Category: Politics

Book Review – Bastard of Istanbul!

Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak’s is a story of Nineteen year old unmarried woman who walks into a doctor’s surgery.

‘I need to have an abortion,’ she announces. And twenty years later the daughter is born from the unmarried woman, Asya Kazanci who lives with her extended family in Istanbul. But, All the Kazanci men die in their early forties, Victims of mysterious family curse, so it’s a house of women. Asya’s cousin visit‘s the family in Istanbul and she bringing long- hidden family secrets connected with turkey’s past. Elif Shafak the author had been on my reading list for a long time and my sister got this book as a souvenir from turkey. In many ways It was like revisiting Turkey, Istanbul and enjoying all the local delicacies through the storytelling as the story unfolds and explores sides of Istanbul that only a local could show you around. The locals delicacies described in the book from Pilaf a popular rice dish in the middle east to Bastrima – Beef cold cuts like Salami is more commonly known as Pastrami to the Manti a type of Turkish dumpling to musaqa baked dish that mainly consist of eggplants ( Aubergines) or potatoes with meat. Very popular in Greece and the Middle East.To the last but not the least Kaburga a Turkish term used for Ribs make the book more authentic and enjoyable.And besides the food, the whole experience and details written, Are more relatable and deepens the connect to understands the country and locals. A Book that will make you want to travel to turkey if you haven’t. And if you have would make you want to revisit turkey.

Horse Betting!!

Always seemed curious to know exactly how does betting in horse races actually happen. No,Not that I had no idea at all.
Of course I knew a little or to confess actually nothing,You really can’t believe and trust what the movies show is actually that happens,They of course take the creative liberty, that’s why It’s known as a creative field.
So when I did get an invite for an event at the race course,As this was also the last race of the season.I not only made sure,I was in town.But, had my parents and their friends to come down for this particular event. For which I accidentally got invited and grabbed it with both my hands literally! Had a total number of nine people from my side.
We after absorbing the atmosphere out there, finally paid attention to one of the actual reasons why we made it a point to attend the evening. The races, So as the rush to go and bet on the horses was really high, without having any clue. We all chose are numbers,Keeping in mind the most popular Horse number, Numerology (The lucky numbers) and going with the instinct Of which horse might win and placed our bets on a couple of numbers. And out of the five number we had placed the bet on we were lucky the ”7” was one of them that won. This was just the beginning of the circle, well.If I have won this let me try out my luck once again (No,We did not want to consciously keep in mind that this would be our beginner’s luck .) So we go again and this time we learn something. What numbers would you like to place for the “WIN” and what numbers would you like to keep on Place”. We were now literally glued to know more and kept wondering what “Place” would be. No,We did not want to ask anybody We did not want to embarrass ourselves. So came up with a theory it might be an alternative number, that we would like to “Place” a bet on. So, not happy with the validation our last resort,”Google” will know it for sure and it happens “Place” Is the Horse number that you believe is going to either be finishing in the first Postion or the second position.While I got to know “Place” besides the “Win” options. I thought i knew the basic for the next season. I learnt a few more things.
There is something known as “Show” too in horse betting.
Well,Hold your horses! I am coming to that point, What exactly is “Show” now. Well! you will have to excuse me because here I will have to tell you and wouldn’t able to show it to you. Unlike the show business Where you show and don’t tell. “Show” is your horse has to either finish first,Second or Third.

There are a few other terms too, which I am going to share out here right now! For you to brag when you too would be going to experience the races.

Exactia – Who would the first two finisher’s (Pick them)
Trifecta – Who would be the first three finishers (Pick them)
Superfecta – Who would be the first four Finishers
Hi- 5 – Any guess what would this be? The first five finishers obviously.

Amritsar -25th Birthday! 

You really don’t realise how long it has actually been,Until you sit down and think when was the last time… As my parents have been visiting the Golden Temple for years but for the last 5 years and I have missed the opportunity of visiting Amritsar , because of work commitments.This Year I decided for my 25th I wanted to visit the Holy city of Punjab,Amritsar.
It’s been more than two weeks already since we have got  back.But,my birthday weekend was a memorable one.Eating the typical street food from the city,Having the Banta (Lemon juice+Soda+Shikanji) a type of Lemonade.But you just don’t get the same taste.This time I watched him closely,Should try again making at home. 
The Chole+Kulcha and the Kulcha’s had the perfect weather to digest them all,When you  could  Hogg  all day.The Weather being all breezy and Cold.Couldn’t have been a better time to visit the city. 
The Visit to the Golden Temple on our first day in the evening was the calmest and most peaceful visit to any temple so far. 
With just the family-4 of us Mom,Dad,Sister and Me of Course it was a great trip! 
Oh! Not to forget our Amritsar Guide -Ggunjan  for the hospitality and warmth made it a Memorable trip to remember.

2018 Dairies !!

2018 has been a Journey filled with lots of travel Stories. Right From Jaipur to Jodhpur in India to Monoco and Morocco for Work. And not to forget the highlight –  Japan for Family Holiday. 
Culture
Experiencing the Rajasthan culture in India to experiencing the Japanese culture and living the  Moroccan life. 
All these places either had Food, lifestyle or architecture. And these  Culture  became another Journey in itself.
Books worth the Read In 2018. 
Journeys through the books. 
Starting from Exiting West to Landing at the port of Mokha and Many reads in between from open by Andre Agassi to “Killing Commendatore by Murakami  below are the top 5 reads of 2018.
1.Exit West – by Mohsin Hamid  stories of immigrants. 
2.Homo Deus – by Yuval Harari  How the Technology  is collecting data and using it. 
3.Born a Crime – by Trevor Noah A true story of a comedian born in South Africa with a mother being a black and father a white. 
4.Monk of Mokha –  by Dave  Eggers – Story of how The port of Mocha coffee travelled across the international waters.
5.Killing Commendatore – by Murakami
Noteworthy Movies of 2018 
1.Puzzle -How a simple gift of a puzzle changes the perspective of one individual 
2.Crazy Rich Asians – The Big fat Indian wedding going global 
3.Searching – How technology helps track down a father daughter and her murderer. 
4.Ben is Back – A  young drug addict and his mother’s story to come in terms with reality. 
And the Hindi film industry had many movies to choose to watch this year! 
But there a few out there you couldn’t miss at all . 
1.Pad Man by R.Balki was one of the great stories the year began with and continued till Raid, The income tax issue can sometime come as a surprise-Ajay Devgn needs to experiment.
2.Hichki -Though a inspiration from the west.Brought Rani Mukherji Back as a actor and the production house for their content. 
3.Missing the only missing from this psychology thriller was the audience who missed one of the best thrillers of the year.
4.October – Simple stories are the most difficult to tell.And October by Shoojit Sircar was one such story.
5.Beyond the cloud by Majid Majidi -Had the world  take notice of Ishan Khattar as an actor & performer 
Raazi,Soorma,Parmanu,Andhadhun,Badhaai Ho ! And Manmarziyaan were a few movies to watch out. 

Open -Andre Agassi

Open – Andre Aggasi’s Autobiography teaches you so much about tennis and the life of a sportsman.

This autobiography interested me because There was so much to learn about the sport & about a personality who never liked Tennis. But played it anyway until he retired in 2006.

From the day he was born Andre’s Was born to be a tennis player, and at an age when you are still learning and enjoying your childhood.

Andre’s Father bet $10,000 on his son for a match against Jim Brown.

While the father went home to get the cash. A senior tennis club manager begged Jim Brown to lower his stakes…

The only thing Andre did was Play Tennis. A sport which he hated all his life. But, Became his life and became one of the few greats in Tennis we know today.

This blog ain’t about him personally, But on what do the different tournaments means, The different types of courts and the common terms that are used in tennis.

The first (and now oldest) tennis tournament was held at Wimbledon in 1877 and hence it’s called the Wimbledon and considered the prestigious Grand Slam. The Grand Slam tournaments are the four most important annual tennis events. The Grand Slam consists of the Australian Open in mid-January, the French Open in May and June, Wimbledon in June and July, and the US Open in August and September. Each tournament is played over a period of two weeks.

The matches in the Wimbledon

are known as Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s singles and doubles.

and not the men’s and women’s singles and doubles as known in the other tournaments.

Trivia on the Wimbledon:

1. An important Wimbledon Member Rufus the Hawak flies around the court each day to move on any trouble-making pigeons.

2.34,000kg of strawberries and 10,000 litres of cream are consumed at Wimbledon.- Strawberry & Cream

The Types of surfaces in tennis – There are mainly 4 types of surfaces. clay courts, hard courts, grass courts and carpet courts.

Wimbledon is the only tournament in tennis that still since 1877.uses the Grass courts. Grass courts are the fastest type of courts. And another reason why they aren’t used in any of the other Grand slams (Australian Open from 1905 to 1987, the US Open from 1881 to 1974) It’s because it is difficult to maintain and the cost of maintenance is very high.

The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament to use clay courts.

Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce.

hard courts have been in use at the Australian Open since 1988 and the US Open since 1978.

“Carpet” Yes that makes you wonder – What type of court would this be in fact in it tennis means any removable court covering. Since 2009, their use has been discontinued on the top tier of the ATP.

I am sure, you must have come across these terms, and for someone who doesn’t follow tennis, this is what the terms related to the term ‘Grand Slam‘ really mean.

* ‘Grand Slam’– Winning all 4 Grand Slams of the year

* ‘Golden Slam‘- Winning all 4 Grand Slams along with an Olympic gold       medal in the same year

* ‘Super Slam’– Winning all 4 Grand Slams along with the ATP/WTA finals in the same year.

* ‘Calendar  Slam‘- Winning the Slam in the same year or in a single year

* ‘Non-Calendar Slam’-Winning the slam in a period of 12 months

* ‘Career Slam‘- Winning the slam overall in the career i.e. winning all the    events of a slam in the career once

They are each called “Grand Slam tournaments” because they are the tournaments that make up the “Grand Slam”.