Primer of Different Branches of Vedic Astrology

Astrology is an ocean and there are so many different dimensions of viewing a chart. What caught my attention is that different branches of it focus more on a selective area going deep only in that particular zone to help predict pointed results. Let's take a birds eye view of these sub branches of Astrology.

- 'Jaimini' is study of 'sign' based astrology
This form of astrology largely depends on the degrees in a sign. The basis of classification of the rasis as Movable (Cardinal), Fixed (Static) and Dual (Mutable) form a major role in delving in further. Even the aspects work on this placement with the movable signs aspecting all the fixed signs except the one placed next to it and the fixed signs aspecting all the movable signs except the one next to it. The dual signs however aspect each other in the same dual category.

- 'Nadi' is study of 'planet' based astrology
Nadi Astrology is a huge branch by itself within the realm of astrology but one defining feature of it happens to be that it largely works on the significations of planets and how they influence one another. Each planet has certain characteristics associated with it and based on the planets it touches results tends to get formed. In most versions of Nadi Astrology, the Ascendant or Lagna doesn't even have a say. It works purely on planetary relationship.

- 'Lal Kitab' is study of 'house' based astrology
Lal Kitab extensively touches on the Houses and the scope is seen extensively from the Natural or what you call the Kala Purusha Horoscope which adopts Aries as the Ascendant. The Ascendant is done away with and the houses are mapped always with Aries as the Lagna. The results are all based on planets in different houses and the yearly chart movement of planets into different houses forms a major say in delivering results. The aspects also works on a house to house basis.

- 'KP' is study of 'star' based astrology
Krishnamurthy Paddathi or KP system as it's called placed much importance on the stellar constellation in which the planets are situated. It is a hybrid version of western and Indian modes of astrology as it adopts the Placidus system for casting charts. The signifying feature of KP is that as per this methodology adopted, the owner of the star in which the planet sits is said to have the major say and direct the results accordingly.

- 'Vedic Astrology' is a study of combination of planets, signs, houses, stars and lot more.
Vedic Astrology however is an amalgamation of all the above methods and considered to be the most supreme of all systems. Thus no individual method can ever supersede the ocean that is traditional vedic astrology though they help in supplementing by providing useful information but on a holistic point of view none surpasses Vedic Astrology.

Note: There are also other techniques such as Prasna, Palmistry, Muhurthas etc which can be said to be an off shoot and helpful for astrological pursuits.

Satan (Saturn) Personified!

There mostly tends to be one very important or dominant planet in each of our horoscopes. It has a redoubtable influence on you in a way that you cannot really escape from it's presence during the whole of your lifetime.

When I look back at the planet which has had the maximum impact on me, it's undoubtedly and most certainly Saturn. The reasons attributed are as below:

1. Saturn is Vargottam in my horoscope. (Occupies same sign of Scorpio in Rasi and Navamsa)
2. Saturn itself is posited in it's own ruler ship star Anuradha Nakshatra as per Vimshottari Dasa sequence.
3. Saturn happened to be the 'Hora' that I was born in. (Hora is an hourly order in a day ruled one after another by 7 planets)
4. My entire education happened only in Saturn Dasa. It surely was the fulcrum in ensuring that I end up clearing some tough professional courses. Yes I was pretty unlucky on the relationship front which is not really a Saturn thingy but in general it did mold and make me mentally tougher.
5. It is also most auspicious 9th Lord in Rasi chart and also placed in the 9th in Navamsa.
6. 4 of my planets sit in rasis owned by Saturn and Saturn himself also happens to aspect his own Rasi. (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter all sit in the Saturnian signs of Capricorn & Aquarius).
7. The 'Yoga' I was born is Vishkumba which again is controlled by Saturn. (The Yogi planet is said to denote prosperity as per the Panchang).
8. My Moon sub Lord is Saturn which also means my Vimshottari Dasa sequence begins at birth from the Antar Dasa of Saturn only.
9. The Shadbala of Saturn happens to be the maximum among all other planets (Shadbala is a six fold technique established to find the strength of all planets)
10. As per Ashtakavarga scores, the sign in which Saturn is sitting in my natal chart Scorpio gets the maximum points. (Ashtakavarga is a point based tool to estimate the score of each houses based on planetary relation between one another)

Thus Saturn plays an indomitable part in my life proceedings and I just can't imagine a life without it Hence it goes without saying that I'm well and truly Satan (Saturn) personified 😎.

Navamsa Construction and other important concepts pertaining to D9

The Navamsa or D9 happens to be the most important divisional chart in a horoscope. It goes tete-a-tete with the rasi chart and a horoscope virtually feels incomplete without its presence. As the name D9 stands it talks about the Dharma or the 9th division or in essence reflects on a microscopic view of a rasi in 9 equal divisions. For the mathematically initiated a rasi consists of 30° with each Navamsa part containing 3°20' each.

There is a myth prevailing that Navamsa is all about marriage and spouse but in essence it is the dharma trine and can also be used to assess a native's skills, abilities and talent. It also gives a break down of the strength of a planet from where it is placed in the Navamsa and many often a weak placement in rasi can get over ruled by a strong presence in Navamsa.

Navamsa can be broken into 'Nava' meaning 9 and 'Amsa' meaning division. It is also referred to as the 'Dharmamsa'. The way it is derived is that the 9th house is all about Dharma and the 11th house speaks about desires. The 11th from 9th becomes the 7th or rather the fructification from Dharma turns out to be the D9 or Navamsa chart and since the resultant happens to be the 7th house (11th from 9th), it is pretty understandable to see it as one of the primary factors for issues pertaining to marriage. The Dharma angle here however should not be compromised and holds the major say in the scheme of things.

This particular post is not about an analysis about the D9 but more about the construction of it and I will list down 3 different methods which can be used for the same. The article will also touch upon some important concepts of the Navamsa which is like a corollary addendum when one understands how the counting works.

1) Classification based Counting:
As one is aware, the 12 rasis are classified into 3 types viz Movable (Cadinal), Fixed and Dual (Mutable) and they keep getting repeated in a cyclical order with Aries being a Movable sign, Taurus Fixed and Gemini Dual with the pattern followed again from Cancer onwards. Navamsa counting always begins from a Movable sign and there's a reason for it as when you start counting from the first movable sign the 9th will end up being a dual sign with the baton being passed on again to a movable sign with the last 9th part again falling in a dual and so on and so forth. Thus if a planet falls in a movable rasi, start counting directly from the respective movable rasi, if a planet is situated in a fixed rasi start counting from the 9th sign from it and if planet is located in dual rasi begin counting 5th from the particular sign. In all these cases the resulting counting start sign will always be movable. It's easier to understand when we look at it with illustrations.

Illustration:
Eg say Sun is in Aries 11°35', Moon in Taurus 24°50' and Mars in Gemini 5°10' in the rasi chart.

Sun:
Classification - Movable (Aries)
Base - 1 (1st from movable sign)
Part - 4th part (Since it falls in degree span of 10°00' to 13°20')
Count - Start directly from the same movable sign Aries and count 4 which will be Cancer (1st from Aries is Aries and then 4th from it results in Cancer)

Moon
Classification - Fixed (Taurus)
Base - 9 (9th from fixed sign)
Part - 8th part (Since it falls in degree span of 23°20' to 26°40')
Count - Move 9th from respective sign of Taurus and then count 8 which will be Leo (9th from Taurus is Capricorn and then 8th from it results in Leo)

Mars
Classification - Dual (Gemini)
Base - 5 (5th from dual sign)
Part - 2nd part (Since it falls in degree span of 3°20' to 6°40')
Count - Move 5th from respective sign and then count 2 which will be Sagittarius (5th from Gemini is Libra and then 2nd from it results in Sagittarius)

Summary:
Planet in movable sign - start counting the division from the same movable sign
Planet in fixed sign - Move 9th from the fixed sign and start counting the divisions from the resulting movable sign
Planet in dual sign - Move 5th from the dual sign and start counting the divisions from the resulting movable sign

2) Element based counting:
Each of the rasis are also divided into 4 elements viz Fire, Earth, Air and Water starting from Aries onwards with the order repeating from Leo and again from Sagittarius as well. As discussed above under the classification mould, the counting will always begin from a movable sign as only then the symmetry ends up being maintained. Now we need to take a look at the movable sign for all the elements and the counting gets established from that particular sign.
Fire - Aries  (Leo and Sagittarius are ruled out as they are not movable)
Earth - Capricorn (Taurus and Virgo are ruled out as they are not movable)
Air - Libra (Gemini and Aquarius are ruled out as they are not movable)
Water - Cancer (Scorpio and Pisces are ruled out as they are not movable)
Let's look at this theory with an example

Illustration:
Eg Sun is in Leo 11°35', Moon in Capricorn 24°50',  Mars in Aquarius 5°10' and Mercury in 8°20' in the rasi chart

Sun:
Element - Fire
Start sign - Aries
Part - 4th part (Since it falls in degree span of 10°00' to 13°20')
Count - Start from Aries the fire movable sign and count 4 which will be Cancer (For Planet in fire, the counting needs to start from fire movable sign which is Aries)

Moon:
Element - Earth
Start sign - Capricorn
Part - 8th part (Since it falls in degree span of 23°20' to 26°40')
Count - Start from Capricorn the Earth movable sign and count 8 which will be Leo (For Planet in earth, the counting needs to start from earth movable sign which is Capricorn)

Mars:
Element - Air
Start sign - Libra
Part - 2nd part (Since it falls in degree span of 3°20' to 6°40')
Count - Start from Libra the Air movable sign and count 2 which will be Sagittarius (For Planet in air, the counting needs to start from air movable sign which is Libra)

Mercury:
Element - Water
Start sign - Cancer
Part - 3rd part (Since it falls in degree span of 6°40' to 10°00')
Count - Start from Cancer the Water movable sign and count 3 which will be Virgo (For Planet in water, the counting needs to start from water movable sign which is Cancer)

Summary:
Planet in Fire sign - start counting from Aries which is the fire movable sign
Planet in Earth sign - start counting from Capricorn which is the earth movable sign
Planet in Air sign - start counting from Libra which is the air movable sign
Planet in Water sign - start counting from Cancer which is the water movable sign

3) Star Based Counting:
This is a little different method and doesn't employ rasis directly and instead the constellations come into the picture. As one may be aware there are 27 Nakshatras making up the zodiac divided into 3 sets of 9 each. The first set of 9 Nakshatras Ashwini to Ashlesha run from Aries to Cancer, the second set of  9 Nakshatras Magha to Jyeshta run from Leo to Scorpio and the third set of 9 Nakshatras Moola to Revathi run from Sagittarius to Pisces. The reason these are broken into cycles of 9 Nakshatras is in essence because the subsequent Nakshatra after the 9th begins fresh in a new zodiac sign without having breaks in padas. Thus one can say it takes 4 rasis to cover one full set of 9 Nakshatra constellations. The trick here is that the first, fourth and seventh Nakshatra from each set will occupy the first 4 rasis (Aries to Cancer) with each of the 4 padas making up the rasis one after the other and likewise the second, fifth and eighth Nakshatra from each cycle will rule over the next 4 rasis (Leo to Scorpio) and in similar vein the third, sixth and ninth Nakshatra will lord the last 4 rasis (Sagittarius to Pisces). The concept will look easier when explained with an example.

Illustration:
Eg Sun is in Poorva Phalguni 17°35', Moon in Hastha 13°10',  Mars in Revathi 27°10' and Mercury in Pushya 11°20' in the rasi chart

Sun
Nakshatra - Second (2,5,8 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Leo to Scorpio
Pada - 2 (Poorva Phalguni 16°40'-20°00' is second pada)
Count - Start from Leo and count 2 which will be Virgo

Moon
Nakshatra - Fourth (1,4,7 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Aries to Cancer
Pada - 1 (Hastha 10°00'-13°20' is first pada)
Count - Start from Aries and count 1 which will be Aries

Mars
Nakshatra - Ninth (3,6,9 set)
Zodiac Cycle - Sagittarius to Pisces
Pada - 1 (Revathi 26°40'-30°00' is fourth pada)
Count - Start from Sagittarius and count 4 which will be Pisces

Mercury
Nakshatra - Eighth (2,5,8 set)
Zodiac Cycle -  Leo to Scorpio
Pada - 1 (Pushya 10°00'-13°20' is third pada)
Count - Start from Leo and count 3 which will be Libra

Summary:
Planet in 1,4,7 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Aries to Cancer with 1st pada Aries, 2nd pada Taurus, 3rd pada Gemini and 4th pada Cancer
Planet in 2,5,8 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Leo to Scorpio with 1st pada Leo, 2nd pada Virgo, 3rd pada Libra and 4th pada Scorpio
Planet in 3,6,9 Nakshatra cycle - start counting from Sagittarius to Pisces with 1st pada Sagittarius, 2nd pada Capricorn, 3rd pada Aquarius and 4th pada Pisces

Important Concepts in Navamsa:

# Vargottama
Vargottam literally means a planet occupying the same sign in both the rasi and the Navamsa and said to be auspicious as it's like a blessing because the Dharma signifies what is prevalent in the rasi chart in the Navamsa as well. From the counting mechanism it can be inferred that only in 12 cases can Vargottama even occur.

Classification based counting - 1st pada of a movable sign, 5th pada of a fixed sign and 9th pada of a dual sign
Element based counting - 1st pada of a fire sign, 5th pada of an earth sign, 9th pada of an air sign and the 1st pada of a water sign
Star based counting - In 1-4-7 cycle, Ashwini-1, Rohini -2, Punarvasu-3&4, in 2-5-8 cycle, Poorva Phalguni-1, Chitra-2, Chitra-3 and Anuradha-4, in 3-6-9 cycle, Uthara Ashada-1&2, Satabisha-3 and Revathi-4

Listed below is the set of 12 divisions of total 108 divisions (12 rasis*9parts) where a planet can end up becoming Vargotama.

Zodiac - Classification - Element - Star & Pada - Degree Span
Aries - Movable - Fire - Ashwini-1 - 00°00'-3°20'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Rohini-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Punarvasu-3 - 26°40'-30°00'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Punarvasu-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Poorva Phalguni-1 - 13°20'-16°40'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Chitra-2- 26°40'-30°00'
Libra - Dual - Air - Chitra-3 - 00°00'-3°20'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Anuradha-4 - 13°20'-16°40'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Uthara Ashada-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Ashada-2 - 00°00'-3°20'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Satabisha-3 - 13°20'-16°40'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Revathi-4 - 26°40'-30°00'

As you can see there is only one portion in each sign which gets the fiefdom of being Vargotama and only 9 stars out of 27 having this privilege with 3 of them having 2 of their padas becoming Vargotama viz Punarvasu, Chitra and Uthara Ashada.

# Pushkara Navamsa and Pushkara Bhaga
The Pushkara Navamsa is a specific portion in every rasi which is said to be extremely beneficial. Unlike the Vargotama which contains one division in every sign, in Pushkara Navamsa there are two special divisions of  3°20' which is said to be highly auspicious. It happens to be the 7th and 9th division in fire element signs, 3rd and 5th division in earth element signs, 6th and 8th division in air element signs and 1st and 3rd in water element signs. On top of this there is one particular degree that carries optimal strength to enhance the signification even more which is called Pushkara Bhaga which falls as one degree within the designated degree span allotted for each of the sign elements. Here there is only one degree per sign and happens to be the 21st degree for fire element signs, 14th degree for earth element signs, 24th degree for air element signs and 7th degree for water element signs.

Counting Base:
Fire Element Sign - 7th & 9th division - Libra & Sagittarius Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 21st degree
Earth Element Sign - 3rd & 5th division - Pisces & Taurus Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 14th degree
Air Element Sign - 6th & 8th division - Pisces & Taurus Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 24th degree
Water Element Sign - 1st & 3rd division - Cancer & Virgo Navamsa. Pushkara Bhaga is 7th degree

Zodiac - Sign - Element - Star & Pada - Degree Span
Aries - Movable - Fire - Bharani-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Aries - Movable - Fire - Krithika-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Krithika-4 - 6°40'-10°00'
Taurus - Fixed - Earth - Rohini-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Arudra-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Gemini - Dual - Air - Punarvasu-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Punarvasu-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Cancer - Movable - Water - Pushya-2 - 06°40'-10°00'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Poorva Phalguni-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Leo - Movable - Fire - Uthara Phalguni-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Phalguni-4 - 6°40'-10°00'
Virgo - Fixed - Earth - Hastha-2- 13°20'-16°40'
Libra - Dual - Air - Swati-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Libra - Dual - Air - Vishakha-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Vishakha-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Scorpio - Movable - Water - Anuradha-2 - 06°40'-10°00'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Poorva Ashada-3 - 20°00'-23°20'
Sagittarius - Movable - Fire - Uthara Ashada-1 - 26°40'-30°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Uthara Ashada-4 - 06°40'-10°00'
Capricorn - Fixed - Earth - Shravana-2 - 13°20'-16°40'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Satabisha-4 - 16°40'-20°00'
Aquarius - Dual - Air - Poorva Bhadra-2 - 23°20'-26°40'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Poorva Bhadra-4 - 00°00'-3°20'
Pisces - Movable - Water - Uthara Bhadra-2 - 23°20'-26°40'

Note: You would observe 12 Vargottama and 24 Pushkara Navamsa but within this you would find 3 divisions overlapping with each other and these are very powerful and auspicious as they happen to be both Vargottama and in Pushkara Navamsa. The respective constellations happen to be Rohini-2, Punarvasu-4 and Uthara Ashada-1

# 64th Navamsa
This is a very sensitive division in the Navamsa and is used to associate mainly negative events with regard to a horoscope. There are also other navamsa parts such as 55th, 88th etc but the 64th is the one which is considered to be really prominent. The 64th Navamsa and the 22nd Drekkana are crucial trigger points witnessed in a horoscope.

As the number 64 connotes it happens to be the 64th part taken from both Lagna and Moon. As we know there are 9 parts in a Navamsa and hence when we cross the 63rd part, 7 houses will be passed (9*7) and the first part of the 8th house will be the 64th Navamsa. There are two ways to calculate it both from the Rasi chart (cumbersome) as well as the Navamsa chart (easy). I shall explain with an example on both these methodologies.

Illustration:
Let us say we need to calculate the 64th Navamsa from Lagna and the Lagna degree is 18°30' in Gemini sign.

Rasi method: First we need to ascertain the division of the Lagna degree which happens to be the 6th division since 18°30' falls within the range of 16°40'-20°00'. Then we need to jump straight to the 8th house or 210th degree from where the Lagna is placed in Gemini which will end up being 18°30' in Capricorn sign. As the 6th division in a movable earthy sign will fall in Gemini, the lord of Gemini which is Mercury will end up becoming the 64th Navamsa, For instance if the Lagna degree happened to be 21°30' then it would end up falling in Cancer and Moon will be the 64th Navamsa.

Navamsa Method: Just look at the 4th sign from the Navamsa Lagna and the ruler of that house will be the 64th Navamsa. In our above example Lagna degree falling in 18°30' in Gemini will appear as Pisces Lagna in Navamsa. The 4th from Pisces is Gemini and the ruler is Mercury and hence he is the 64th Navamsa. The reason this method works like this is because each portion of 3°20' occupies a sign and hence it takes 12 parts of 3°20' to completes one zodiac cycle and hence similarly is the case with multiples of 12 such as 24th, 36th, 48th and 60th part. We return back to the Lagna for the 61st part, 2nd house becomes the 62nd, 3rd house is the 63rd part and finally the the 4th house from Navamsa Lagna ends up becoming the 64th Navamsa.

# Rasi Tulya Navamsa and Navamsa Tulya Rasi
This is a concept of super imposing and reading a chart. The Rasi Tulya Navamsa works on the placements of planets in the Navamsa chart but read from the Rasi  Lagna whereas the Navamsa Tulya Rasi is mainly used in transits where a major planet is said to influence a planet not only situated in the rasi but also placed in the Navamsa. A simple way to illustrate with an example of Rasi Tulya Navamsa is lets say your Rasi Lagna is Gemini whereas your Navamsa Lagna is Pisces and for understanding purpose let's presume that Venus is placed in the 2nd house in Aries in Navamsa. We read the same placement of Venus in Aries but by an alternate method of utilizing the Rasi Lagna which in this case in Gemini and hence Venus will be viewed as being in the 11th house. I believe assessing placements of planets through this methodology gives clues on the kind of results to expect.

Important Note:
We know that there are 12 zodiac signs consisting of 30° each and every sign covers a span of 9 divisions of 3°20' each and hence it takes only 9 zodiac signs in the Navamsa to cover the distance in one rasi making 3 rasis in Navamsa blank. It should be known for instance that a planet situated in whichever degree in Aries sign will never fall in the signs of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Likewise each zodiac sign in the rasi will ensure that 3 zodiac signs in the Navamsa gets untouched. Sharing below the list of signs in each zodiac sign where the Navamsa signs never end up falling

Aries - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Taurus - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Gemini - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Cancer - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched
Leo - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Virgo - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Libra - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Scorpio - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched
Sagittarius - Navamsas of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces remain untouched
Capricorn - Navamsas of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius remain untouched
Aquarius - Navamsas of Cancer, Leo and Virgo remain untouched
Pisces - Navamsas of Aries, Taurus and Gemini remain untouched

Hawkersan - South East Asian with a Twist!

Hawkersan is a fairly new restaurant which has sprouted up in the front end area of the sprawling Somerset hotel in MRC Nagar. As the name suggests, it's predominantly Asian cuisine with a distinguishing feature.

The concept works on the model of a course meal and you have 4 & 7 course meals for lunch and 5 & 7 course meals for dinner. There is no separate menu as such and the option for you is to have a full fleshed course meal based on the number of items which you wish to choose.

It is pretty elaborate and their course meals do touch upon every item you would look forward to while consuming a wholesome Pan Asian meal. There are starters, soups, salads, momo or bao preparation, main course and desserts.

I tried the 7 course dinner meal and it felt thoroughly justified. Started off with a juicy watermelon cooler as a welcome drink to start proceedings. Then arrived a delicious corn lentil starter infused with spices which was filled with aroma. The Lung Fung soup was delightful. They also served a wholesome spring rolls in a attractive presentable manner. It contains all the essentials to make one fall for it. The jackfruit based bao I felt could have been a tad better. The texture of the bun was super smooth but however the stuffing could have been a tad better.

In the main course we got a soupy noodles bowl and a rice with thai red curry. The bowl of noodles was filled to the brim consisting of different kinds of chinese veggies and was kind of nice to slurp over. The real winner however was the thai red curry which was simply sensational. The essence of coconut cream will no doubt bowl you hook line and sinker. We ended our course by polishing a couple of dessert jars one comprising of water chestnuts and fruits soaked in coconut milk and the other an evergreen chocolate offering.

On the whole, it was a very pleasing meal. The service was ever friendly and also the intervals of time needed to bring the next item in the fray was just spot on. The pricing seems quite competitive for such an expansive spread. All in all, if you're looking for a lovely chinese meal without thinking too much about what to choose and what not to, you can certainly try this specialty offering of Hawkersan which has the kind of wholesome spread that can surely cater to your needs.

Nostalgic World Cup memories recirculated after 23 and a half years

There are certain memories etched vividly in the mind and one such is the NZ vs Eng clash on Feb 14th 1996. I started following cricket seriously around the autumn of 1994 and the 1996 world cup happened to be my first big ticket tournament experience as a fan.

I was so excited about the Wills World Cup being staged in the sub continent and had done a thorough homework pertaining to the history of the past 5 world cups thanks mainly to a red covered book of Gulu Ezekiel 'The Story of World Cup Cricket' which gave a brief synopsis along with score lines of all the previous editions from 1975-1992.

The world cup in 1996 opened with the New Zealand vs England clash and as it was a school going weekday, I recall rushing back as soon as the last bell rang at 2:45 pm from P. S Senior Sec School, Mylapore to scamper home to watch a closely contested tussle which NZ held on to sneak through thanks largely to a platform laying hundred by Nathan Astle.

Over the years since 1996, England's performances have nose dived in world cups with them hardly ever putting even a meek foot forward whereas the Kiwis have consistently managed to get to a top 4 finish in most of the events gone by with even a final run finish in the last Trans Tasman edition in 2015.

And now almost 23 and a half years and 7 world cups later nostalgia is recirculated as these very same teams who I witnessed playing a world cup game for the first time in 1996 are locking horns with each other to earn their maiden World cup triumph. May the best team win!
#nostalgicmemories #beforegooglewasborn #preinternetdays #14feb1996to14jul2019 #longworldcupjourney #engvsnz #iccworldcup2019

Ironical similarity of 2 gentleman chasing sporting dreams!

2 gentleman ironically born on the same day 8th August (though 9 years apart) will be looking to create history around the same time come this Sunday down South of London just about 10 miles from each other in the most hallowed turfs to have ever hosted the sport of cricket and tennis viz Lords and Wimbledon. One will be looking to win his 1st major world title for his country and the other staking claim towards a record enhancing 9th championship at SW19 to etch his name a notch further up in the league of legends. Here's wishing the best to both Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Roger Federer of Switzerland.
#supersundaysportingspectacle #14thJuly2019

Notes : Some extra spicy information about these 2 sporting personalities with regard to their birth particulars and what the stars point out in the horizon
Roger Federer
Switzerland
8th Aug 1981
Vishaka Nakshatra Thula Rasi

Kane Williamson
New Zealand
8th Aug 1990
Satabisha Nakshatra Kumbha Rasi

Incidentally Vishakha and Sadabisha fall in air signs of Libra and Aquarius respectively and both these Nakshatras are said to indicate 'Dharma'. The final will take place when Moon is transiting Moola Nakshatra.

The 9 triangle:
1) The age difference in years between Roger Federer and Kane Williamson is 9 years.
2) The count of Nakshatras from their respective star constellations Vishakha to Satabisha is also 9.
3) The finals takes place in the constellation of Moola which happens to fall in the 9th sign of natural zodiac Sagittarius.
4) Fedex is aiming to win his 9th Wimbledon championship and Kane O his first world cup cricket crown with the difference again being 9.

P.S : Unfortunately it was not to be for both these 2 great achievers. They both came within an inching inkling distance of claiming the crown but nature had other plans unfortunately. Nevertheless they deserve the kudos for their sterling efforts.

Disappointing Exit in a Knock Out Clash

It must be very hard going hammer & tongs at a team who've performed admirably well during this whole World cup campaign but the ultimate truth is that this defeat would rank as one of the lowest ebbs in India's cricketing cabinet.

This was perhaps easily the greatest chance to win a world cup title and to go down against an unfanciful team like the Kiwis who themselves have had a history of getting outgunned by fellow Asians Pakistan (1992 & 1999) and Sri Lanka (2007 & 2011) in the semifinals hurts really bitter. This is one defeat which is personally a bit too painful as I've been slowly but surely dreaming of the big picture for sometime now. Especially having been in sterling form throughout the tournament swatting past virtually all opponents with ease, the expectations of the big triumph slowly started resonating. And when the moment came to actually stand up and conquer the world in the big knock out clash, the performance wasn't there to witness. The fall came at the most opportune time when it mattered the most.

I really don't have the heart like many to say 'well played guys, you fought till the very end' as finally it's the falling short which is harrowing the thoughts as history isn't created or replicated so easily. Today is an extremely disappointing day in the annals of Indian cricket and personally as a fan, this pill is too contaminated to swallow. Few days reminisced make me sad with respect to Indian cricket and this chance gone abegging stands added to the list of Indian cricketing woes. 

Spice Haat @ Hyatt Regency - Buffet igniting the Blues!

I recall coming here quite regularly back in the day to enjoy their sumptuously large buffet. To be frank nothing much has changed and even now they conjure up a remarkable spread.

I was here for an official get together and they provide a great deal of food and drinks at a fairly reasonable clip. The interesting bit is that the drinks provided are unlimited.

There isn't much to complain about the food. In the starter section, the panneer is to drool and the cheese nuggets is a good add on. They also have a live chaat and pasta counter to customise and serve as per your requirement.

The main course is lavish and well spread out. There is enough and more for both the vegetarians and non vegetarians. The gravies taste really good and go wonderfully well with the Indian bread. There are options of rice and noodles as well.

The dessert section is again packed to the rafters. Various pastries and cakes of all sizes and shapes adorn proceedings and if you're a sweet lover you'll just look forward to polishing up what they have in store.

The service was friendly and the requirements are met as required. Spice Haat is a great option for a get together lunch or dinner and there are very little chances that it won't meet your expectations as most of the bases are well covered.

Quattro - A melange of Mexican and an interim of Italian

'Quattro' was impressive in parts. They are one of the forerunner restaurants when it comes to whipping up a fest of a gastronomic food adventure mainly utilizing Italian and Mexican cuisine.

We were here on a hot weekend afternoon to look forward to a slurp feast of the best that Italian and Mexican can offer. We started our journey with a Jalapeno Queso. We asked for a small portion and it contained 3 batter fried balls submerged with cheese and spread with a Jalapeno cloud. It was cheesy and smacked flavour fully on to the taste buds. Next up was a crack at the Quesadillas. Went for a Chipotle cottage cheese filling with Mexican beans and a slice of sour cream and Mexican rice for company. This one was well stuffed and punchy with the hard hitting taste.

For main course we tried the Primavera pizza. This frankly was quite a disappointment and seemed more like a run off the mill stuff. It was just that the stuffing were well covered but did expect a more sumptuous offering. However things evened out with the spectacular Mexican cottage cheese sizzler. This one was a belted being heavily loaded with veggies and chunks of cottage cheese cubes with mashed potato and a molten dripping layer of cheese sauce to boot. It was indeed a relishing and wholesome dish.

On the dessert side we polished off a chocolate Saturn and hot chocolate soup. This had all the ammunition to win you over with effervescent essence of chocolate bowling you over. The touch up of orange, mango and jelly enhanced it further.

All in all it was a decent experience. The presentation was lovely and we also had our servings in quick time. One grouse however is on the quantity. Except the sizzler all the other items felt too minimal on serving. You do expect a little more portion and it was a tad disappointing to see such granular portions. Rate wise they are on the higher side.

Quattro on the whole can be termed as an exclusive fine dining restaurant and one of the real better one's when it comes to food experience.

Desi Di - Sounding the Dinchak!

Taking Desi Di at face value, it will surely pique your interest. The place comes with the caption 'Dhinchak' which roughly translates to attitude and that is quite clearly seen in their interiors which has a sparkle about it. It embosses and makes use of multitudes of colour giving itself a quirky and bohemian feel. It captures desiness in full vigour and it's the kitschy set up that brightens up the atmosphere and gives it a zany outlook. The seating arrangement is pretty large and converged into different enclosures and you see each of them portraying the shiz through its wall paintings, miniatures, antiques, colour co ordinations etc.

Talking about the food, it goes in tune with the name of the place and is all desi. They have deliberately avoided South Indian cuisine but brought forth a lot of different items from canteen style to road side to hardcore Punjabi flavour and much more. A lot of innovations also came to the forefront with regard to taste and presentation. One more thing is that they have tweaked some of the items mildly in order for it to suit the palette of the localites.

We started our foray with a few drinks and chai. The lemon barley shikanji was more of a refreshing tonic to beat the heat. The Punjabi Lassi with nuts was pretty frothy and flavourful. The kala khatta soda was a lovely iced drink. The red hibiscus ice tea which was presented in a large beaker looked very appealing but somehow I didn't find it to be too distinctive on taste to any other usual fruit infused tea.

There was a section in the menu titled "All Day Menu" comprising of snacks and starters. The paneer bhurji papad waa very nice with smudged pieces of cottage cheese gregariously spread across the roundish oval along with sprucing of masala and inter laden in the center with a delectable pumpkin dip. The samosas were served in a canteen style box with 2 kinds of chutneys and a bunch of chilli's. These contained the usual potato masala but the texture of it was very good. The Arbi Pakoda was super crispy and slathered with the rightful dosage of spices making it a great snacker. The vada bao was quite lovely with the aloo loaded vada made Bombay style dunked in steamed bao buns. This one defined the Dhinchak as it was made in true Bambayya style with generous garnishing of podi mixture in addition to gentle spraying of chutneys and to infuse the spice quotient lengthy pieces of green chilli's were provided as accompaniment. The sambar kichdi was another one dish which was absolutely yummy and this one was great eating with the crispy papads. The Pav Bhaji fondue however was quite a disappointment. It was the usual pav buns torn as pieces and kept like bread sticks to eat dipped with the bhaji. The masala lacked a bit of creaminess and surely could have been better.

In the main course part, we had a Gujarati special item called Panki. We tried the palak corn version and this was basically a stuffing inside a green leaf that needed to be scraped and eaten. Quite a different experience trying this one. We also got naan with Malai Kofta which was done with the right ammunition and went very well with the Indian bread. The best of the lot was the Paneer Kurchan which was an aromatic panneer gravy cooked with much love and going really well with Naan. It was also served interestingly in a cooker and the flavour was very vehement.

The desserts were a complete win. The Pudina chai brulee was toothsome and really rich in taste with a subtle hint of pudina flavour in a cream brulee base. The gulab jamun cheesecake was a conglomeration well done with the mellow effect of the cake and the juicy taste of the jamuns being simply melt in the mouth. And we rounded the proceedings in superlative style through the Gajar Ka Halwa samosa with candy floss. This was totally bindaas with the samosas containing a sweetened pasty essence and coming along with a bowl of Malai floating with nuts and a fruit infused cotton candy floss. The whole dessert was a sinister creation and a wonderful workout for the sweet craving aficionado.

The rates seem fairly reasonable for the quantity and quality of stuff served. The service was quick witted. It was a pleasure conversing with the host who had complete knowledge of the items in the menu and about the specialities of each dish. Parking is of least concern as it's located in a club with abundant space being available. The place radiates with a kaleidoscope of colours and showcases dhinchak (attitude) in resolute fashion. This is a nice little place to visit especially with large groups and spend some good noteworthy time by soaking in the colour co ordinated ambiance and eat sumptuous food to your hearts content.