This was how D surprised me for my birthday. I hadn’t heard about this, but given my love for Goan cuisine, she somehow dug this out. 🥰 And that’s how we landed up in Indiranagar on a Sunday afternoon.
I had this feeling that I have been to this building before, but housing another eatery. I think it was Cafe Terra, which I had visited in 2016 but I cannot be sure because Cafe Terra’s current version, located slightly away, also looks similar! Anyway, the decor is elegant, pretty and has that amazing set of radios! I really should have asked where they got it from. We chose a table on the balcony upstairs to watch the world go by.
We hadn’t seen this brand of Kombucha before, so we tried two flavours. I obviously loved my cola flavour, but D didn’t mind the salted lime either. We tried the chicken cutlets, and really liked it. Great texture. Mary’s Beef Fry that followed was quite good too, though as all good Keralese people do, we think our version is the gold standard.
The Garlic Poee was excellent but quite heavy! The Pav was not too bad so that is an option as well. I think the only disappointment was the Goan Pork Roast. For all the looks, the flavours were quite insipid.
Thankfully, the caramel custard made up for it to some extent.
In terms of Goan food, I still prefer the thalis at Carnival De Goa, but for some strange reason, it’s only available on weekdays now. Klaa is good in its own way, and definitely worth a visit if you’re around those parts.
The bill came to a little over Rs.2700. The service was prompt and courteous.
Klaa, #846, Ground and First Floor, 4th Main, Paramahamsa Yogananda Road (Double Road), Indiranagar Ph: 9561711497
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes is a fascinating book, but how much it interests you depends on how curious you are. Grann mentions in his introduction that all the ‘stories’ are true, but I thought it was a gimmick to add to the effect. (like say, The Bridges of Madison County) When I got to the third chapter, I actually got really curious and googled. He wasn’t bluffing.
The book begins with the death of a Sherlock Holmes (or rather Conan Doyle) expert, the mystery surrounding it, and the existence of a ‘curse’. The last chapter is about ‘Toto’ Constant, a Haitian warlord, who founded a death squad, terrorised a democratically elected president’s supporters, and when the chapter starts, is a real estate agent in the US! He was nicknamed ‘The Devil’. That is as far as the connections with the title will go.
The book is divided into three parts. The first is made up of mysteries, ranging from arson investigation to a grown man who masquerades as a child, to a Polish detective trying to figure out whether an author has written a post-modern novel based on a crime he himself committed. The second part is about ‘a strange enigma is man’ – people (and in one case, generations) who are devoted to a specific calling and just won’t quit. The last part is about the ‘wicked in the universe’ – organised prison gangs that are practically beyond the reach of law, a city in love with the Mob and yes, Toto.
This is actually a superb work of investigative journalism. It exposed me to people, lives and worlds that seem so out of the realms of possibility that it is difficult to believe that they exist. A thoroughly interesting read if you’re so inclined.
Quite a few of Arthur C. Brooks’ columns have resonated with me and also been thought-starters for some of my blog posts, so I was looking forward to ‘From Strength to Strength’. The premise is that in the first half of their lives, (most) people single-mindedly strive to be successful, often at the cost of health, relationships etc. But with age, many of the abilities that made them successful start to decline. They resent and resist this, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction. The book is about navigating the second half of one’s life when there are changes in mind and body, and the rules by which one worked and lived no longer seem to make sense. How does one get through this liminality, and thrive?
The book begins with one of his articles I had particularly liked – Your Professional Decline is Coming. I found this chapter very interesting thanks to the concepts that appear in it. For instance, “the principle of psychoprofessional gravitation”, the idea that the agony of decline is directly related to prestige previously achieved, and to one’s emotional attachment to that prestige. Also, the two kinds of intelligence – fluid intelligence, defined as the ability to reason, think flexibly, and solve novel problems, and crystallised intelligence, the ability to use a stock of knowledge learned in the past. The former is high in early adulthood, and starts to diminish in the thirties and forties. The latter starts growing from then on. Simplistically put, intelligence, and wisdom. The trick is to jump off from the first curve and on to the second in the later stages of life.
The book then moves on to how we objectify ourselves at work, and are addicted to the success it brings, making the jump to the second curve difficult. Many things are involved – pride, fear, social comparison, and a loss aversion that focuses on well, losing things like wealth, power, and fame one has amassed through hard work.
The rest of the book offers perspectives on how to get off the treadmill – mindfulness, finding friends and meaningful relationships, focusing on companionate love in marriage (rather than passionate love), facing one’s fear of death, distinguishing between intrinsic and extrinsic goals and focusing on the former, starting vanaprastha and understanding how to detach, finding a faith. I found this part not entirely different from things I have read in other books. I think I expected a bit more, but on hindsight, that’s an unfair expectation, since this is something one has to figure out independently, books and other people can only offer perspectives.
Having said that, ‘From Strength to Strength’ is a great start if you’re feeling the waves of midlife hit you. It provides context and perspectives to help you start framing the second half of life.
Notes Fear of death: “thanatophobia.”Whether paralyzing or mild, the fear of death has eight distinct dimensions: fear of being destroyed, fear of the dying process, fear of the dead, fear for significant others, fear of the unknown, fear of conscious death, fear for body after death. and fear of premature death. Edsel problem: The famous car that Ford executives loved, but consumers hated. They sell what *they* like, instead of what the consumers wants and needs. (in the context of helping people at our convenience and in our way) “The worst thing about death is the fact that when a man is dead it is impossible any longer to undo the harm you have done him, or to do the good you haven’t done him.They say: live in such a way as to be always ready to die. I would say: live in such a way that anyone can die without you having anything to regret.” Leo Tolstoy
Turns out, if one uses a specific time window, ORR is not too bad to negotiate on a Saturday evening. That’s how I was tempted to Mannheim Craft Brewery at The Bay Food Court in RMZ Ecoworld. Craft beer obviously sweetened the deal. You’ll have to walk right till the end, but the good news is that it is closer to the loo!
Mannheim is quite elegant with multiple kinds of seating for different-sized groups. If you’re in early enough, you obviously get to pick seats. We choose high stools (with back support, yay!) that gave us a nice vantage point to observe modern humanity in one of their preferred ecosystems – food courts.
P.S. I think that mural belongs to Irish House but whatever.
Not all the beers were available, something I observed during a second visit as well, so do beyond the menu and ask what else they have. We tried the Mead, the Ambrosia and the Amber Ale (samplers are priced quite high) and finally went with the Helles Lager and the Hefeweizen. Both Bavarian, but the former is a light, crisp lager that is not too bitter, and the latter is fresh and fruity.
We tried the Kozhi Vepudu – fried chicken in buttermilk sauce , which did offer some spice. But the Murgh Malai Kandhari (sic) Chicken despite the promise of bird’s eye chilli was rather bland. Or rather, inconsistently spicy, depending on whether your piece had a chilli in it or not.
When there is Korean cream cheese bun, one must have it. Unfortunately, our high bar on this is the one at Roxie. This one isn’t close. Mains was Spaghetti Mamma Rosa. Closer to browna than rosa, but not bad in terms of taste.
The thing about the menu at Mannheim is that though it seemingly provides options, it is pretty limited especially when it comes to mains. Probably because the beer-only crowd prefers only starters.
The service is quite pleasant and prompt, and we felt lighter by around Rs.3000. The beer isn’t bad, but you don’t have to travel for it. Only drop in if you’re in the vicinity.
Mannheim Craft Brewery, The Bay, Ecoworld Bellandur Ph: 096633 95482
