Is it possible to love someone but not really like them?

Vicky's La Terrazza: The Mudpie that Wasn't

It reminded me of a homely tavern in a Grecian village...all the blue shimmering against the whitewashed walls. Wait a minute! Isn't this supposed to be an Italian place?!

This is Vicky's La Terrazza, with the best pesto in town!

On a whim, Pooja, the Giant and I decided to go there. Our previous efforts to locate the place had led us to Boca Grande,the Pizzeria Romano and a shady cafe, but never Vicky's...

The starters we went for was Bruschetta: Now the thing which sets this place apart, and I must mention this at the outset, is the liberal use of extra virgin olive oil. Served on toasted slices of garlic bread, with garlic and basil, the additive dash of oil lent a brilliant aftertaste to the chopped fresh tomatoes. Since we were three of us, there was much of 'No you take the last piece.".."you do!". [If nothing else, our manners never desert us ;) ]

Another thing which struck me was how reasonable the proportions were. I use the word 'reasonable' deliberately, because most Italian restaurants either serve too little or so much that the Giantends up leaving everything getting full.

I ordered Mediterranean Chicken and the presentation of the dish blew me away. Tiny cubes of feta, surrounded by strips of sun-dried tomatoes and baby olives, rested on a chicken breast. Mashed potatoes on the side with sprinkled oregano added to the charm. Penne was swamped in a delicious pesto and it was all I could do to not close my eyes in ecstacy.

Pooja always plays safe and stuck to her favourite - Chicken Parmigiana. The crust was crisp in all the right places, the meat succulent. YUM! The Giant experimented this time . She chose Spaghetti Dellarocca, a heavenly toss-up of green and black olives, mushrooms and spaghetti. And who can forget the ubiquitous olive oil!

I was a pig!! Not only did I finish my dish, raving every second about it...I also ate most of the Giant's exotic sounding spaghetti. There is NO HOPE for me.

Rounded up the dinner with a slice of Mississippi Mud Pie - which I must warn IS NOT WHAT the terrazza people tell you it is. This version was a biscotti with ice cream on top..strange but nice!

Vicky's is on the lane parallel to the Forum Road, Koramangala. Just take a left from the street where Boca grande is. Sorry, this is how i give directions!

Visit this place. Its a a slice of Tuscan sun :)

Avatar, Bollywood na?

You google Avatar, and the search engine shows more blogspot hits than news about the movie.

You dread reading a blog to find yet another maverick giving his take on the-one-thing-you-must-see-before-you die... It is inevitable.

This is not a review. This doesn't have amusing comic panels breaking down the movie scene by scene. I write today because of the courageous political overtones the movie contained. Courageous? Why? Did you not notice how the battle lines were drawn? A powerful nation invading a smaller country....refusing to understand their ways, blinded by the 'threat' of terror, disguising their greed for a rare mineral by calling upon the patriotism of a mighty race who unfortunately is also the most ignorant.

James Cameron spent a better part of the movie allowing the viewer to connect with the Omaticaya people - something not many movies dealing with a similar subject really concentrate on. We are so seductively drawn into the world of the Na'vi that before we know it, we are lustily cheering the hero to take on those bleddy amreekans. (I war-whooped couple of times!) We want the underdog to win so bad, that each bullet in a Na'vi, each Irkan dying makes you want to jump into the battlefield.

But what is most interesting is that Cameron went into the psyche of those Marines forced to live and survive in hostile conditions - "We gotta fight terror with terror...them blue savages are amassing their numbers to end our race". You can't really blame Colonel Quatrich - leader of the security forces on Pandora, for isn't this what generations of Americans have grown up to believe? A unidimensional conviction, a fear that allows no room for rationality. In the 1930s, they were convinced the world will be run over by 'yellow babies'. In 1960s Moscow became the boogey-man. Today savages from the east bring terror.

You feel for the scientists scrambling to do...something...for the Na'vi. You join the league of the rebels furtively helping out Sam Worthington. And yet the utter pointlessness of war, the all-consuming greed for a stupid mineral does not escape you. The director won't let you forget Today. As we know it. Even as we experience Pandora through flimsy 3D glasses. Iraq is very much on his mind.

Cameron then slowly directs our way back to Nature. The wildlife, even the creepy insects are painted a vivid colour, while the mechanized AMPs, military camps are a dull grey. The Omaticaya seek forgiveness of the animals they prey on, pray for its after-journey. Cut to the impersonal nature of modern warfare. The collocation is brilliant.

More than Cameron making the film, I'm surprised a major studio like 20th Century Fox backed such a controversial movie. I guess 3D meant big-bucks.

Anyhoo, Avatar had all the ingredients of a typical Bollywood masala movie! Love, clan loyalty, violence, the villain even tries to kill the girl to avenge himself on the hero, who did a total Namak Haram on him. :D