India's on & off campaign at the 2016 Rio Olympics!

Thus ends India's campaign at the Rio Olympics 2016 with a solitary silver and a bronze medal. The trio of girls - Sindhu, Sakshi and Dipa have given the country a lot to rejoice through their superlative performances. Against the odds, they proved their mettle and showed that they could compete against the World's best and made India really proud. Srikanth's almost near attempt at giant slaying the all time great Lin Dan was phenomenal. Lalita Babbar's achievements were heartwarming and so were a few others. Pullela Gopichand was the true Dronacharya propelling 2 of his proteges Saina and Sindhu to back to back bronze and silver medals in London and Rio respectively. Considering there has been just 5 Indian woman who have won medals in the 120 year history of the Olympic games puts this achievements come to light all the more being the man instrumental behind both medals (man or woman) obtained in Badminton.

The moments of joy cannot however be looked at in isolation without touching upon the disappointments and which were plenty. Shooting which has been a much sought after medal winning sport fizzled off failing to seize opportunities. Sania and Bopanna should have surely won a tennis medal and it was heartbreaking to see the way they slipped in the semifinal despite being well in control. And not showing up in the bronze play-off accentuated it further. The Paes-Bopanna spat was ugly and it compounded with them getting knocked out in the first round. Hockey, the sport which India still rules by a country mile taking history into context getting dumped out in quarters was hard to take. Reaching this stage itself was being seen as a shot in the arm looking at previous performances but being a country who has been the greatest ever in this sport with a glorious haul of 8 golds,1 silver and 2 bronze, we are just chasing lost glory and falling short every time. The treatment meted out to Narsingh Yadav, a strong Olympic hope was outrageous and the flat showing in Wrestling was like the final nail in the coffin.

This was our largest contingent ever with over 100 participants and coming back with just 2 medals as opposed to London's 6 surely indicates we have gone retrograde. The medals and near medal feats came from unfancied stars which was a silver lining but there is no hiding the fact that on a panoptic view, this has been a rather low key performance by India barring a few who salvaged pride ensuring to keep the flag waving high.

This Rio performance cannot in anyway be undermined as an alibi but this needs to be taken as a cue and things need to be set right at the core grass root level. Also by providing better facilities and infrastructure and harnessing a greater sporting culture, India should hopefully be coming back with a much richer tally at Tokyo 2020.

Prive - A vegetarian's fortress!

It isn't usually a very good sign when restaurant's pack their menu with cuisines aplenty because one really wonders what their forte is. While having an exaggerated spread is good because it gives you more options, to zero in on something and hoping it passes the test of the tongue is more out of hope. 'Prive' manages to buck that trend and in some fashion.

Prive boasts of a menu booklet running to pages and pages comprising of varied cuisines but what was really pleasing was that virtually everything on the house was resoundingly good. We tried a mix of Mexican, Italian, Chinese and Indian more of the tandoor and chaat kind along with a bunch of mocktails, shakes and desserts. It was really hard to find a blemish as more or less all the items served were really good and there were few which were exceptional.

In the mexican category, they got the Nachos and Tacos both bang on. Especially found the Tacos to be superlative bunched with a pleasing degree of stuffing inside with salsa, beans and white sauce to boot. The panneer was another area where they nailed it completely. The tandoor based one's were succulent and melt in the mouth types but what stole the show was the chinese based Chilli panneer. The pieces were super delicate and with the requisite spices as company, it just rolled onto our mouth tenderly. Perhaps one of the best manchurian based starters I've ever had. In the chaat section, the Dahi puri lorded over by being immaculate with just the right mix of curd and coverings and suited well to my liking. The puri's in the pani puri were the golgappa kind and very soft comprising a pasty mix of potatoes and were fairly nice. The North Indian array was again top notch be it the assorted Indian breads or gravies in the form of Panneer Lababdar, Babycorn Palak and Dal Makhni. The palak gravy was dynamic and the Dal Makhni with the lentils simmering in a buttered aroma was delightful. The Italian was no less in competing for top stakes. The veggie pizza was marvellous and so was the delectable Lasagne. The pink sauce Pasta was another star and it was lovely gorging over this slurpy creamy pasta. The mixed veg fried rice with a mixture of vegetables finely grated kept up the pace of brilliance and the teriyaki curry went along with it rather nicely. For drinks we had numerous choices ranging from the Blue Curacao to the Mint lemon to the Watermelon margherita to the Iced chilli slush and also a few shakes such as Ferrero Rocher and Oreo. Literally all of them hit the bulls eye with my special preference being for the watermelon drink and the slush with a twang of chilli making it really enticing. We also had desserts like the Malai Rabdi which was milky to the core and was a joy to lick every spoonful. The ice cream with chocolate fudge rounded off proceedings in sterling style.

Overall, it was a fabulous experience dining at Prive. The food just never ceased to amaze right from start to end. The service was in order and they did a good job serving the food in quick time with not too much time taken in between items. They were there right at our beck and call and it was a pleasure to be here and enjoy a sumptuous meal. As we were on an invite, it isn't appropriate to comment on the pricing. But one thing I must add having seen the rates of the menu is that for the quality of stuff served they seem fairly reasonable.

'Prive' referred to as private also wins on the ambiance front. There is a splash of red throughout and the place seems bright and professional. It is a fairly large place having capacity to seat close to 100 pax at a time. Also the space is well spread out ensuring you will get your private feel.

In conclusion, one of the best new restaurant's to hit townsville. Vegetarians will have a ball of a time and can eat to their heart's galore. Would definitely recommend it as a very high quality veg fine dining restaurant.

P.S: I had a shot at them in their Kilpauk outlet and the experience was equally good. Sharing the review below:

There are hardly few restaurant's in recent times which can place itself in the same pedestal as the much established names in the market and I would certainly certify 'Prive' in the upper echelons when it comes to a well etched vegetarian fine dining experience.

They have an extensive menu running into pages bordering across various cuisines traversing from North Indian, South Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Italian and Continental. Even street food is touched upon with a variegated fare of chaats. Also worth mentioning are their diverse portfolio of mocktails, shakes and desserts.

Getting my hands on to the real spread, it's difficult to say which is their forte as they have aced more or less all kinds of cuisines served in their attic. In the Mexican category, you should try having a shot at their Nachos and Tacos. The Nachos are beautifully laid out as elongated crispy chips flowered with cheese sauce and garnished with exotic veggies. To add to the delight are holders consisting of cheese and salsa sauce for you to customise and decorate it further. The tacos were presented out as stuffed bags punched with a pleasing degree of your quintessential mexican ingredients and dressed up with a spraying of Mayonnaise. To just make it a touch juicier, they are presented with sliders of salsa, red kidney beans and cheese sauce.

On the soup side of things, I immensely enjoyed the spinach cream based one which had a lovely aroma to it. The lemon coriander had a strong hinge with plenty of veggies inset. The tomato one was more on expected lines and the Hot n sour I felt could have been slightly better. In the chaat section, the dahi puri cracked a whip with the confluence of dahi and other requisite spices going along jocularly well. The pani puri's were ballooned up with a pasty potato mix and it was a delight to gulp this one down. The Bhel puri too was crunchy and having the desired ingredients.

Another signature was the North Indian starter fest. First up, the panneer tikka, both the regular as well as various other version were top notch. They were succulent and the flavours were hard hitting on every bite. The texture was so bang on right and it was quite a feast lingering them tenderly on to the tongue. Even the other one's on the platter viz potatoes, veg sheekh kabab and baby corn were pretty good. On the other starters, there were 2 cheese infused ones viz cheese pakoda and corn cheese balls and no much complaints there. They did the expected job being heavily loaded with cheese.

On the Indian main course side, I just got to sample a wee bit of the gravies and they were nice from whatever I had a bite at. The Dal Makhni was one of the better one's I've had with the lentils simmering delectably in a buttery aroma. Even had a crack at a panner based sizzler brewing along and the chunks of cottage cheese which were a tad roasted turned out to be super juicy and lovely to eat along with rice and french fries.

The Italian quotient was not far off from the action. The pesto panneer pizza was infused with cheese in abundance and the crust comprised of a lot of greenery. The Lasagne was another stunner with beds of veggies sponged underneath sheets of cheese. The pink sauce pasta was amazingly creamy and totally slurp slurp. And the verdure which was like a Mexican rice was rather decent.

The ending was more in line with the brilliance beforehand. You should surely try their mocktails and shakes in all sorts of colours and shapes. Some were icy, a few were milk based and some others were packed with essence of flavours. Overall it was a well rounded portfolio of drinks which were quite enticing and perfect for the heat. On Indian sweets, the Malai Rabdi was sumptuously creamy and will tingle the tongue of the sweet craving aficionado. A rainbow of ice cream scoops with chocolate fudge cake was quite a lovely way to get to the penultimate bit. And to round off the meal was a sizzling ice cream brownie. It was quite a sight to witness the chocolate brownie topped​ with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and being drizzled over with a molten hot chocolate sauce encircling and changing the entire plate to a sea of dark brown. You really cannot ask for more.

On a holistic picture, 'Prive' pressed the buttons right on almost every press on the food angle. The service was spot on and no real complaints at all on this front. They were always there at our beck and call and acceding to all our requests. Also no waiting time whatsoever with the food arriving faster than expected. The ambiance could be worked on a little bit. We were seated in a separate enclosure and it felt like more of a concierge/event based seating set up as opposed to a fine dining decor. The colour combination is more green here as compared to the splash of red in their RK Salai outlet. The pricing is not being spoken about as the event took place over on 'on the house' invite.

'Prive' is a a great addition to the roster of restaurant's serving a sumptuous vegetarian meal. Despite being quite nascent in the ever growing food circle of Chennai, they've made quite an impression and hit the bulls eye resoundingly. Would testify it as a highly recommended outlet for an ultimate vegetarian fine dining experience.

30 years of Mouna Ragam!

There are only some movies which you connect to very closely making them hold a special place in your heart. It's been 30 years since the theatrical release of 'Mouna Ragam' which hit the silver screen on Independence Day, 15th August 1986 and there is something resolutely magical about the film making you revisit it time and again.

In essence, it's just a simple tale of 2 diverse individuals facing difficulties having gotten together through the arranged marriage route but the direction is woven across so discreetly threading the finer needles of emotion. The poignancy and undercurrents facing the couple is handled with such measured care making you relate to the underlying story.

The turbulence of the female protagonist whose life changes 360 degrees from being a vivacious young lady whose joie de vivre comes to a standstill unfortunately due to circumstances beyond control to the housewife daunted with sobriety and having absolutely zilch interest towards her counterpart comes across so earnestly. The trials and tribulations endured by her opposite number trying to keep the troubled waters at bay is touched upon with restraint.

Adjacent to all the vexation brewing between the couple comes the brilliant flash back bit. The character of Manohar is perhaps one of the greatest cameo's in the annals of Tamizh cinema. It was one of the best lover boy characters and the infectious mojo he bought in was electrifyingly magnetic that it could sway even the most hard nosed girl to fall in love. Also, not to forget the smidgeon of comedy, whether it is the peals of laughter evoking 'Chandramouli' scene or the funny bone Sardar being taught to learn Tamizh (the thundering Poda Dei still reverberates) forming an indelible part adding to the memorabilia.

There are innumerable factors hefting up the movie but no showers of encomiums can be complete without mentioning about the music which really is the soul of the film. The Maestro takes over the baton, elevates it and places the movie at an all time high pedestal thanks to the inimitable tunes. The re-recording simply caresses and carries the movie on its shoulders. Be it happiness or sadness, comedy or romance, love or hate, every single emotional chord is expressed by the music playing in the background not to forget the transitions invoking the same musical pieces. The leitmotif running throughout the film continues to be a ringtone in many mobile phones even now and mothers still feed their kids pappu chaadham by showing the moon and humming lines from Nilave Vaa :).

The movie by itself was loosely inspired by the Mahendran directed 'Nenjathai Killathe' and many movies since then have tried to cater to the simple but powerful theme of Mouna Ragam but nothing has even come remotely close in terms of the deft and subtle handling which had the trademark unique precision of the director Mani Ratnam.

Hear close to half an hour of unadulterated unparalleled musical bliss to savor the wonderful memories this motion picture has churned over the years. Celebrating 3 decades since the magic of Mouna Ragam!

Hamsa - Royal, Regal & Resplendent!

There is an inherent air of class about 'Hamsa'. The place bedazzles and sparkles with radiance. The whole idea of conceptualising such a place would have taken quite an effort and to see everything fall in place perfectly to the 'T' speaks volumes. It is hard not to shower encomiums about the resplendent interiors because it happens to be so bloody good and you have to witness it to believe.

The surfing of gold, silver and bronze adds glitter to the surroundings and gives it an artistic and ethnic feel. Right when you set foot you cannot but miss out the white cages decorated with lush flowers. The peacock shaped bells and the chandelier lights adds to the chiaroscuro. The shimmery silvery doors and utensils ooze in pristine fashion and glorifies the aura of the place. The comfortable cozy decor and the dim lights give just the right fine dining lift. Hamsa when translated refers to 'Swan' and the literal meaning is taken rather seriously as the place is all elegant, graceful and charming.

It is located in the Gandhinagar 4th main road and parking is not a hassle as it's situated in a private road with little shrubs by the wayside giving ample space to park vehicles. A peekaboo from the outside signifying the Swan emblem and the decorated patterns says quite a bit about what's likely to be in store.

We were here on a weekday dinner to check out what's on the deck on the food side of things. Hamsa serves a spread which is predominantly Indian curating cuisines from up north and down south to dish up a varied diverse portfolio. We got served a potpourri of items comprising of starters, mains, breads, rice and desserts.

In the starter category, the Panneer Saunfiya ruled the roost. The cottage cheese triangles with a smudgy pasty fennel mix was delightful. The other leaf enclosed panneer with a masala mix garnished on top of the slices was fairly decent. The cheese kurkure was crunchy and had a dollop of cheesy mixed paste inside and the chaat based ones especially the crispy corn one was lovely.

The melange of breads were done up well and seemed soft and soluble. On to the curries, the Panneer caught attention again in the form of Bhagirathi Meher panneer. The spicy Urlai roast in coastal style was quite enjoyable and the lotus stem gravy was a nice twist. The rice items however be it the concocted idiappam biryani or the Anar aur hari meeri ja chawal didn't pass muster.

In the dessert draw, the Anjeer aur adrak halwa was delectable, thought it was a tad too sweet. The Amrud Phirni with a heavy flavoring of Guava didn't appease much. The welcome drink in the mode of Panjamritham was a star and we had a shot of it both at the start as well as towards the end of our meal.

Overall, the majority of the items passed off with flying colors. Service and pricing goes out of the window as it was a specific dinner meet over an invite.

In a nutshell, 'Hamsa' redefines the art of fine dining. You should check it out for the awe inspiring ambiance and diverse culinary spread traversing the length and breadth of India.