For every eye that sees, 
For every touch that feels, 
For every wound that heals, 
Render your faith and seek, 
The truth that lies at the peak… 

Time is a supersonic jet, 
And the battle against it, 
Is to be won as yet; 
The gold is darkening, 
The gems are withering, 
And the strength begins to falter; 

The edge of the road, 
Arrives with a striking note; 
Regret is all we achieve, 
Since the start of the alley; 
Haunted by the evil lonesomeness, 
There seems to be no one, 
Who feels the shattering pain…. 

A blinding light, 
That’s ever so bright, 
You feel the heavenly might; 
The almighty only puts forth one question- 
“Is there much that you regret,my son?” 
“No,my lord”,you lie,”not much.”, 
His heavenly smile whispering- 
“You do not lie, my child,” 
To the ultimate truth,that confides;” 

The smile brings a tear in your eyes, 
And the clouds are torn apart, 
Revealing the deceiting truth… 
A turnado of discomposure, 
Leaves you into shambles, 
Realising how incomplete you left, 
Every mortal moment undealt… 

You crave for merciful grant, 
But there seems no way back… 
Now that the mystery of life 
Starts unravelling, 
Your unscathed wounds, 
Cause more pain and mysery; 
And the rose amongst the thorns, 
Gives up to treachery… 

Now you’ve become another mystery, 
In the darkest chill of space…. 
Looking onto your own life history, 
Praying that no one should face, 
Such a pulverisation; 
But your prayers are lost, 
Lost amongst the shimmering stars, 
Just like a shringle amongst rocks, 
And just like your long lost existence…. 

When you hear the word Oktoberfest, it is almost certain that one thing comes to mind, Bavarian Beer Festival! But this time, Oktoberfest comes to Pune for the third time at RWITC. This is the second time that the Oktoberfest is being hosted by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) in association with Volkswagen India at the Royal Western India Turf Club.

Among the many attractions was the “liquid gold” (beer) alongwith the unique Wheat and Lemon Beer!All types of cuisine were available. The truly Bavarian band, Die Sulmtaler was probably the biggest highlight at the Oktoberfest at RWITC.

Apart from the main Derby Race, the other highlight was the Dhunjibhoy family-sponsored Sprint Million and the VW Trophy.  Director Volkswagen India Private Limited presented a Volkswagen Polo as a grand prize to the winner of the ‘Contest of Skills’ at the Derby. The ‘Contest of Skills’ requires the spectators to predict correctly the winner and the runner up of the first race. Those who successfully predict winners of the VW Trophy and the Derby have a chance of winning a VW polo!

Well, RWITC and IGCC left no stone unturned to maintain the authenticity of the fair. The double dose of the Derby weekend and the Oktoberfest was enough to get everyone high. You want to see a fest celebrated in style, then you got to see the oktoberfest here at RWITC, Pune.

O zapft is !!

So, on your boyfriend’s birthday, you decide on heading to the fanciest restaurant in town- A custom I never understood. At the stroke of midnight (Oh Gosh! SO dramatic), we have our romantic joy ride and reach The Marriott Hotel on Senapati Bapat Road. Birthday, Five Star, Romance, it was like a perfectly baked Black Forest cake.

With quite the dazzling lobby interiors, you “will” get impressed. But BEWARE! This is exactly “THE BOOK” which you should not judge by it’s cover. The restaurant itself i.e Spice Kitchen was too bright and quite average looking though.It looked like my college mess, just with better furniture. 

Do not judge it by this picture. They have Photoshop-ed it!

Error #1 - We had gone there with the intention of having the buffet dinner that night but were a tad bit late.Therefore, we Order a Club Sandwich and A Pasta.We wait and we wait and we wait. I think I remember the sweeper had finished mopping the entire floor by then. They got the food after 50 minutes. And guess what they get? Butter Chicken and Naan. Facepalm!

Error #2 - After sending it back, they take another 15 minutes to get the Pasta. Sandwich is still missing. Why? Because he ASSUMED that we would want the sandwich last. Another Facepalm.

The pasta was good, I must admit. Nice and creamy but not the best.This was the best part of the night.

Error #3 - A disaster is then placed on our table in the form of a Club Sandwich.The bread was a 100 years old and the lettuce was just some random leaves picked up from their garden and stuffed into the sandwich. I think I laughed at the Sandwich that night!

Error #4 - We had two waiters taking orders from us and it was so frustrating to place each order twice. When one does not get it we have to tell the other one and vice- versa. FACEPALM AGAIN.

Error #5 - They placed the food on the table and LEFT!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? They Left! Even Dhabas in Pune serve the food! What in the name of Marriot were these guys doing??

Well, whoever said that this place was awesome, was either talking about the buffet or was getting paid to say it or was simple drunk. This was a Marriott you don’t expect. It was a Marriott Of Errors.

In most occasions, my one and only destination for legendary shakes is Mocha in Koregaon Park. Its a third place for most of my hooked-to- hookah  friends too.Mainly catering to a young crowd, it’s perfect for hanging out with friends or even working over a cup of mind-blowing coffee.

Being a regular there, I’ve literally tried almost all the items on the menu. I decided to try the “Oreo Cookie and fudge brownie shake” ( yes, that one shake) yesterday. It comes in a tall glass topped with an Oreo cookie looking all gorgeous. I take a sip - ummm, not bad. But definitely not the best. This shake is made for a milk chocolate lover (the ones with more milk and less white chocolate) They had made it too cold for some reason too. Never happens usually. 

It had quite a good texture, the crushed cookies in the milk. Sipping till the end, you find a dark solid at the lower end of the glass. See it and its a brownie fudge taste it and it’s a disaster fudge. It had a  powder like texture, can you believe it? It was decent till here and then I was forced to leave it so.

The great shake wasn’t that great after all. Infact it was decent in the beginning and then unbearable (just like most men). I can’t even suggest you to add ketchup like the rest of the times -  I’d just sound even more disastrous.

If you actually wan’t a shake I’d say try a Rocky Road or a Cookie Monster. Even the Ferrero Rocher shake is quite brilliant.

Unfortunately,Oreo’s are better eaten than shaken.

I’ll rate it a 2.5 Ketchup bottles on 5 for its halfway decency. :-/

After breaking my grey cells for an hour I finally decided that I would try dinner at a place I have never been to. Shikharra is a terrace restaurant just above Casanova in Kalyaninagar and is recognized for it’s Kashmiri cuisine. Well, if I were to ignore the ten thousand mosquitoes and a below average ambience, I had one of the best vegetarian dinners since a month.The Dum aaloo and garlic naan had me moaning at each bite. Waah! kya khana tha! Perfectly boiled Potatoes in a thick and extremely tasty red gravy with the garlic naan, was as perfectly paired as bun maska and Chai. And the best part? It’s cost was an exact Rupees 500 for two people.

Talking of the starter, Zafran-e-Paneer, the reason I’m telling you about it in the end is because I pretty much forgot about it at the start of the blog.Nothing memorable at all. Very average dish that I wouldn’t order the next time.Below is a picture of the same.

There were no tissues on our table. Well, we didn’t need it either. The main course had us licking our fingers! Burrrp. Well, I come out of the restaurant, bitten by mosquitoes but still as far as I remember I had a smile on my face :-DDDDD