Club Cricket and Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Indian Premier League is in its 5th season. Club cricket was a new concept which was introduced. Each club was based in a city with an iconic player (not necessarily from that city). Owners auctioned for the clubs and then in turn for the players. Great excitement! Cos whoever bought Mumbai, got Sachin Tendulkar.

Anyway my boss Dr. Mallya bought the Bangalore club - The Royal Challengers. So it was but natural that I would support RCB rather than Mumbai Indians. My reasoning - I have nothing in common with the Ambanis or Reliance. And my loyalties had nothing to do with the city....afterall I was born in Bombay and do not really identify with Mumbai. ;)

I have been following the team's progress for the last 5 years. Though I am not a cricket fan, I must say I do enjoy this format of the game. The team's performance has improved over the years and last year we even reached the finals.

Some of the things I love about the current team:

• We have some super players like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Dan Vettori, Virat Kohli, etc who are not only talented players but very good human beings.
• Dan Vettori has no hesitation in stepping down as Captain to make way for another foreign player in the interest of the team. In the IPL, a team can field only 4 foreign players. We need Murali to bowl as he is the most economical and Dan (who is also a bowler) has stepped down for the last 2 matches.
• AB de Villiers is a true gentleman. He actually shared his man of the match award for one of the matches with a bowler. Cricket is a batsman's game and very rarely does a bowler win the award or get recognition. But AB felt he had to share the stage and thus encourage the young bowler. I thought it was truly commendable.
• AB again showed that when it matters, one can win for the side. At one of the recent matches he came in at the end and saved RCB from an impossible situation. We will be talking about that innings for a very long time. He says he did it for his charity initiative "The Battle of the Bush".
• Dilshan is a quiet man but again a great team player. Yesterday, I told him that I was rooting for him to win the Man of the Match as everytime he posts a big score, someone else gets the award for their spectacular performance. Right off the bat he responded saying that it did not matter and the only thing that mattered was that the team won. He has my respect.
• Virat Kohli is turning out to be a fantastic player and I will not be surprised if he is going to be the star of the Indian team for a very long time.
• Chris Gayle is a big man but very humble at heart. At one of the matches, one of his sixes hit a little girl in the stadium. When he heard about it, he immediately rushed to visit her at the hospital post the match. He does have a large heart.
  
  
  

  

AB de Villiers with Smita and myself

Chris Gayle and myself

 

Peking Duck at China House

It was great to have dinner with my friends Aymeric and Smita. We decided on Chinese at the China House at the Grand Hyatt.

It was a very relaxed atmosphere with a lot of great conversation ranging from the state of Indian aviation to French and American politics to my Fun@Work project to the status of women in France, Germany and India.

The highlight of the evening was the Peking Duck which was outstanding. Peking Duck is one of the specialities of Chinese cuisine which has been prepared since the imperial era. The duck is carved by the chef in front of the guests with the thin, crisp skin being offered to the most important person. The meat is eaten with pancakes, spring onions, and hoisin sauce or sweet bean sauce.

Picture taken from the internet.

The proper way to eat it is to first pick up a slice of duck with the help of a pair of chopsticks and dip it into the soy paste. Next, lay it on the top of a thin pancake and add some bars of cucumber and shallot. Finally, wrap it up and savour each morsel.

Picture taken from the internet.

My rating for the China House:

Food - Excellent
Service - A notch below excellent
Ambience - Excellent

God's Own Country - a retreat in Kovalam

I was lucky to be invited for a leadership travel retreat to Kovalam, Trivandrum organised by Make My Trip. This was an event where MMT and their top business partners had a chance to interact and relax in an informal setting. We stayed at the beautiful property of Leela's and experienced God's Own Country first hand.

On the first evening, we had a dinner reception at the Taj which is another beautiful property. The MMT staff entertained us. There was also other entertainment like a fire eater and a stand up comedy show which I enjoyed quite a bit. The next day we went to the Poovar Island resort for lunch and a cultural show.

Smitaa and I had a very relaxing time - eating, drinking, partying, dancing, relaxing and the 2 days actually felt like a week of fun.

The view from the Leela Kovalam

The original elephant parade

The infinity pool definitely beckoned us!

The Taj property. The Chinese fishing nets are symbolic of Kerala.

The MMT staff put on a great show.

On the way to Poovar Island

So calming and soothing....

Typical symbol of Kerala

The welcome bowl of flowers

The cultural show amidst the superb setting of beach, sea and coconut groves

Varkala - a surprise

North of Trivandrum, lies Varkala. It has a dramatic coastline with steep cliffs along the beach. The result - stunning views and a totally different experience.

To be honest, when my friend Smita suggested Varkala for the long weekend, I was not too keen. But went along as I believed that we should check out as many places in India as possible. Varkala turned out to be a surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, had a relaxing time and destressed with the Kerala massage, good food and refreshing air.

The view from our room.

The stunning views.

Another stunning view.

Smita at the beach.

The early morning view along the beach.

The fishermen had just brought the catch in.

Disappointed with the litter all around.

The flowers against the background of the water was awesome.

The yummy ravioli with spinach.

The cheese crepe which was like a Chinese dosa.

The grilled fish. Very nice.

Momos.

Kutch - An experience!! (Part 2)

Continued from the previous post.............

After the amazing stay at Shaam-e-Sharad at Hodka, we decided to visit the flamingoes at Chaari Dhand. It was a 45 minute drive into the wetlands of this desert land. We saw the flamingoes, though they were a bit far out. They were a pretty sight but wish we could have seen them from near. Maybe next time!

Near, yet so far!!

The footprints of the flamingoes!!

Spectacular landscape.

We then proceeded to Dholavira which was a 6 hour drive through Bhuj. The roads in Gujarat are definitely well maintained and we were very impressed. On the way, we passed a stretch where for miles and miles (almost an eternity) we passed a saltpan - like landscape which was stark white. The camera could not capture the beauty of the landscape but it was unique. Apparently it seems like the entire area at some stage was submerged under water which has now receded leaving behind the salt.

Of course, being rural India, we did manage to get caught in herds of buffaloes, cows and sheep at various stages of our journey!!

Dholavira - an ancient civilisation of the Indus Valley dating back to 2900 BC. This was discovered in 1960s but the excavations were commenced only in 1990 and are still underway. They had superior water conservation skills and the same can be seen through the vast inter-connected reservoirs that surround the city. Their trade links extended to Mesopotamia and they had weights and balance measures that were quite accurate!

Not many people are aware of it and truly, if it had not been for the NDTV 7 Wonders of India programme, nor would I.

I feel terrible that our country does not appreciate the heritage, culture and assets that we have. There was not much information available and whatever the guide said was imbibed with a pinch of salt. Thankfully I had researched it on the internet and was quite updated on the little information available.

Smita and the driver inspecting the reservoir!

Apparently there are 7 cities built over each other. They have only uncovered the top one. Don't know how long the process will take to unearth the secrets of Dholavira.

The local shower!

Smita checking out the servant's quarters. They were barely 6ft by 6ft. Guess somethings in life don't change.

One of the huge reservoirs unearthered which has its own inbuilt filteration system. It is connected to the next reservoir and in turn connected to wells and cisterns.

Guess we can learn a lot from our ancestors. Please note the parched earth in today's time.

We decided to stay the night in Dholavira at the Gujarat Tourism run resort called Toran. Trust the public sector to let us down completely. First of all, no one was aware if this resort is open or not. Finally, we stayed in mud Bhungas which were of very poor quality. There is definitely a contrast between the resort run privately in Hodka and the one run by the government at Dholavira. Of course the prices were totally opposite - Rs 3800 at Hodka versus Rs 200 at Dholavira. However I would have preferred to pay a higher sum for a more comfortable stay. In all fairness, the meals which were served were fresh and wholesome though of limited choice (as green vegetables are in scarce supply in this part of the country) and the rooms were clean.

It was a real pleasure to visit a place in India which dates back to 2900 BC. It was also a chance to honestly say that we have been to the back of beyond. Overall, Kutch is vibrant, colourful, beautiful, the people are simple and friendly but the region is quite backward. It makes us appreciate our life better.