How I came to be "Sir Madam!"

Its been barely 5 months since I joined a manufacturing company at the Management level, and with it came an unusual title - Sir Madam. Let me explain the genesis of "Sir Madam".

I first came across this term when I beckoned a technical designer, and the first words out of his mouth came - Yes Sir!, quickly correcting to Madam... thus out of the blue, I was being called "Sir Madam".

Of course I had mildly dismissed it as a one-of-thing, terming it as a slip of the tongue. But within the coming weeks I came across this salutation term half a dozen times by those who get startled whenever I refer to them in public. My conclusion thus far is that clearly they aren't used to having a woman "Boss" around, never mind the fact that I am not their immediate Boss, but Boss's daughter-in-law who may eventually take over the reins, but not anytime soon.

Don't take me wrong, I am not complaining, instead I am quite amused whenever I hear this term and laugh it off, embarrassing the person who just addressed me.

In fact, I'd like to take it further and ask them why they just called me that. Perhaps then one of the answers would be - Sorry Sir! (oops!) Madam. A proof of the male dominant work culture legacy.

Another version of the answer could be - "No Madam, we didnt know it was you." To that I would say - "But you just heard me calling you, and does it mean my voice is not feminine?" Leaving them all the more confused groping for an appropriate answer.

Or, another honest answer could be - "Umm... we are used to calling Sir" Ah! now thats more convincing and appropriate.

While I'm at it, let me share another peeve - the word Madam itself. I would prefer everyone calling me by my first name itself, as I am used to it, thanks to my previous work culture. I tried convincing others to do so but in vain. Maybe they don't see me as "one among them". So I let it be and reluctantly accepted the "Madam" culture, and constantly being reminded of the school days when we would call the teacher like so.

However what irritates me is when my seniors or peers also address me as MADAM (mostly pronounced as MEDAM), and so my agony to convince them otherwise continues. I'd rather have them call me "Ma'am" instead of "Madam", it sounds much more sophisticated and non-school like.

I only feel better thinking that I am not in North India, where I would've probably been addressed as "Sirji Madam" or "Sirji Madamji". For now I have resigned to this 'system' and realised not to try and beat the system, but to join in and enjoy being known as The Madam.... atleast till the time comes when more women are absorbed in the Middle Management , especially in the traditionally male held positions in industries like manufacturing sector.

Note: On the above post, a friend of mine remarked , "Oh, sounds like you are getting the reins of power!" I replied, "On the contrary, it (blog) only reflects the unfamiliarity of having a woman as a boss and that means so much more challenging task for me to change their mindset."

The Idea of India? We are a soft target

What is the Idea of India? Are we to be proud of the fact that we are a nation that rises like a Pheonix from the ashes everytime? The Ashes consist of the tag of 'The Third World Nation', the Western world's image of India as a land of snake-charmer, ashes of its ghost of India's poor record of Human Rights (killings of Christians in Orissa), the ashes of economic crisis (Hawala scam), the ashes of several scams (stamp paper, Bofors, petrol pump, National Highway), ashes of wars with our neighbours (Kargil, 1971, 1962, etc), ashes of terror attacks (Sikh terrorism and ongoing terror strikes from Kashmir trained militants); the list can go on.

The complete interpretation would be - we rise like a Pheonix alright, but we rise only to become more and more soft. What do we learn each time we rise? Do we learn anything at all as a country that has faced 4,100 terror attacks since 1970 till date.

Perhaps lessons learnt are forgotten very soon. We learnt nothing after the serial blasts in Mumbai on 1993, this year we have witnessed serial blasts in Gujarat, Bangalore, and Assam. Did we learn anything from Kargil? No, instead we have scaled down the troops across our borders which has led to an increase in terrorist movement across borders.

Our foreign policies, defence policies and internal policing defies the logic of a Resilient Nation. Our policies are not only soft but also ineffective. We cant stand up against an enemy like Pakistan or China, both countries that have engaged us in War.

the world's opinion is that India is rising, but the way the World leaders deal with us shows that they too are aware of our softness. We are not viewed to be strong like China or strong like Iran in terms of Military force. Neither are we seen to be as impactful in the economic field as other members in the BRIC category.

We will continue to be a target as long as we continue to be soft on our enemies within and outside. The idea of a nation is yet to be defined by us Indians when we are still divided over Hindu Terrorist or Muslim Terrorist, divided over Caste based reservations, divided over issues like hiking pay to our soldiers, divied over simple issues like do we implement Helmet rule in a city.... with such attitude of unwilling action we are bound to be burnt again and again and turn to ashes. Only hope is that we know we shall rise once again as the Pheonix coz thankfully we havent forgotten how to Rise up again and again.

I only wonder how long we can do that?

And now clean Railway platforms

.... But before you think any further, I am referring to mostly platforms in South India which I found to be much cleaner than those in the North. I wonder why it is so.

Take a look at the Secunderababd station (Picture above) where you can clearly see the shop's reflections on the floor. I was amazed to find the platform clean even at 8:00 am; there were no signs of cobwebs either on the ceiling and I have a photo to prove that.


What also caught my attention was the cleaning lady who was armed with a trolley like dustbin and a broom so that she could sweep in the litter straight into the bin. Now isn't that a smart way!
(Incidentally the train standing in the background is the Rajdhani and you can notice Airtel Ad covering the train's exterior completely. Read more about it in my previous blog : Toilet Paper Aboard Indian Railways.)


I came across a signboard that said 'This station is under surveillance', and I didn't see any reason to doubt it. Obviously someone was keeping an eye on errant passengers throwing rubbish wayside.

Way to go Indian Railways! How about emulating this in other stations across India?

Restaurant that kept chocolates in my car

Restaurant Review : Via Milano
Address:
Asha Plaza, 80 ft Road - 100 ft Road junction, 4th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore. Phone 41309997, 41309994

Its not very often that you come out from a restaurant with a rose in your hand, it is even rarer to find chocolates 'gifted' by the restaurant in your car. That's how Via Milano won my heart after winning over my taste buds.

Much has been written about Via Milano's food, but I would like to comment on their hospitality skills. Greeted by a wet hot towel, put us immediately in warm spirits. The congeniality of all stewards was consistent, making you instantly like the place.

I also loved the cutlery... my main dish was served in a triangle shaped plate!

Only disappointing factor was the desert selection which had egg in it, and being strict vegetarian we couldnt order any.

As we left the place, the stewardess handed out a rose to each of the ladies in our group. But the icing on the cake was when I saw they had put in a thank you note in my car with chocolates!

With so much pampering who wouldn't want to go back to Via Milano?

Ada Hind Ki: Good name, could add personality

"Ada Hind Ki" - With a name like that for a restaurant, you are bound to get curious. I went with the expectation of seeing something Rustic or Hindustani, but the decor was average. Anyways what it lacked in spirit, they made it up with taste. And I am not complaining.

The address is : No.3 Home Elegance, Museum Road, Bangalore. Just above In China restaurant.

First let me tell you what I liked about this restaurant which serves North Indian (Awadhi, Gujarati, Punjabi, etc).

1. Easy reservation - Booked for a table for 11 on a Saturday, for a family get together.

2. Easy Parking - I didnt have to scamper around for parking on a Saturday on a busy Church Street! Even my guests got easy parking in the hotel's basement. (Makes me want to visit the place more often just for the free parking!)

3. Good Seating - The seating arrangement couldnt be helped as we were a large team. The management handled our large troupe rather well I must say, getting our orders right at one go. Scores another point from me on that!

4. Feel at home - Incidentally my sister in law had a 4 month old baby to nurse and as expected the baby got cranky just about dinner time. The hotel staff helped her settle in a separate room away from public view. Now that doesnt happen in most restaurants due to lack of space.

5. Good food - Food was tasty and masala rich. Wasnt heavy on oil, just right enough to be declared sumptious. The Lady finger curry was a delight. snacks were easy on the stomach, we ordered kababs (all veg). Try the coconut cooler, it was really innovative, so were the other mocktails.

Finally the bill was modest for a gathering of 11, coming up to almost 500 bucks per person which is not bad.

I recommend this place for a weekend dining as you can be relaxed about parking, easy reservations and great service.

Thats 4 out of five from my side for Ada Hind Ki. Gosh they even remembered my birthday and invited me for a second visit!

And yes, the Namasteys (with folded hands) were there but definitely wasnt out of place. Its good to see Indian salutation being done at restaurants and why not!

Read this review also on Burrp.com - http://bangalore.burrp.com/establishment/review/6df_5mo

Toilet Papers Aboard Indian Railways

One sign that Indian Railways has picked up steam against competition from air travel is the fact that we chose to travel to Delhi via train rather than airplane for an official trip. So what if it takes 36 hours to get to delhi, the combined fare for three train passengers in 2AC of Rajdhani equaled the air fare for one air passenger.

But this is not why I am writing the blog, I am writing the blog coz’ I re-discovered the comfort offered by Indian Railways’ Rajdhani trains, which is even better over air travel!

Sponsored Train: The exterior of the Rajdhani train with Airtel Ad splashed all across the train. (image taken using iPhone)

Branding Takes Over
I was pleasantly surprised to see Rajdhani (our train from Bangalore to Delhi) ‘sponsored’ by Airtel. The familiar white and blue colours of Rajdhani is now replaced by bold advertisement of an Airtel ad showing two boys playing football (one of the trademark ads of Airtel). The brand had also found comfortable space inside the train as colourful Ads informing us of the ‘Music on Demand’, “unbreakable bonds, unmatched coverage” and so on were placed at every head rest of the upper berths.

“Thank god the curtains were spared!” I said. Airtel had hit the right medium for branding its “Unbreakable Coverage”, when I noticed that even the windows of the AC bogies were cleverly covered by the Ad screen from outside.

A middle-aged fellow co-passenger remarked how he missed the pleasant trademark blue and white colours of Rajdhani and that he thought the train looked dirty with the Ads covering the entire surface.

But I couldn’t care less how Rajdhani might have looked dog years ago; I could see the value behind the ‘branding’ by private sector on a public train. The train was cleaner, and passenger friendly with the various amenities it had on board.

Squeaky clean Toilets
I must mention the remarkable improvement of toilets in Indian trains, atleast for 2AC compartments. The common wash basin is equipped with a soap dispenser, as well as the toilets. The western toilets not only have toilet rolls, but also toilet seat covers which a user can put over soiled toilet seats, tissue papers for wiping hands and an automated sanitizer that’s supposed to deodorize the toilet at set intervals (although I could see its batteries had run out).

The only complaint I had was that Laloo took away half my pillow! The free pillows given along with blanket and quilts were remarkable thinner than what used to be. However it was just a minor irritant that was soon forgotten with the other amenities provided on the train such as a charging point near the berths, and that actually works. So I had no fear of having a dead iPhone on board while watching movies on it.

The food wasn’t bad either, saving the curds that had gone a bit sour. Food was always of a certain standard, but this time I noticed better portions of curry dish (paneer or chicken), dal, rice and well cooked rotis. Whats more it came with steel cutlery, a sharp contrast over plastic ware that certain airlines still serve!

Yet another bold move I must say Mr. Laloo, coz’ for years, us - Indians were thought to be undeserving of steel cutlery thanks to a notion that we pickpocket free cutlery. So Thank you Mr. Minister for trusting us to keep good manners!

Air conditioning worked just fine and thank god I haven’t spotted any cockroaches still in my compartment yet. Water did not run out in the toilets even by evening as they usually did in the past.

My thank you
My vote definitely goes to our beloved Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav. Clearly he has shown a way forward in making a squeaky clean image of Indian Railways. One hopes this is more than mere cosmetic change.

While I write this blog onboard Rajdhani I only hope the network connectivity of my cellphone was as good as the Ad at my bedside claimed. Perhaps a wi-fi enable train would be next Mr. Laloo?

Art of Fine Dining : Grasshopper

The occasion of my husband's birthday demanded we go to a special place for a belated celebration for just the two of us. After much Web hunting for a 'Romantic restaurants' I chanced upon Grasshopper, a restaurant that is tucked away in a corner of Bangalore, far from the traffic infested roads.

This restaurant has had some very good reviews on the Web and what drew me to it was the fact that it has no menu but promises a 7-course meal fit for a food connoisseur. Also this place is exclusively available on reservation which means no waiting in queues and no crowd (At one time it can accommodate four tables of 5 people each).

This place is a good one hour drive to Bannerghatta from where I live but we didnt mind it all on a rainy Sunday afternoon with a cool breeze giving us company.

We were looking forward to the European style of fine-dining, something we hadnt experienced before. I must admit that neither my husband or myself are experts on fine dining but we are foodies and willing to try something new all the time.

Grasshopper is just a couple of Kms from IIMB, and close to a lake., table was in the verandah overlooking the small courtyard which had several shades of green. We didnt have to order anything, as the menu for the day ws already decided and the chef was just waiting for us to begin his art. We chose vegetarian and no alcohol, just a cool lemon soda and ginger-mint to go with the meals.

1. Starters came in first; we started with Aubergine with walnut paste on garlic bread. This was both smooth and crunchy, with a delicious dressing of Olive oil.

2. The second one prepared us for the exclusivity - Zucchini with cream cheese and steamed garlic. This had both visual and tasteful appeal. The cream was just rightly flavoured and went extremely well with the garlic which had lost its pungency after being steamed.

3. The third starter just blew my mind away - Beetroot with sesame seeds and blue cheese. "A taste that my tongue has never experienced before!" I exclaimed. I never thought they could do that with beetroot and cheese! It was indeed an awesome combination as the steamed beet was lightly sweet and blue cheese was strong and pungent... creating an assault on our taste buds that we throughly enjoyed.

The starters had really got us in the groove and we were eagre for the rest.

4. The salad arrived looking all green and fresh; served on a bed of salad cabbage were Basil and other hebs freshly plucked and roasted tomatoes and figs. I was a bit disappointed with the salad as I expected a veg salad to be a more delightful to taste. I felt like a cow chewing away the cud. What couldve saved it for me perhaps is Mayonaise or some sort of creamy salad dressing.

5. After overcoming the salad with a few nibbles, I went straight in for the first main dish - Sweet Red Pepper stuufed with Tofu and Asparagus. This looked interesting as the green and red combination looked very inviting. I found the tofu very home-made and loved the red pepper. Asparagus was however given in its naked form with no value-add, and I realised how bitter it can be at some bites.

6. The final main course was mushrooms with baby potatoes and a leek. No one can go wrong with this combination. This was well cooked, had a nice herby sauce and the quantity was good enough to make me go slow. I enjoyed the taste and wished I held a red wine to go with it. No compalints with this simple dish. The surprise element wa sthe the leek (i forget its name) which I hadnt tasted before.

7. Ah, the final climax of this event was the dessert. We were presented with five choices - lemon cheesecake, chocolate truffle, coffee icecream, lemongrass ice cream, and fig and almond ice cream. We both went instantly for the lemongrass icecream as we had tasted this before and totally fell in love with it. Expectedly this didnt disappoint us a bit. The ice cream came with shavings of lemongrass adding to the romanticism.

The setting of the place was just perfect as we watched the raindrops kiss the garden. There was no hurry to leave and make way for some other guests, there was no impatient waiter hurrying us with the bill, in fact we had to call him to get the bill! We spent a good three hours eating, and enjoying each other's company.

The meal lasted long after we had it and drove back home. We felt as if we had participated in an event specially created for us and still savouring it.

I am not going to spoil it by letting you know how much it cost us becoz frankly this experience was too good to be adjudged as pricy. I just want to recommend that if one is ever looking for fine-dining and to be treated exclusively, then visit Grasshopper.

(Photos will be posted soon)

Dream Date in a Limousine or Hot Air Balloon

I like to go online often, hunting for gifting ideas. So just two days before my hubby's birthday I came upon this cool website www.excitinglives.com which has some 'never-heard-or-seen-before' gifting ideas. I recommend this website for the sheer range of gifts they have, although I am yet to place an order.

Some of the eye catching ones are:

1. Dream Date on Stretch Limousine - this caught my attention immediately as I was looking for something special to do on my husband's birthday. Unfortunately this 'gift' option is only for residents of Delhi/NCR. This costs something around Rs9500/- and I think its perfect for a memorable date. Counting my days till this service arrives in Bangalore.

2. Chocolate Spa Treat - Ah! you guessed it, its for 'WOMEN ONLY' that includes a chocolate body scrub, oil massage, and a full chocolate body wrap! Fortunately this one is in Bangalore, and costs about Rs2400/- I am enticed to try it someday.. hoping my hubby will gift this to me on my birthday!!

3. Naughty Chocolate - (Cant get enough of Chocolate) This one is perfect for a couple, who want to spice up things with a 'naughty' session involving some liquid chocolate, a red feather, and oodles of passion. This gift is meant to be used in the privacy of your bedroom and involves no professional masseur.... but just the two of you.
The gift lets you be wild with your partner with hi-quality liquid chocolate that's great for massages and body-painting. You can use it with whipped cream or fruits, is completely edible and can be easily washed off - not that you'd need to! Comes at a price of Rs1250/- and I think its worth every penny.

4. Private Air Balloon Experience - This one is for keeps, a one-hour ride in the air in a private hot air balloon. I am sure it will be a "top of the world" feeling to be with your loved one amid the clouds. This too is for residents in Delhi and comes for Rs 13,500/- :(

5. Midnight celebrations - For an affordable element of surprise, this is ideal, as you can have flowers (a dozen red roses) delivered at midnight with a personal message. ideal for those who are far away from their loved ones and want to make an impression with just Rs2150/-

6. Then you have the elite gift options like the F1 Night race in Singapore (Rs1.87 lac), Combat Flight experience that will let you fly a fighter jet in Moscow or Los Angeles (Rs1.5 lac), Zero Gravity experience similar to what astronauts feel in space and loads of other such options.

I was quite impressed by the range of the gift offerings in the website. Now I know where to look for when I want my gift to be special. I hope to try one of these options soon, provided they are within my city and my budget.

For now I am still hunting for a stretch Limousine car rental service in Bangalore, can anyone help?

Don't Hate The iPhone: Pimp it!

There isnt really anything new for me to say other than what has already been siad about iPhone already.
Yet I would like to add my two bits to it.

I love my iPhone and there are two reasons for it.

1. It's a gift from my Hubby. He gave it to me when there was no event to celebrate or an occasion to remember, it was just a plain and simple gift. He wanted me to have an iPhone before he got one and that truly touched my heart. The gifting of an iPhone itself became an event on its own. and now its been three months since I got it.
( Mine is the 16 GB, first version of iPhone. Of course now my Hubby too owns an iPhone, the 3G version.)

2. The iPod facility. I was aching to have a decent iPod with videos. My earlier iPod was the black and white version, and it ran into some battery problem.


I find my iPhone Ubercool... iPhone has changed the way you view a mobile phone.
I cant get enuff of the cool apps available for iPhone. What worked its way to make iPhone popular are the 3rd party applications now available abundantly. And whats more these are free.

Like the SMS-D applicaton, which allows one to delete specific messages only. It also lets you forward the sms, which the standard sms app did not let you.

The other app is the CameraPro, which lets you do more with the camera.. like burst mode, Zoom function, light adjustments, etc which arent there in the regualr camera app. of the iPhone.

Loads of games are also avaliable for free from the iTunes store.. I have the Pool, card games, some puzzles and still lots more to go.

However there are still some things i miss in my iPhone which my previous Nokia N series phone had. Like the 'To-do-List" and calendar entries displayed on the main view of the phone. I cannot view my claendar entries as notes on my iPhone automatically.

The sms that come on my iPhone are not private, they get displayed on the main screen, which I find a bit irritating, coz I dont want my unattended sms to be displayed on the main screen avaliable for others to see. I wish there was no detailed preview of the sms.

Yes Phone is DAMN expensive and puts a hole thru the pocket, but the features and other appealing aspects of iPhone make it worthwhile.

In India, iPhone did get a lukewarm response, with only die-hard iPhone fans and enthusiasts going for it. In fact the Airtel outlets selling iPhones were not even well stocked on the first day of its launch (in Bangalore). That will be the topic of another blog firends.

For now I am enjoying my iPhone (even if its not 3G), and hope my lust for it will last longer than the previous three handsets I have owned before.

The first one

Is there a need to blog? I asked myself that couple of times before, as several friends of mine had started their own blogs and were "pursuading" me to do so. I didnt see the need to blog when I was in the Media (journalist), as I had my fingers flying off the keyboard punching in countless articles, news stories, features etc. I was just so full of writing that i needed no other excuse to get back to writing extra stuff (for which I wont be paid for!)

I felt there was nothing more I could write and frankly even if I did I wasnt sure if my blog would be read. So there I was justifying no need to blog when I had a forum (newspaper - Mint, and Magazine - Voice&Data) that was voicing what I had to share with the world.

Now, its been four months since I left Media as a career and jumped on the corporate bandwagon (business development), when a friend of mine popped the question, "Have you stopped writing totally?" and to that I replied tongue-in-cheek, "I still write the company newsletter!"
He then tells me to start a blog. Just like that he sets off the bug in me and tempts me with his blog address.

Inquisitive that I am, I fall for it and try the website, and next thing I know I register myself on this site as a blogger... what made it more convenient was the easy user interface and just 3 steps to start blogging. I didnt know it was such an easy task.

But still I dont see why I NEED to blog... The first thought that crossed my mind was to register a blog with my own name before someone else hijacks 'Malovika' on the blog space.

Next thought was OK.. lets get it over with....

Another was, whats the big deal with blogging? to find out I have to be a blogger.

A remote thought came to me that if Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Ram Gopal Verma have blogs then what tops me from having one.. but i would say that was an engineered thought.

My resistance to blog lasted 2.5 years and today I have finally done the First One.

My opinion on Blogging is that it is.......Mostly Harmless.

I am not here to "Express" myself.. i get plenty opportunity to do so by actually expressing with the ones who need to know what I feel.

I am not blogging to add to my social status symbol.... I have a modest amount of such symbols (counting my Past Credentials and iPhone).

I am not blogging to "Promote" my ideas or myself... (of course eventually that is what it becomes).

I am not blogging to be "It" or a 'wannabe writer'.

I am not blogging to say something clever and manipulate people's thoughts.

For now I have no reason to blog, and as soon as I find one you will find a second post here.


--- Mostly Harmless (borrowed from the fifth book by Douglas Adams of the same title)