Food Review: Dubliin Square

Dubliin Square is a classy, unexplored gem in the heart of North West Delhi i.e. Rohini. Located in the Mangalam Paradise Mall in Sector 3, it is a restaurant that has a diverse food and brewery section incorporated into it on two separate floors of the mall.

While the brewery also houses a DJ for those dance-it-away nights, the food place is essentially a fine-dine concept for calmer, food-centric evenings. Finely done ambiance with spacious seating and well-lit interiors is what scores a point in their tally.

They have a vast and varied menu spanning across a spiral-binded booklet of about 30 pages or so, it was overwhelming at first sight to realize that Dubliin Square boasts of three kitchens and a team of ten chefs each catering to Indian, Chinese and Italian cuisines.

The fact that the owners and managing directors here have a food industry and business-oriented acumen to their credit works in their favor. The stewards are well versed with the nuances of the dishes and most of them are flavorful and presented nicely.

I would be listing my favorites from each course of the three-course meal I relished at a Blogger's Table held here last week.

From the appetizers, loved the start and the end in particular - namely the Paneer Multani Tikka (Chef's Special) - huge cottage cheese chunks marinated in hung curd, and Bhuttey De Kebab - shaped like corn on the cob - sweet corn and potato mash fried to perfection.

Apart from these, do try their Chicken White Sauce - not Fish, mind you, and it is a pleasant changeover from the classic - and Vegetable Spring Roll - crispy and flavorful.

In the Main Course, liked their Subz Biryani that was plated quite aesthetically and the Murgh Methi Malai that was a thick, creamy gravy with large chicken pieces.

You could also opt for their Chinese Fried Rice, though the Mushroom and Thai Green Curries are a bit high on their spice.

Also loved the presentation of their Fruit Punch with a lime slice on top in a thick, shake-like mocktail.

The dessert namely Shahi Tukda and Moong Dal Halwa were to die for! Not your usual heavily oiled preparation but very light and smooth on the palate.

Wishing the Team luck with their venture to impress patrons at Dubliin Square in the future as it is a relatively newer kid on the block. 

Catch Up, Buddy!

Growth, be it personal or professional, is an individual's sole motive. On the personal front, it may be about maintaining amicable relations with near and dear ones, while on the professional front, it may be about realizing that we do not lead our lives as a black box, that we have to keep others in our tow and proceed towards the pinnacle of success - be it psychologically, emotionally, or even financially.

When it comes to one's bodily growth, it is not the unprecedented growth left, right and center, which concerns parents of adolescent or pre-pubertal kids who have turned couch potatoes, but it is the genuine scaling on the growth chart as per the standardized norms propagated by doctors worldwide, that causes anxiety to the parents of such kids.

While there may be many reasons to such a barrier uprooting a child's self-esteem, the most important and the one most overlooked, happens to be carelessness towards what's on a kid's plate conjunct with limited physical activity.

When I was a kid, we had ample green spaces to run around and play, oblivious to first-world issues but that isn't the case now. Today's kids have increasingly become lovers of gadgets of all kind and form, thus restricting their physical energies to one or the other smartphone or tablet, most often.

Not eating right - be it eating excessively or eating the least - affects the bodily rhyme and rhythm to growth and adversely alters the natural patterns to growing right. A balanced meal consisting of the right quantities of the six nutritional elements to the food pyramid - namely proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibre, carbohydrates, and fat - would contribute to the happy and healthy growth of a child, stage-wise, that is right as per the time duration attributed to each stage.

If all these growth patterns are thrown off their set rhythm it detrimentally impacts the child, not only physically, as is evident on the outset of it, but also emotionally, throwing their self-confidence and sense of self-worth off-track big time.

Hence, it is of utmost importance that a child does not lose out on, or imbalance his/her growth patterns, be it due to any reason whatsoever, as this issue would then, not remain confided only to the child themselves, but also reach out to their peers. Then, would be unleashed the real demon, as peer pressure would cave into the child, to upset him making him hollow from the inside.
This demon can then never be driven away, as it chooses to reside inside the child, developing in him, an inferiority complex forever.

Fortunately, I had attended the product launch of Horlicks Growth+ in May, this year, which helped me to realize that this issue impacts children all over the nation, and is very much prevalent.

Horlicks Growth+ as a product, was then suggested as a clinically tested solution to this problem, in the form of a flavored health supplement which was suited to help kids aged 3-9 years who were below tenth percentile as per the growth chart and standardized norms.

It also made me thank God that I was born and brought up in an environment which enabled me to keep the issue of catching up on lost growth at bay.

Driving Diaries With Datsun!

Driving a car on urban roads, especially on Indian roads requires extraordinary skills - skills beyond what are known as driving skills. There are people found in vehicles on roads that intend to turn right while occupying the left-most lane. They dare to turn when the traffic signal turns green without bothering the extremity of the lane they are in, and that their indicator is next to non-existent. Definitely, whilst observing others practicing this kind of jugglery on roads while driving a car, you need to tune yourself to either become a perfect anti-juggler or a better juggler.

I am sure the new, unique, and innovative Datsun redi-GO is there to help you in beating your urban driving blues. I've seen that some of the features are fantastic and have emerged as a boon after extensive R&D at Datsun's end. Some of the features, though present in other cars, make for a unique combination with the majority features in Datsun's latest offering to make redi-GO one of the most sought-after cars in the market.

If I get a chance to explore a new Datsun redi-GO on urban roads, I would prefer to drive it in Kanpur where the roads are equipped to provide you with all kinds of permutations and combinations that will help you to understand the power, strength, technical innovations, and quality of the vehicle. And of course, I would like to drive from Delhi to Kanpur first, before starting my urban trial at Kanpur itself.

It will be difficult to choose the best three features of Datsun redi-GO that make me want to take this beautiful car out for a spin because there is a lot more in the car than just those three features. But still if it is to be, then those three features will be as below. 

Best-In-Class Ground Clearance: The urban road scenario is not very good especially during and after monsoon, which remains in a desolate state, even moths after that. On top of it, the material used to make the roads in India doesn't last long as the larger chunk of the budget goes into contributing to the bank balance of concerned corrupt people involved in the task rather than constructing perfect roads. This feature will help you overcome such broken roads. It deals with low obstacles that are encountered on the road. The ground clearance is 185 mm. The approach angle is 26.8 degrees and the departure angle is 58.6 degrees to handle any kind of situation with perfection. With such ground clearance, you can handle various kinds of speed-breakers on urban roads. 

Head Lamps: Datsun redi-GO provides head lamps with an iconic design, which is differentiated from the ones that all other cars have, in the market. These are dramatically elongated projector head lamps that stretch virtually from the grille to the fender evenly. The perfectly designed head lamps throw light that spreads faster and wider thus enhances safety and confidence of the one behind the wheel. 

Drive Computer: Instantaneous and average mileage (time and fuel), fuel remaining, distance to empty, gear status, speed, and a lot more is there on the display screen right in front of your eyes thus helping you to take better decisions on the road. It also displays Shift Indicator that helps knowing the ideal time to shift for getting maximum performance and efficiency accordingly. 

Fun. Freedom. Confidence. The ultimate Urban Cross - Datsun redi-GO - the capability of a crossover with the convenience of a hatchback. That's the Urban Cross for us, and it is my dream vehicle without a doubt. :) 

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P.S.: All images attributed to Urban Cross - Datsun redi-GO. 

Interned Into Skill And Experience!

"The bad news is... 

TIME FLIES. 

The good news is... 

YOU'RE THE PILOT" 

It has not been quite long to the time when the transition from school to college happened in my life. Yet, I find it somewhat awe-inspiring that at the same time, next year, I'd be at the threshold of being entitled to my graduation degree, after four years of what has been a lifetime in its own. 

From a sense of accomplishment to having procured the pursuance of a Bachelor's degree at DTU, for which 'formerly Delhi College of Engineering' seems to be as imperative as a title to a person, to realizing that the perseverance put in over the last leg of schooling got me here, to burning the midnight oil for the showdown time each semester, it is in the innumerable such trips as a 'day-scholar' from the home to the campus, and from the classroom to the labs to the in-campus photocopy shop to the canopied Nescafe to the once relished food of Mech-C, to the Wind Point to the Library to the OAT and the Auditorium, that I have realized that I was meant for such a life's canvas. 

Time sure flies past in the blink of an eye, as it seems just like yesterday when I had first stepped into the college campus - MY college campus - which is at the heart of all experience. Some of them came as firsts, some of them felt like Déjà vu, quite a handful of them are being cherished at this very moment.

Such a cherished experience is the one which came along as the FIRST ephemeral transition from 'College' to 'Corporate', i.e. the customary 'Industrial Training' that we students are expected to undergo after the immediate completion of the V and VI Semesters (constituting the Third of a Four Year course), dubbed as the month-long Winter Internship and the two-months-long Summer Internship respectively. 

It was in the December of 2015 that I first stepped into the premises of Micromax Informatics Ltd. and that is primarily the reason why the nuances of the experience are as fresh as a daisy (the secondary reason being that we are also expected to elucidate the aforementioned during the Viva to be conducted any time around next week I presume). :)

The first sight as I entered the building

With the preconceived yet upheld notion that I would not move out of Delhi, neither to pursue my internship nor to take up a job, when the opportunity comes forth, I expected these Winter Vacations to be different from the preceding two, and rightfully so. 

While the breaks following the completion of my first and third semesters were spent on a lighter note, this one was to be serious work, (coupled with some light notes) that came along.

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The initiation came as a series of calls (which were missed by me, owing to the fact that I was writing one of my end-semester exams, at the time and day those were made) followed by a message from the Assistant Manager - HR, making me realize that I had missed an important call.

After a few calls and messages for the company to formally induct me as an intern, the next four weeks were all about following a 9-to-5 routine, while learning about Business Intelligence from scratch, observing the ongoing project and reporting directly to the Manager(IT).

You could say that's me, sans the headphones, taking notes from the documentation provided to me, before hitting the ground running. 

What came as a surprise, and a pleasant one at that, was that the consultants from one of the Big Four auditors - KPMG - had a partaking in the said project too. I like to believe that I interned in two companies at once, from that point of view. :) 

From grasping the basics and some intermediates about not just one but many services offered by Microsoft, for instance MOSS & VB.Net, to acquainting myself with the interface of BI Tool, Qlikview and gaining an understanding of its usage by the organisation in analyzing their sales pattern over the past couple of years, I learnt that what mattered the most was the urge to learn, be it the professional or personal front. 

My Desk and the quintessential Visitor Badge

From setting into the mold of a naive individual on the corporate scene, with nuances such as procuring a Visitor's badge to begin the day, to witnessing and participating in some funny, some philosophical discussions over lunch (recall that Odd-Even Phase I was also to be initiated in January), all of which were interesting in one aspect or another, I did not realize the pace at which the month of December went past. 

But, December could not have ended without Christmas, could it? Not possible at all. 

While I was expecting the building to be all decked up on the day, I was pleasantly surprised to witness the jolly mood and vibe prevailing in the atmosphere. That Christmas was a different one altogether. What if Santa would have donned a geeky outlook that day, at Micromax too? :) 

Another aspect about my internship at Micromax which I would like to highlight is the positive work-vibe at the office. It was all about learning through interaction and not hesitating to ask doubts. More so, that I was told at the time of leaving that the office's doors would always be open for me. 

That reassurance had a different kind of feel-good factor attached to it and I always cherish that one statement for not only the office as an organization but also the people working there, who guided me, be it in terms of work principles or life principles, is going to stay with me, life-long. :) 

That's Micromax! :) 

While the Summer Internship beckons in a month's time, soon after the end-semester exams in May, my first Internship would always remain special to me. As they say, "There's a first time for everything", a first time at going to school, attending college, and now interning in the corporate world. 

Firsts always remain special, and this memoir will always be. 

That is MY Intern Theory for life! :D 

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I’m sharing my first internship experience for the #MyInternTheory activity at BlogAdda in association with Intern Theory.

Gender Bias Be Gone!

Mine is a nuclear family, comprising of Mom, Dad and me. I have been brought up in a very congenial atmosphere. I have never seen a real fight between my parents. They do argue sometimes, arguments turning to heated ones but then those have never created any serious rifts between the two. I was quite a social butterfly right since childhood. A friend or two would always be there at home most of the time. At times, my friends would come to my home straight from school. We were used to spending time at my house. My parents ensured to provide ample space for everyone at home. I was never restricted to anything right since the beginning. Probably that brought an extra ounce of maturity in me ahead of anyone else among my peers.

My mother is the Principal in a government college. My father is a businessman. Both have entirely different time schedules. On one hand, my mother has fixed timings mostly. Hardly ever has she observed a shift from routine owing to unexpected workload. On the other hand, my father has long and unpredictable timings right since the beginning. It has happened many times that when Mom is at home, Dad is away and when Dad is at home, Mom is at work. My mother’s work doesn’t require much of travel outside the city. My father’s business required a lot of travel right since the start. One thing that is admired by my friends about my father is his emotion, affection, and love towards home and family.

Right since my childhood my friends have seen my father working in the kitchen many-a-times, preparing food. Earlier I used to see him speed-dialing Mom asking how much salt is to be put in the vegetables he is preparing, for how much time they are to be boiled, how many whistles of steam cooker are to be observed etc. But gradually he became an expert, as expert as a Master chef. He never hesitated to do all this in front of my friends when we were kids. In fact, many of my friends would go home and tell their parents about this. On one occasion, one of my friend's father tried to make a mockery of my father openly saying he does the work that the lady of the house is supposed to do. My father, plain-faced, asked him a question that silenced him with shame in his eyes. My father asked, if one's home, family, spouse, kids and the likes belong to oneself, how come the onus of household responsibilities falls on the women of the house, solely? That day onward my friends’ admiration and respect towards my father grew leaps and bounds, as he was firmly questioning the notion of gender bias and adopting a praiseworthy practice to #ShareTheLoad. ​He has never shied away from lending a helping hand at home and I am proud of the fact that my family is one of the few to realize and object to such silent prejudice being practiced against the women of our nation amid closed walls. This too, is a burden which needs to be shunned and it is of utmost importance to let Gen Next observe what must be supported as right and what must be discarded as wrong.

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I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.

Prejudiced Towards Duality...

Rahul is soft spoken and a cheerful boss at office. He always encourages his subordinates to work in a team by usually telling them the story of a bundle of sticks. If you break each stick individually, it will not take much time to destroy all the sticks. But if all sticks are tied together and then someone tries to break the bundle from the middle, it is impossible. Everyone praises Rahul at his workplace. He has been an exemplary individual for his colleagues and juniors. The head honchos would praise him in one or the other general meeting. He is the guy who believes in team work. He is the guy who believes in equality. He always tells his team leaders to make sure they involve each team member in the ongoing projects. In fact, he always emphasizes on the senior employees to contribute and set an example for their juniors. He always ensures that no female members from his department is to stay beyond office hours. If they have to, someone from the HR appoints a 'pink cab' which would drop them at their respective doorstep. This constructive attitude from Rahul's side has continued for almost a decade. Rahul has built a great rapport with all in his office.

Rahul’s wife Smita has been working as a consultant to an American firm. She works from home. Since most of their clients are based in the USA, hence Smita would be seen working in the wee hours of the day - late nights and early mornings. She would hardly get any time to sleep at night. During the day she had to also manage the house. Her duty, in fact, was never-ending during the day. She was working, as if for two organizations. Right in the morning, a reporting to the second firm would begin. Getting their two children to wake up, ironing their uniform, preparing their breakfast and tiffins, polishing their shoes and dropping them to school was just the first set of duties. Coming back, ironing Rahul's clothes, preparing his breakfast was just the second set of chores. Then it was about keeping an eye on the maid and supervising the prevalence of hygiene at home. But, she was always energetic and never complained. This routine had prevailed over the past decade.

There came a day for their eldest daughter to be engaged. Rahul's boss had asked for his daughter’s hand for his son. His would-be son-in-law was working in an MNC as a Marketing Head. Their daughter was working in the same MNC as Associate Manager - HR. It was Sameer’s first visit to their house after his engagement with Ramya. After the customary greetings, they all gathered together over lunch. Sameer started praising his to-be father-in-law's attitude in the office, elucidating the praises that he had heard from his father. It was news for Ramya and Smita. Both were wondering how one person could have maintained a harsh duality for so long. Rahul's positive attitude had never been seen at home, towards his wife and kids.

Such issues as equality and team work had been small talk at home, whenever Smita used to urge Rahul to lend a helping hand in the daily chores, but it was music to the mother-daughter's ears when they heard of him being so considerate towards his female colleagues at the workplace.

If only, Rahul had been considerate enough, towards his better half, to #ShareTheLoad, Ramya would have held her father in high regard. Her brother was also so accustomed to their mother breaking her back over routine tasks around the house that even he had learned to assist her by contributing in his own small ways like helping in slicing the veggies for meals, putting out the washed laundry on the clothesline or even volunteering to preparing quick-fix meals like Maggi when Smita used to feel low. However, Rahul, contrary to his exemplary professional self, used to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to Smita's efforts on the pretext of being a busy professional!

If only, as a kid, Rahul had witnessed his father volunteering to assist his mother in homely responsibilities, that he would have grown empathetic towards his significant other.

Listening to Sameer's false appreciation made Rahul wallow in guilt and self-pity, as this image of his, was but, a mirage. He had realized his folly and promised  to lend a helping hand to Smita and applaud his son's gesture of sharing his mother's and sister's load of household chores.

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I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.

Tea, The Elixir of Life...

The world has forever been divided - over the love of beverages - Tea and Coffee. While Tea is sourced from a plant and Coffee from a bean, both being natural powerhouses in their own right, this week, an invite was extended to me on behalf of the former.

Tea is known as the elixir of life, to the extent that they say, 'Every time is Tea Time'. Some of us associate fond memories to Tea, coupled with Rain, while I, as a kid, used to play with biscuits as a tea dip! :)

Typhoo, one of UK’s finest tea brand invited me to a panel discussion focusing on Tea as a timeless beverage and its various advantages. A three-member panel, consisting of noted Journalist Sharmila Chand, who has authored "Cheers :365 Cocktails and Mocktails", Nutritionist Dr. Neelanjana Singh of "Our Kids Eat Everything" fame, and Mr. Subrata Mukherjee, representing Typhoo India. The talk revolved around the 'miracle beverage', with its multiple benefits across numerous fields of application.

Mr. Mukherjee, spoke on how Typhoo's teas and infusions were suited to the millenial generation, while breaking the news that Typhoo had come up with an innovative caffeine-free organic range, consisting of Chamomile and Peppermint variants.

While Dr. Neelanjana made known to us that Tea was indeed a stronger contender over Coffee as it worked as a calmer rather than an energizer, Sharmila Chand moderated the panel discussion. Also, Dr. Singh was of the view that homemade remedies involving Tea were preferred as opposed to their pre-processed or ready made counterparts.

Concluding this terrific Tea Tale, we had a variety of Tea mocktails from Ms. Chand's book "Cheers: 365 Cocktails and Mocktails" coupled with Typhoo's fruit and herb based Fruit Infusions.

My personal favorite was Crimson Glow, that was based on Typhoo's Orange Spicer Infusion.

In Order To Break Stereotypes...

Only 62% of women believe that working women have to face more judgements on their looks or their appearance or their clothes than housewives. Only 70% of women agree that the maximum number of judgements on women come from the men in their family or among friends rather than strangers. Hardly 64% of women agree that the judgements passed on them during their lifespan have affected their abilities to reach their real potential. And only 69% of men agree that their judgement of women is based on their looks, appearance and what they wear. These statistics conclude quite clearly that a majority of men and women agree that men and their judgemental outlook towards women based on their looks are not less than a crime. It is a crime because such things inhibit women to excel in their life. What right has someone, to do all this? Just because someone is born as a male, does he obtain a lifetime visa to be judgemental about a woman on how she appears to them?

Why do men not have the guts to see women equalling them? In fact, a woman is always far better than a man, in all respects. But in general, a woman never competes with a man. She never tries to boast about her talent, her capabilities and her real potential. Otherwise, a man also knows that a woman is always supreme because she is a mother, home maker and a true companion in life. It really hurts to see when a woman gets judged based on what she wears, what she looks like, how she talks, how she walks etc. Rather it hurts more when her work, capabilities and talent are ignored. It has been devastating to see why women bother about looking presentable to others rather than to live for themselves. Why is a woman always worried about how men around her will perceive her?

I had faced such a judgement for the first time in my childhood. It was one of my uncles who commented on my dress when I was too young. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t let in the concept on how someone else was getting affected by what I was wearing. I shared those remarks later with my mother. Thanks to her for giving me a lifetime advice. She gave me a valuable lesson. I understood it and after that I have never bothered about how I will be perceived by others based on what I wear. The valuable lesson that my mother gave me is that we have to live our life not to please someone especially men, but our own self by setting the bar for our aspirations.

“I’m breaking stereotypes based on appearance by sharing my experience for the #IAmCapable activity at BlogAdda in association with Nihar Naturals. 

Midas Gold Mornings!

Good Morning, folks! 

That's the first phrase most of us utter every morning, don't we? 

As a kid, I remember myself taking 'Gold' for 'Good', when I had first learnt the phrase from my elders. 

Perhaps, this 'Gold' was not just about the Sun's golden rays lending a shiny appearance to our veranda's marble flooring. It was more about me hopping around the open space, admiring the various hues of the potted plants, observing the now nowhere-to-be-seen sparrows and crawling along with slimy snails who had made the plant soil, their homes. 

I guess there was an inexplicable charm about being so curious about Mother Nature and her many manifestations all around me as a child, which are now gradually being engulfed by the monster made of concrete. Besides, my mantra for 'Good' to 'Gold' was realized by being one of Nature's comrades, without doubt. 

I now see those sun rays struggling to make their way through the towering heights of apartments, with the hues of blooms duller than before owing to pollution. There's another type of 'Gold' I observe in abundance now. It's not hard to guess which one. 

Besides, I have observed a shift in my concept of a 'Good Morning' being 'Gold Morning' by observing some 'Gold Rules to Gold Mornings'. They are as simple as resolving to waking up early in the morning and not being a sleepy head, brushing my teeth twice a day with my Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold toothbrush - after all there's no competition whatsoever to #Colgate360GoldMornings, and after that going for a jog in the community park. 

Thankfully, we have preserved the green cover in our locality. As for breakfast, a hearty toast and a glass of milk are able to usher into me, the vitality needed to witness the day's events. 

This mantra keeps me hale and hearty and has managed to transform my 'Good Mornings' to 'Gold Mornings'. :)