parth, Maria and Neha offered to take us to a trek on Vetal Tekdi, the hill that goes on from Paud Road to Chaturshringi and one that we can see all the way along the Law College Road. Apparently its the highest point within the Pune city limits and so named because of the  Vetala temple up on the hills. It's a beautiful place to walk and I had been there once before a decade ago chatting with Prakash and this would be the second time. I was game. 

Misty morning at 7 am

Into the woods

Fresh from the Simhagad experience, Anjali was all keen too. The only villain seemed to be a spot of rain that began the day before and kept at it, but we decided to go anyway if it wasn't raining at the appointed time. So Saturday morning 7 am sharp, Anjali and I showed up at the appointed place near Vikhe Patil school near Patrakar Nagar, past Mai maushi's famous house, and the adventurous trio were waiting for us already.

Deeper

Us four, Maria behind the lens

It was a lovely morning, foggy or misty, or whatever it was and we walked up the hill. It leads to a central part where people congregate for their many activities - gym, stretching, photography, dogs etc - around some structures built for those purposes, seating spaces and such kind. Parth led us away from that spot into a trail less travelled. 

A sip of water

Out of a Maniratnam movie

Get rid of the mud off the shoes

There were dogs running about wildly and we figured out later that they were with a young lady who seemed to be their friend. Up and down in every changing scenarios until we turned back and headed towards the quarry. On the way we saw an old building with a  high wall, clearly stuff that would interest the Famous Five. 

Descending

Tight-wall walk!

The quarry behind

Down the quarry

Heading back!

We came to the quarry which is quite a dramatic sight. We spotted a few birds, one Bharadwaj, which Maria later told me was a Crow Pheasant. There were young kids on bicycles, a young couple sitting dramatically close to the edge of the quarry like a Fear Factor challenge (there is also a path that goes right next to the quarry for the surefooted and stout hearted), all kinds of people young and old walking, jogging, cycling, etc. I saw a laughing club types which was chanting slokas loudly and so on.  

A selfie!

It took a good two hours but it was well worth it. Anjali and I celebrated with dosas at Pruthvi on the way back home.

 

Durgam Cheruvu Park

Anjali got a free Shankar Mahadevan pass from Brighter Minds which helps children improve their mind skills. A team from Brighter Minds had visited their school and gave them all passes to a concert - they could invite parents and siblings and friends too. Since it was Shankar Mahadevan, and it was at the Gachibowli stadium and with so many free passes, it was bound to be crowded. Abhinay was her choice to make up the fourth member so he came home. It was Anjali's first concert experience so we went early at 4 pm as written in the pass. Lots of people came, we sat and waited till 530 and then Anjali who was a bit under the weather had had enough. 'Let's go,' she said and we headed back. I mentally promised myself a good concert experience with her later.

View of the lake as you enter the park (Pic courtesy - Anjali)

Abhinay was telling me about this Durgam Cheruvu Park which was being maintained by the Raheja's on a Public-Private Participation model. So we went there to see how it was.

A chess board, with moveable pieces

We entered from the road that goes up ti Inorbit from Durgam Cheruvu. 10 bucks for adults and 5 for kids.

The lovely exercise area - great fun

A nice walking path, cycling path, joggers path, some nice kids areas to play, a lovely idea of having several exercise equipment out there so people can exercise while engaging in fun.

Abhinay and Anjali trying out one exercise

The path goes along the lake shore.

Goes along the boundary - lake on the other side

There is a small space for DC Books (Durgam Cheuruvu, deciphered Anjali).

Another exercise machine

A little space next to the lake where you can sit and watch the lake or the sunset or Inorbit. In fact, they have little boards that say - 'You are on Lake Time - relax', or another one that says - 'Skip a stone, read a book, or something like that...'

Ah...look at the lake, at Inorbit!

Overall very promising and nice. Not fully ready yet but it's open. Definitely worth going.

Dharamsala - A Delightful Place

Dharamshala is the Head Quarters of the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) ever since the 1960s when the Chinese occupied Tibet. It is also the place where the 14th Dalai Lama resides. It is also naturally the place where the famous Tibetan medicine is head quartered. Dr. Yeshi Dondhen, now 91, comes from a family of Tibetan medicine practitioners and apparently became a doctor at the age of 20 (he was born in 1927). He was the personal physician of the Dalai Lama and is considered an expert in curing cancer. There are several stories on the net, several I have heard personally and a long and accomplished history. My doctor friend, a senior nephrologist, who had cancer that spread to the bone marrow, also acknowledges and believes the Tibetan medicine helped. So when my friend wanted to consult the doctor, we decided to go. A night spent at the Delhi airport and an early morning flight were fine - except that the small aircraft developed some snags and returned to Delhi. Luckily we were loaded into another small aircraft and we took off. Akanksha, a young girl who hails from Palampur near Dhamashala, and who works in the army as a nurse in Assam was seated next to me and she gave me a whole load of what to see in Dharamshala (paragliding!). She was going home for a month long vacation and was excited to be going home.

It's a beautiful place nestling amidst huge mountain ranges, and the ones behind the first row of mountains were snow clad and incredibly huge. The roads are narrow as expected. We checked into a home stay in Sidhpur - Jassmish Cottages, a popular place on Airbnb, owned by a retired technocrat Jassi and his wife Gurpreet. The place was very cosy and they were very warm and helpful.

Home stay - Jasmish cottages, lovely location

My friend from engineering days, Suresh Chandra Chibb, a gold medalist and naturally someone on the other end of the spectrum from where I belonged settled down in Dharamshala too. When I called him he told me that his car would pick me up - and he did all he could to make our life comfortable there. We were to meet him on Day 2, after finishing our main work. I cannot say how much his offer made our life easier. His man Manjit took us around the place and offered us his points of view on many things.

Sheep

On day one we caught up on our sleep and walked around the place where we stayed. There were a couple of monasteries close by but we didn't have the time to visit them. We however tried some Tibetan food in a restaurant called 'Taste of Tibet' and ate some momos and some other stuff. A soup with noodles, egg, chicken, lamb, pork, mushrooms etc. The weather was not as cold as I expected - didn't need a jacket. 

View of the mountains - breathtaking

Next day we set off to Dr. Dhondhen's clinic for our 9 am appointment. I called young Tenzin Dhandhup, a twenty something medical student studying first year Tibetan medicine. I know Tenzin through Gowri and Raju, who finance the studies of seven of eight Tibetan kids (Tenzin is one of them).  He is a shy, sweet, helpful and intelligent boy who took half the day off from his medical school to help us around. Tenzin told us he belonged to a nomadic family and had no formal education until he was 15. He lived in Tibet with his father and mother - rode horses, tended sheep and yak until his parents felt that he was better off living a free life in India. So in 2007 (must have been 15 then or less) he set off along with some other people from his village and they trekked for 55 days before they reached India. 'For the first seven days we had to travel only at night because we were in Tibet and we could not afford to get caught. We ran out of food after 12 days and thereafter ate fruits and nuts. It took us 55 days to reach Dharamsala.' There is no way he can reach out to his parents or visit them, nor can they visit him. He showed pictures of his parents - Amma and Pappa - he calls them; and some other pictures of his life in Tibet which he may never see again. But he is a good student - he cleared many exams to get admission into the course. Everyone took to him easily and we invited him to stay with us in Hyderabad. Tenzin, please come anytime!

Snowclad mountains behind - huge and silent

The Tibetan Herbal Clinic (Tibetan Herbal Clinic, Ashoks Niwas, McLeodganj, Dharamsala, Distt. Kangra, Himachal Pradesh - 176219 Ph. 1892 221461) of Dr. Yeshi Dondhen is a very small affair. One has to take reports and a urine sample of the first urine of the day - something which our home stay hosts told us and helped with by getting the containers from the market. The time taken for diagnosis and prescription is pretty short. Dr. Dhondhen comes to a sink where he examines the urine and then heads back to the room and then does a pulse examination - he zeroed down to the liver in a second and prescribed medicines for two months with some food and drink restrictions. He was in good humour, looked as wise as the hills and undoubtedly sharp. He speaks broken Hindi and is assisted by two young doctors and a nurse. They say, follow instructions well and things happen.

Interestingly we met a person in the clinic who knew a common friend in Hyderabad and we actually spoke to him over the phone right there. Small world! We had a cup of coffee, ate some Tibetan lunch that Tenszin ordered for us (delicious stuff), dropped him off at the hostel so he can attend the afternoon sessions, gave him a packet of Karachi biscuits and bid him good bye with a standing invitation to come over and stay. The young kid smiled shyly and went. We also met Karma Rinchen, another friend of Raju's and thanked him for his help.

Free Tibet - Students for a free Tibet

We then headed to the Tibetan temple which is where the Dalai Lama also lives and walked around the place. It was beautiful. There were no restrictions and no do-not-do-stuff so we walked about checking out stuff. A Kalachakra temple, monks in meditation, monks in some sort of a debate, wonderful to see. We sat listening to the group chanting of the monks and then headed off to the city. While we were relaxing after lunch Manjit (Suresh's driver) comes over and points to Ranjan and says 'He looks like Jimmy Shergill, the actor.' Ram told him - 'You should have seen him when he was twenty. He looked like Vinod Khanna.'

Ranjan, Tenzin, Ram and me chilling out in the afternoon sun post lunch

On the other end of the town lives Suresh, whom I met after 30 years. Like I said we did not have a chance to meet much during our college days and our interactions were quite polite and formal. The one thing I remembered was that he steered us through our final project because he was the only one who knew anything about Civil Engineering and he wrote out the whole project of 'Design of Folded Roof on Multi Storeyed RCC building' all by himself. We all helped by showing up at meetings and offering to bind the books and doing other such important activities. So it was wonderful to meet him in his house - located in a stunning place with a fabulous and unhindered view of the mountains on one side, a small stream next to his house and a hill on the other full of pine trees. Idyllic. We shared our stories and I gifted him a packet of Osmania biscuits which we posed for - Osmanians after all.

Tibetan monks in debate

We spent a wonderful couple of hours at his place listening to his stories and how he loves construction and how he built the house. I learned more about Civil Engineering from these couple of hours than I did in my four years at college. I gifted his younger daughter Arya a copy of 'The Men Within' and I gifted Suresh and his wife Vandana (who plied us with some much to eat that we could all skip dinner) a copy of 50 Not Out. We left, pledging to meet again soon. It was wonderful meeting him. He is such a warm and helpful person and I am very grateful for all he did for us.

Me and Suresh - Osmanians and project mates 

That day it rained and so it got pretty cold and the jackets came out. Mrs. Jassi helped me pick a couple of shawls which she said were great bargains. We went to a restaurant called Centre Point and enjoyed our dinner before heading back for a cold night and an early morning flight back to Delhi and onwards to Hyderabad. We parked my car at the airport and it cost us only 700 bucks - we checked in at 730 on Tuesday and checked out at 4 pm on Friday. Looked like a good deal considering we normally spend close to 800 bucks one way to the airport.

And a round of congratulations to all for making this trip possible - Gowri, Raju, Tenzin, Suresh, Karma, Sanjay Reddy and so many others. Job well done!

This Way Is Easier Dad - The Bangalore Launch

This was completely Keerti's show. I broached the topic to her and told her that I was contemplating a book event in Bangalore in December and could she think of a suitable guest. We looked around at some celebrity guests and decided against it (too stressful). Keerti came up with Prof. Malavika Kapur, eminent child psychologist and an author to boot. Also daughter of the famous Kannada novelist Shivrama Karanth for those interested. I asked Keerti to moderate - she knows me, my writing, has edited TWIED, knows writing and editing - what else. Sheetal helped by booking Sapna Book Store. All was set for the 16th of December, Sapna Book Store, Residency Road, Bangalore.

The all important pic

Anjali and Shobha were free and said they would come. Anjali wanted to travel by bus so we booked ourselves on a bus on the return journey. Jabbar Travels! We got adventurous and booked ourselves in the Rajdhani on the way to Bangalore. I started delving into my phone book to invite all those whom I knew. Some were around. Some were not. Some promised to come. Some did not reply. For a chance I invited many of my friends on Linkedin, a medium I hardly use thanks to its clunky ways.

The audience - an appreciative Gazala who was the MC in the foregorund

We actually got even more adventurous after we got off the Rajdhani in the 15ht.Vandana suggested we take the Metro from Majestic and we were suitably fired by the idea and took it. Its packed like crazy but it was worth it.

Ramesh, me and Diwakar sharing a light moment after the event

What would have been an hours journey was done in 20. We got off at Vivekananda Marg and took an auto to her house.

Making some point

A late breakfast and I attended a first - a ladies book club meeting I was invited to. I was the only guy there. Mansee of Lahe Lahe hosted the meeting and the lunch thereafter. I tried the desserts which were yummy.

Anjali reading 'Crime and Punishment' 

That evening we headed to Nisha's place. The next day went in the usual - chatting with Rajesh, reading books. Kaushik had invited me to the SWAB awards function but I could not go. In the evening Rajesh, Nisha, Akshar, Shobhs, Anjali and I headed to Sapna.

Pooja, me, Anjali, Rao and Mrs Rao

Prof Malavika Kapur was already there. Keerti joined us in a bit. Soumyashree, a keen blogger, came with a friend. PV's daughter Sriya came with her friends Chetana and Trisha came from Mount Carmel and interviewed me before the event started. Dev Prasad, author of three books came with his son Sanjay.

Dev Prasad and me with the book - writers do stick together

Rao, came with his wife and eleven year old Pooja. Indira came with Parvati and her mother.

Dev Prasad me and Preeti

Diya came with her father and younger brother and I think Sapna joined later. Prajwal Hegde of ToI came - very sweet. She left before I could meet her. Sunil came with his SLR and a cousin. Diwakar came.

Diwakar - So good to meet, Babu in the background

Priya Mhatre came - again so very sweet - despite Laya not being too well. Giri came with Rahel. Murli came with three IDBI colleagues - Abhishek was one. Vandana, Ramesh, Seshu, Ratna and Madhu aunty came. Babu and Puppy came.

Puppy saying something nice - as always

Unnathi came with her friend Preeti.

Naveen Arigapudi came - again very sweet indeed. Overall a crowd of almost 50. I missed a few surely. SR Mohan of Jaico was there and even bought a copy for himself - very sweet! No cricketers.

The discussion was wonderful Keerti came well prepared with her questions. Prof Malavika was a delight with her insights into children and their psychology. She spoke about the book 'Scientist in the Crib' and shared many relevant examples. I plan to buy some of her books.

Anjali read 'Crime and Punishment' and I almost cried at the injustice of it all.

Anjali reading 'Crime and Punishment'

Diya read about Michael Jackson and Black and White wonderfully. Vandana read a chapter and very well too.

Vandana reading

We signed a few copies, met all my old pals and hung about a bit.

Signing copies

It was by far the longest book event I had done at close to 90 minutes before we ended the discussion - the discussion was excellent and everyone liked it. I loved it.

Diya reading - lovely job!

Fabulous event. Thanks Jaico. Thanks Sapna. Thanks Keerti.. Thanks Prof Malavika Kapur. Thanks everyone for coming and supporting me. Completely humbled and thrilled.

On the way back we stopped at this heavenly joint called Mangalore Pearl and ate what goes down in my life as one of the top 5 meals - superb fish, sol kadi, cghee roast chicken, neer dosa and stuff. Ah heaven.

Some more pics of the event.