Cougar Relationship and the link with Priyanka Chopra!

Cougar relationships have always been viewed with closed lens and more so when an Indian is involved, it always tends to attract the paparazzi. The recent involvement of Bollywood heartthrob Priyanka Chopra with a person more than 10 years her junior was certainly the cynosure of all eyes and got the media into a frenzied overdrive trying to analyse the reasons for her relationship with the happening Nick Jonas, a person of another origin/country and who happens to be a whole decade younger in age.

I was quite curious to rack up her horoscope to see what prompted such a relationship. Thankfully her birth details seem to be quite authentic and seems to tally with some of her traits. Sharing her birth details as per below;
DOB : 18th July 1982
POB : Jamshedpur, India
TOB : 1:30 AM
Ayanamsa : Raman 22-10-01.76

Now let's take a brief peekaboo into Priyanka Chopra's horoscope. First up, her 7th lord is sitting in 5th which clearly indicates a high probability of love marriage. Not only that, you see Venus and Rahu sitting together which accentuates it further and even more so because Venus is in dual sign of Gemini. The trigger of Rahu always tends to create something mysterious and when conjoined with Venus in a dual placement, it's almost as if its been given the freedom to play around. Also if you'd observe Jupiter in the natal chart aspects both Venus & Rahu and incidentally the period from Dec'17 to May'18, Jupiter Maha Dasa/Venus Antar Dasa/Rahu Pratyantar Dasa was only running. It looks very clear that around this period only her love would have blossomed and really come to light. It's quite funny how Vedic astrology seems to show it quite visibly in her horo chart as well :D.

Next up, looking at the dignity of her 7th (spouse). Her 7th lord is conjoined with Saturn. They are also pretty close to each other - Mars and Saturn. So Saturn has the power of giving marriage and not only that he is Yogakarak for both Taurus Lagna and Moon. Now the telling point is check Saturn's 10th aspect on Mercury. It falls exactly where Mercury is located. Both of them are exactly to the dot 24 degrees in their respective signs of Gemini and Virgo. Mercury as a planet has the significance of being a friend and can indicate a younger partner and it emphasizes the fact resolutely in her case. Saturn does also aspect Venus and Rahu but the one on Mercury is the talking point here. Saturn is also 8th from it's Mool Trikona sign giving sudden rise in the form of a strange love (younger partner and also of foreign origin)

Coming to her characteristics in general, Ascendant and Moon together in Taurus gives her a very good personality. Her 3rd lord Moon is placed in the 1st giving her excellent communication skills and making her a very confident person. 2nd is about wealth and you see not only natural 2nd house owner Venus sitting there but also Lord of 2nd and 5th Mercury sitting in it's own sign of Gemini. The house of motherland viz 4th house Sun is afflicted sitting 12 places from itself indicating that she regularly travels and frequently leaves her hometown to foreign destinations. Rahu/Ketu in 2/8 axis isn't great but here also Rahu and Ketu both sit in their respective mool trikona sign of Gemini and Sagittarius respectively. The top rated malefic for Taurus Lagna viz Jupiter is actually weak sitting in 6th place and hence will not be very harmful. Lot of planets attain power in her horoscope and it isn't a phenomenon to see her extremely successful and being the most followed Indian on Instagram.

One more thing to note is about her work and career. You find her 10th lord sitting in the 5th indicating indirectly that work will be somewhat related with creativity and intelligence. You also see Saturn sitting in the 9th Dasamsa (24 to 27 degrees) of even sign Virgo in the South East direction represented by Agni and ruled by Venus. This direction is controlled by Agni Deva and ruled by Venus who is the head of all creative works such as acting, singing, dancing etc. And another wonderful coincidence is that the planet Venus is himself sitting in the odd sign of Gemini in 2nd Dasamsa (3 to 6 degrees) which is also in the South East direction and ruled again by Venus himself. Hence Shukra Guru is playing a yeomen role in elevating her pedestal and indicating that she is in the right kind of profession. Saturn also happens to be the 10th lord in the Dasamsa D10 chart sitting in its own movable sign of Capricorn with Rahu showing a job involved with plenty of travelling.

Focusing the energy on the main topic which is of her relationship and marriage, she is likely to get married in Dec'18. It's magical to see how all the planets are harnessing the spherical energies to show this event in her chart.
Dasa check - current one running is Jupiter MD - Venus AD - Saturn PD from Sep'18 to Feb'19. Jupiter is the most natural benefic and Venus the signifier of an event like marriage and Venus happens to be in trikona to Jupiter. Also Saturn the yogakarak is closely conjunct with her actual 7th lord Mars.
Transit check - Jupiter is now exactly 7th to both her natal Lagna as well as Natal Moon again pointing out imminently that an event of a magnitude such as marriage may take place.

Wishing PC all the very best. She has well and truly been a role model and a great ambassador representing India with a lot of dignity and grace in foreign shores.

Chai Galli - Eminently Desi with a twist!

'Chai Galli' plays it simple and yields the desired results. It capitalises on age old traditions, masala and flavours to bring about a glorified confluence celebrating the vintage in a modern redefined avatar. It brings to light popular street food from various regions across India with a cutting edge. The best part is you would find that local essence intact giving it a lovely old school feel. They have also innovated to varying degrees by blending Indian with Indian as also other cuisines to add a diverse portfolio.

From the moniker, it's pretty clear that tea is the most prominent factor. Tea is the most consumed beverage across India and it has a history to the way it's made, viewed and drank in different parts of the country. The beverage epitomises a local element and it's in petty shops that it's most popular with loud dance music playing at the background. They've captured this beautifully by serving them in those small glass shots retaining the flavour with the presence of loud epoch Bollywood music playing from yesteryear. Movies play a major role in the ambiance setup and you would find wall arts depicting posters of popular movies from down the years.

Food, music and movies are perhaps the 3 most loved things in the country and kudos that they've been able to make justice to it and in fact with the setup and ambiance, pay quite a homage to these ever loved delights. I admired the fact that they could put this across rather well without sounding too obtrusive and on your face. It's been carved out artistically and you wouldn't call it as being over the top with the interiors. It appears larger than life but yet within limits and not too garish. The colour combinations have been used very well and you'll surely associate with the bright spots paying tribute to the colour and retro era from around the 60's onwards.

What they have in their attic to consume is quite a lot. Apart from the traditional fare, innovation is the name of the game here. Tea occupied almost a third of the menu with variants of classic, capturing borders - from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, western touch with imported flavours, green tea, black tea, white tea and even handcrafted ones. They also have iced versions and for that tete a tete, a few coffee varieties also along with oolong tea and those classic drinks ranging from Shikanji, kokam, masala soda etc. There was too much to try but I would suggest you give a shot at one of the authentic classical ones. We had the Adrak chai with parle G biscuit and it was quite an effect drinking it held up in small glass containers. The hibiscus tea which a mild majanta colour to it was invigorating and in the iced kind, the Bulldozer which is a chilled drink drawing upon the combination of ice tea and red bull was kick ass and killer, just about ideal for the scorching heat.

They have a section "Chai ke murmur dost" which underlines the accompaniments that go along with your tea. They had further sub sections highlighting on the shandaar (popular), chatpata (crispy), samosa/vada pav alternatives, puchka shots and pakhoda and Baaki sab (everything else). We tried two of the pani puri shots viz Namkeen and a Corn based one which was enjoyable. It was served with a twist as the puri's in the former were ballooned up with a sweet/salt mixture and the latter had a gregarious coating of cheese with tartlets of corn inside. The absolute stunner from the chai's company side, well and truly happened to be the Dal pakwaan. It was absolutely delectable with flavourful lentils on top of a papad base and soaked with a sweet as well as savoury tinge and topped with salad veggies. The poha layered on a papad base somehow didn't appease me much.

The main course section is categorised as "Khana Shuru" which loosely translates as start the food. We had an aloo paratha which was well made with nice stuffings of potato inside that comes with a tomato & chilli dip. The Tadke wali maggi with zing of fried onions was quite lovely to slurp. In pizza's, the Italian flag which is the usual expectant pizza was quite nice but what took the cake was the concocted one in the form of the 'Veggies on a Khakra' which in the sense is the marrying of pizza and khakra infusing italian pizza ingredients over a quintessential Indian crisp khakra base. This Gujarati classic corks up a feast with a melange of sauces, spices and veggies generously spread along making the eating experience both crispy and crunchy. The pink sauce panther pasta was another winner as it had all the ammunition to rise to the top being creamy with just the right amount of herbs and spices to go along with exotic ingredients like broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini and garlic.

The final finale was no less. The watermelon juice was of the usual kind. I took a liking to the dry fruit falooda which was bunched with a pleasing degree of assortments and also being creamy on the bottom layer. The chikku cream had that sappota twang right on the button and you could feel the flavour hitting on every spoon. However the outright starlet in the dessert section was the "Chai Galli special falooda". It had a perfect motley of fruit, sweet and nuts with the texture and thickness being bang on. It was a delectation decorated to devour. Easily would say, one of the best falooda's I've ever had.

On the whole, Chai Galli turned out to be really pleasing and engaging. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if you fall in love with the place. I had a personal connect with the decorations and the music playing in the background which had a lot to do with the 90's which is in sync to my growing up childhood phase. The service was quick witted and they were more than willing to help us with our choices. The prices won't worry you much as they are all rated within the normal border range.

This place would surely ignite a tinge of nostalgia within you. Your love for Bollywood and happy loud good ol music will be satiated here. It's lovely the way they have captured and brought in all these quirky elements within the minimalistic surrounding environment. It definitely felt nice visiting this outlet and if you're the one looking for some shiz in a local langoti set-up, 'Chai Galli' is your direction forward.

Fully Local - Bollywood ish style!

Fully Local retains a local flavour with it's desiness in the form of it's interiors, wall art depicting quirky signboards and portraits, music belting out Bollywood hits and the color pallette engulfed with a kitchiness resembling a rustic Chandni Chowk kinda vibrant setup.

Fully Local is all to do with North Indian cuisine in a pretty authentic fashion. They have a simple big menu placard with all the items listed and their combo desi meals is a good bet in case you are looking for a full fledged tandoori meal. All their items are sans oil and made with ghee, cream and butter.

We were here on an invite and got to try a variety of their best offerings. First up were the Gol Gappa shots which is quite one of a kind here. They have tequilla like tubes filled to the brim with salted green water as well as the maroon sweet water with crisp puri's placed on them. You are supposed to u-turn the tube, pour it into those hard layered ballooned pieces containing a potato mix and have them. It is quite enthralling and one of a kind consuming the pani puri here. The Masala Papad is another nice appetiser with just the right mix of spices over fried papad. The Dahi papdi chaat was one of my real favourites. Everything about this one was right from the crispness to the flavouring and the ingredients.

Further on in the starters, the aloo tikki's were lip drooling with a smattering of hung curd and sprayed along with coriander/bhujjia for that little extra and presented in a quincunx arrangement. Panneer is one things which lords the show here. They make their own and with cream and butter. The authentic panneer which they served were mouth watering and so were the large chunks of amritsari panneer with a dressing of malai.

The main course was really rich with fully local panneer subji, miloni subji and Kali Dal along with a basket of breads. The panneer pieces were succulent and the gravy just of the right creaminess. The miloni subji had abundance of veggies made in a spinach puree. The black Dal seems to be one of the best with the simmering lentil aroma sweeping your senses. The rotis/naan/parathas were all were really well made and enjoyable to have with the side dishes. Their jeera rice is another good option to have with the curries.

For the ending, we got sweets in the form of jalebi and phirni. The jalebi was crispy but would have been better being a little hotter. The Phirni was decent but not the stuff to rave about. I also had a shot at masala chaas which was immensely refreshing and best way to finish proceedings. They even have a few lovely mocktail options to consume along with your meal.

The prices seem a little on the higher side when ordering individually but with the combo deals in place seems fairly marginal. The service was pretty rapid with the food coming to the table in a jiffy. The decor is simple and low scale. It works well within it's limitations. At the end, you cannot but overlook the cuteness of the sweetener being brought in a vintage cycle miniature and the cheque coming in a rickety iron box.

Conclusion: You get the feel of having an authentic North Indian meal dining at Fully Local. Highly recommended for a rich, wholesome and flavourful Punjabi cuisine.