Skip to main content

Pretty things that lighted up my life this week


  1. A line from the song ‘Yeh Dilli hai…’ from Delhi 6. The line goes: ‘Yeh shehar nahin, mehfil hai.’ The way every little nook in Delhi glows like a jewel in the evening, the way domes and gardens light up like candles in front of a huge mirror, the way every season suffuses the city with easy, fragrant languor, the way you see a myriad interpretations of a poem each time you look up at the sky…this line sums up those traces of Delhi really well.

  2. One of my cook’s latest inventions – adding strong, black coffee to a caramel custard mix before setting it. Tastes heavenly!

  3. The Costa Coffee in Inorbit Mall in Vashi. I love that place…it’s cute, cosy, and a very friendly place to hang-out. Oh, and there’s the ‘White chocolate and lemon muffin’. That is the only dessert I have had in all the Costas I have been to – in Noida, Delhi, and now Bombay. Usually, in coffee places, anything that isn’t made out of chocolate tastes like it’s been prepared out of wet cardboard. But this muffin – it’s soft with a nice, lemony centre and topped with a generous smear of delectable white and dark chocolate. Very, very good.

  4. The second-hand bookstore and library inside Hiranandani. This guy must be scouring the world for some amazing reads. He has a graphic novel based on Homer’s Odyssey.

  5. The roads off Kurla. Man! The things that improve when you aren’t looking!

  6. Amazing cab rides from Vashi to Marol. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone’s eyes light up when I’ve said ‘Marol’ at 9 in the morning. Usually, they pretend as if I have snot on my nose and look the other way and whiz off. Of course, they are all autos! See, cabbies have class.

  7. A sort of a kitty party I was part of quite suddenly. It’s nearly 11:30 p.m., it’s the ladies compartment, and it’s pleasantly full. One woman peels an orange, another one tears up a packet of chips. Since I am sitting with them and looking hungry, they offer me their snacks. I refuse at first, but they insist. So I take some chips. One of them looks at me a little sadly and advises, “Beti, itna fight kyun maarne ka…shaadi karke ghar sambhaal. Aaaram se…” The other one says, “Apun ne bhi toh shaadi kit hi…kya hua?” To which the first one replies thoughtfully, “Yeh marad log bhi na...kya bharosa…” Ah! Kinship!

  8. Cold, cold mornings. There’s actually a bite in the air when I head out at 6 a.m. Just that sharp sting on the face when you run…that makes the horrible struggle to get out of bed so very worth it.

  9. Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror at midnight while getting water from the kitchen. Do I look good when I’m sleepy or what! Wow! My heart did skip a beat, and this time it wasn’t fear.

  10. Theories that can germinate and circulate only in New Bombay. One day, I was chatting with an auto-guy and mentioned that once the Metro is ready, life in Bombay will be superb! He said, “Hmm…lekin ab kya faayda madam, metro ko aur do saal lag jaayenge, aur Delhi-6 to agle hafte release karne waali hai.” I didn’t get the connection. The guy thinks that the Bombay Metro is being constructed for the promotion of Delhi-6. Hee hee hee! Maybe the promotion also involves Sonam Kapur travelling in a lovely yet forlorn fashion from Versova to Ghatkopar up and down the entire Friday that it releases. (And if that is the case, maybe Rakesh Mehra could make another movie ‘Pune Potholes’. We could definitely benefit from publicizing something like that!) So filmy we are!

  11. Line from another song I heard in an ad. In fact, the ad is about a man looking lovingly at his wife while she is buttering toast or something. In the background, there’s a song playing on the radio. It’s sort of a scratchy and Rafi-type number. It goes something like…Tu meri khwaabon ki taaveez hai.

  12. A little girl buying a huge teddy bear for her grandfather on Valentine’s Day. Both had the most glorious toothless smiles ever!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I totally agree about the white chocolate and lemon muffin, but of course you hardly got to have any. By now you should know how we always like food on others plates, after saying no to getting some for ourselves!!

anumita
Mukta Raut said…
:-) oh, am glad you liked it. the next time you are there, will get you something from falafel house. you'll like their stuff too!
DewdropDream said…
Oh your coffee and caramel custard combo reminds me of the coffee panacotta I've been pigging out on. It's divine!
Anonymous said…
I love the way you narrate them; they sound more tempting than the reality :)
Your cook is great! What an idea...I can almost taste the coffee in the caramel custard. We had caramel custard in Bagdadi after a meal at Bade Miyan...both were great! What's the name of this second-hand bookstore in Hiranandani and whereabouts is this?
Mukta Raut said…
Hi Idle,

This is in Hiranandani market. It's next to a tailoring and lingerie shop. (The market caters to various kinds of seduction techniques i guess...from the mind to the...well, more basic requirements.) There's a cluster of shops opposite Great Punjab restaurant...its the only bookstore there.
Mukta Raut said…
hey dewdrop, what is coffee panacotta? where do you get it? show off, using fancy names and all!
Unknown said…
you get falafel there? ah! i loooove falafel .. :)
Mukta Raut said…
hey omni,

yep...and very good ones too. Infact, the Falafel house is a chain. You should try to locate one in your area. It's pretty nice! You'll like it. They have some interesting salads too.
skar said…
The things lighted up my morning too.
DewdropDream said…
HAHA!! No no, no showing off and all... panacotta is an italian dessert made with milk, cream and sugar set like a pudding and has some sort of topping, either, fruit, or jelly or some sweet sauce. Yummyyy

Popular posts from this blog

First Impressions: How to Get Away with Murder (Netflix)

 I love courtroom dramas.  I love non-linear storytelling. I love thrillers. I love tender love stories that embellish such series of grit, grime, and blood. This series delivers on all counts, dips somewhat after a couple of seasons, gets uneven and predictable (when it is less courtroom and more drama) and then finishes strong. The series centers around Annalise Keating who is a fierce, black criminal lawyer who also teaches a class in criminal law (which she calls 'How to Get Away with Murder'). As a teaching methodology, she gets her class to weigh in on her live cases. Part of her strategy also involves picking a handful of promising students and have them work in her 'lab' where they get to help her in strenuous arguments and civil suits, etc. The plot thickens, a murder happens, people get involved, incriminated, incarcerated, and dead. I found a couple of characters in this cast to be really unlikeable - Michaela, Laurel, and Bonnie. After the first couple of se

That kind of a day, that kind of a thought

 It was Eid and Ekadashi today. Thus far, I have managed to keep the fast for Ekadashi. But we still have 2 hours to go so...let's see. I had this urge to go to a temple. There is a small one near my house. Today it was filled with people singing keertans. So I went to the  Iskcon. I like the temple. It's so big and bustling. It's organised and musical.  But today was very crowded. Usually I go to temples and do a quick pranaam without offering flowers or fruits. But I felt like buying a thali. I got one with some fruits, tulsi leaves and a single marigold flower that lay there like a fully energized petaled sun. There was a long queue and I was already feeling stressed in the pit of my stomach. But the line kept moving and just like that, I had my darshan and I got done.  I came out and thought of getting a flower for the pooja room in my home. I bought a lotus. The florist fluffed out the petals and it looked like a sweet little bird.  I caught an auto back and as is my n

A very bad mood

 I have been trying to sleep for a while but have not been able to. I am in a very bad mood. Turns out I am very averse to change. Things are crap.  Deep breaths are not helping. I am feeling very trapped. The anger and irritation is quite intense. Let me take a few moments to just quietly watch myself.  Works