Eat Happy at Mast Kalandar

This was some three years back when I along with a few colleagues were discussing the idea of opening a restaurant. A few days later, I saw this article about 3 techies who actually did it; they quit their jobs to start Mast Kalandar. I was inspired. Dont start looking for our restaurant.. it's still on paper.

I have been a big fan of Mast Kalandar (on Bannerghatta Road) ever since for its healthy tasty food. Though it is a little heavy on the purse for everyday eating, it is really worth visiting once in a while. They have a branch in Koramangala as well. The menu is interesting, the food looks good, is the right quantity and tastes like home-made stuff. The best part for me is the amount of oil used - it is just enough to make the food tasty, nothing more. And my parents like it too.

The only bad part in the Bannerghatta joint is the deteriorating road. These days, it is all the more worse due to a never progressing construction activity on the road opposite the restaurant. Well, Mast Kalandar offers you a free Gulab Jamun/Rosugulla for braving the road to eat at their place. Isn't that a 'sweet' gesture :) And going by the progress of the construction or the lack of it, the offer would go on for a looonng time. Happy eating!!

Lost and not found.. yet..

Some of you might already know or experienced (if you tried reaching me) that I lost my new mobile before its first month birthday. Ironically, I had just started looking into the manual the very day I lost it. Had been to this wedding reception, mainly as a chauffer for mom and dad and was generally cribbing about some silly rituals when I did not realize that my phone had fallen off my lap during dinner. I started missing my tall, dark, beautiful Nokia E51 within minutes and went back to be told that some elderly woman had picked it up. I was pretty sure that I would get it back immediately; the idea of an elderly woman who is attending a wedding, keeping someone else's phone did not even cross my mind.. I still cannot believe it. But, I called atleast 15 times without getting an answer. The phone was actually switched off within 15 minutes of losing it. The couple who had seen this woman described her in a little more detail, and I tried to spot her in the video. But the video guy was too busy and committed to his work. I tried to coax him into believing that tracing this woman who apparently 'took' my mobile was more interesting than editing and mixing the video of the couple on stage which he gets to do almost everyday. He was not convinced by my argument.
Well, I spent a day in repentence and worry, the only hope being the mobile tracker which was enabled on my phone. With this, my brother would get a message when the SIM was changed without providing a password. So, we waited and the message finally arrived, exactly 24 hrs after it was 'taken'. Two different SIM cards inserted within a matter of few minutes. The information also included the IMEI number of my phone as well as the cell info.. some brushing up of Mobile Communications from.. was it 7th sem?? Having the SIM Id was like knowing the unique identifier of the thief..

The next day, we got an acknowledgement from the nearest police station to be able to enquire on the SIM ID. A little bit of running around and we (wrongly) estiblished that the SIM belonged to AirTel. Well, AirTel wouldn't give the details so easily, so, we now have to get an approval from the ACP of Bangalore South District. The current status is that we have got the request forwarded from the police to various service providers to trace the SIM ID. Meanwhile, we got another SMS today that the SIM was changed yet again. Looks like my phone is rejecting any SIM other than mine :)

The search is still on. Watch this space for updates.