We all scream for ice-cream!

Miss B came over to spend a few days with me in Ahmedabad before heading off home and starting the countdown to her "big day". For the past 10 years that I have spent living across the length and breadth of the National Capital Region, Miss B has spent a few weekends at all my crash pads including my latest abode at IIMA. Most of those weekends with her would be spent watching a few movies, catching up on the events in our lives and eating every meal at a different joint.

Just like those weekends spent in NCR, the highlight of her extended weekend in Amdavaad was FOOD, great Gujju food!!

We began our tour of the Gujjuland gourmet with our lovely Ami mami and her thorough insight into what was not to be missed. The round around Ahmedabad with her was probably the best vegetarian street food I have ever consumed on a single day!

Besides IIM A, Ahmedabad is also famous for its ice-creams. Miss B's first day on campus, the late night ladies meet decided to head to the Vastrapur Havmor. At 11 pm we queued up for a scoop of the famous Havmor ice cream with the Gujarati families who have a penchant for their after dinner ice-creams. For forty bucks a scoop, the ice-cream is far better than what I have tasted up North and I would rate my Mocha brownie fudge a perfect 10 followed by the sandwich icecream and then the black forest cake ice cream.

Besides Havmor, Patel Ice cream, opposite the Stadium on CG Road seems to be a popular guy. The ice creams are hand churned (hand made at their shop), and have a creamy texture. We tried butterscotch, chocolate and kesar pista. The local kesar pista flavor emerged the sure shot winner of the day, leaving the choco-chips way behind.

On our way back, Miss B spotted Hokey- Pokey at the nearby Shivalik Plaza and shrieked in excitement. Hokey Pokey is originally a Gujju chain of Stone creations hugely popular in Mumbai (as per Miss B). A delighted Miss B insisted on taking us out for a taste of her favourite ice cream creations. Creations because the ice cream is mixed with various add - ins such as kit-kat, brownies, chocochips, jujubes etc on a frozen stone slab. The guy flings the final product into the air and puts on a display of minor juggling of the ice cream before it lands into a hokey pokey cup. For final touches a chocolate feather is added to the ice cream cup. The entire sequence was amusing and hokey pokey turned out to be a great discovery!

Amdavaad truly lives up to its reputation of being the ice cream Capital of India. From a hand churned to a cool stone ice cream, they have it all!

In Miss B's words "Gujju food bau saras chey"

The famed IIM Ahmedabad Academic Rigor

When we first spoke about an MBA, R was pretty sure that it had to be IIM -A -  for the sanctified institute's long standing position as India's Super B-School. But did he know what he was really getting into? - I'm not sure, but it sure is a package deal! (pun intended).

In short here are the various moods that describe R's very first month as a PGPXer at WIMWI:

1. Zombied

2. Miffled

3. Stunned

3. Pondering

4. Meditative

5. Dude, this is IIM A, it can't get better than this...

Resting on the lines of mood no. 5, he goes through the grind every day, waiting for more to fall upon him. This is also widely the mode of being in the 6th batch of the One -O- One future CXOs who are walking the "walk" - 11 months to go!

For us, the ladies on campus, it can't get better than this and to think that there are 11 more such months to go, the party has only started.

P.S -  WIMWI: Well known Institute of Management in Western India - modesty huh!

A peek into IIM A - Old & New

The IIM A campus, our home for the next one year is typically a mix of exposed Red bricks and concrete. The Main campus is connected to the New campus built very recently by an underpass under the 132 Ft ring road.

The numerous arches and circles are the high points of the Louis Kahn design. According to a professor's wife I was recently talking to, there are about 400 neem trees on campus along with hedges of tulsi around the green spaces. 

The three of us - dedicated wives, decided to capture the campus one sunny evening a few days back.

The facade of the Main building & Louis Kahn Plaza

The famous Harvard Steps. According to a survey, 62% of Indian CEOs have walked these steps 

One of the numerous arches in the Old Campus

The underpass that connects the Old & the New!

The Married Student's Housing - New Campus

IMDC - New Campus

Classrooms - New Campus

WIMWIAN :)

PGPX @ IIM A

October 2010 was a great month that brought in a lot of good news. One that we had been looking forward to (and not talking about) was Rahul being accepted for an MBA at IIM Ahmedabad. And from that day on, began our 6 month wait to eat, pray and live on the hallowed campus starting April 2011.

All bills were paid, accounts settled, house wrapped up, car loaded and we were ready for a 1000 kms trip from Noida to Ahmedabad. The drive through Jaipur - Ajmer - Chittaurgarh - Udaipur - Himmatnagar and into Ahmedabad was fantastic. Pothole free roads, minimal traffic, and a smooth drive was a breather from Delhi/ UP roads. Finally on the evening of 6th April, we checked into the campus that would be our home for the next one year!

Just about 3 weeks in, and the course has started taking the best of R. I see him in precisely in three states - sleeping, studying or eating and this is just 60% of the peak in the first term. Life isn't the same for the wives on campus. While PGPX6 are at their case solving best, evening spouse meetings in the MSH courtyard is the high point of the day. Amidst peals of laughter, occasional shrieks from the children, the evening chatter moves into a more fruitful midnight coffee session - planning and re- planning and then perfecting plans for the week ahead.
For this week - Dam Maro Dam it is!

Bye bye Alto!

In the countdown to get to IIM Ahmedabad, I had to let go of my dear Maruti Alto. Bought in 2006, the car was a friend indeed and shared a lot of my first experiences.
I will miss my very first car - Alto, let's go!

Lunch at Gunpowder...

I simply love Hauz khas village for its charming old buildings, alleyways and the little eateries nestled within those buildings. One such surprise is Gunpowder - the Peninsular Kitchen. The little place overlooks the Hauz Khas lake, and specializes in Kerala/Andhra Non veg delicacies.
We chose a sunny Sunday afternoon with Dinesh and Dhanya, our experts with Kerala cuisines. The place is usually crowded so reserving a table in advance helped.
I don't remember most of what we ate, but the food was a bit too spicy for my palate. I loved the Karimeen and the malabar parathas with spiced buttermilk. Appams are soft, fluffy and help balance the spices in the food.
I have heard rave reviews about the Toddy Shop meen curry. There is also a Buff curry for any takers.

My take on Gunpowder would be a 7/10.

Celebrating Delhi...

I have been living in and loving every bit of Delhi since 2001. With just about a month to go before R starts his PGPX at IIM Ahmedabad, I drew up wishlist of places I wanted to visit before we start off a crazy and hopefully adventurous life on campus at the IIM A.

So here it goes (just random, no preferences)

1. Kinari Bazaar, Chandini Chowk
2. Flower market at Hanuman Mandir
3. INA market for all its wonderful fruits and spices
4. Lajpat Nagar, for the home furnishing stores
5. Gunpowder, Hauz Khas village
6. Dilli Haat, for the n'th time
7. GK, M-block market, yet once again for its South Delhi charm
8. Mudpie at the Big Chill Cafe
9. Bengali Market
10. Sarojini Nagar

Out of my 10 Must Go before I Go places, I finally happened to visit the Flower Market at 7 am. The famous Delhi Flower Marketis set up in the wee hours of the morning and is wrapped up before the world wakes up. The Delhi Flower Market is supposedly Asia's largest Cut Flower Market.
For the last 10 years I have only planned to wake up early  and experience the Phool Mandi and its awesomeness. Today I finally did!
The flower market is set up on the pavement opposite the Hanuman Market in Connaught Place. The typical shoppers are small florists, individual buyers, swanky flower boutique owners and the pavement dwellers. The area is horribly crowded and I decided to leave my bag and just pocket some money.

The flowers are fresh and available in every possible color. They come cheaper than one can imagine and a little haggling can get great early morning deals.  The idea is to just ignore the crowd and explore the liliums, orchids, roses, gerberas, oriental lilies, ferns, gladiolas and some artificial flowers. I managed to pick up 20 long stemmed beautiful yellow roses for 50 bucks, 10 deep pink gerberas for 25 bucks, and about 50 stems of rajnigandhas for 50 bucks.
Happy with my morning shopping, I headed back home driving through the green belt of central Delhi, taking in the fragrance of fresh rajnigandhas that filled my car!

Just for the "Good morning" experience, its a must- go!