Aala Santhosh Reddy

I look forward to weekends. Saturday to be more precise. This is the day I and Akhil often go out for lunch. We make it a point to eat at a different restaurant each time. However, the exciting part begins after the lunch. A visit to the Crossword book store and then a cup of coffee in Brio. The restaurant located in the store. Do check out their range of coffees. Personally I think they are much better and cheaper than the range one would get elsewhere.

As usual last Saturday we had lunch at Indijoe. Followed it up with a visit Crossword to and picked up some books. The only sore point was that we couldn’t get a cup of hot coffee. Bad luck. Of the three books we picked up, one book caught my attention - The Pregnant King.

Mahabharatha and Ramayana are my favourite epics. I particularly remember Mahabharatha quite well. This is where the story of Yuvanshva caught my attention as I never came across this character in Mahabharatha. To my delight I found this was the work of the author — a fictional story.

The Pregnant King

Publisher: Penguin Books India
Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Published in: February 2008
Price: Rs. 295
Classification: Fiction

Verdict: Interesting Read

Description:

Author Devdutt Pattanaik takes the liberty of using his imaganation and inspiration from folklores to sketch an impressive story. This is the story of a King who becomes a mother to become a father to become a king. A story of Vallabhi, a kingdom which yearns for the rightful king who never comes.

Set during the time of the Kurukshetra war, the story unfolds the desires and egos of the inhabitants of the royal palace of Vallabhi. It starts with the crowning of the new King of Vallabhi — Shilavati the widow queen (as a regent) as she carries the heir (Yuvanshva) to the kingdom in her womb. Then the struggle of Shilavati, a woman with the head of a king, to hand over the power to her childless son who has three wives. The son for whom things go awry. There is also the brahman couple who return as brahma rakshasas to seek revenge on him.

In brief the story is of Yuvanshva’s many questions for which he seeks answers. About his failure to produce children even with three wives, why his mother doesn’t crown him the king and finally the question of whether is a mother or a father.

And there are other characters like his son who finds the story behind his birth unbelievable. The second queen who rejects Yuvanshva as a husband. Arjuna and his story of how he felt being like a woman. The ugly-looking yaksha, Sthunakarna who spends his life as a woman and a man helping characters like Shikandi and Somvat. The book ends with Yuvanshva finding the reasons for his confusing existence and events that happened in his life. Overall a good book to read once.

And do head to Goodreads. This is yet another online service that helps us see what our friends are reading. We can also keep track of books read and organize them into shelves.

Image Courtesy: Rohit Markande

A decade is a long time. I still remember the day I first had punjabi food. Way back in 1998 I along with my two friends had some lip smacking punjabi food for lunch. It consisted of two Butter Rotis and Punjabi Channa Masala. After that I had visited many eateries in Hyderabad but never got to taste some authentic punjabi food. The closest one being a few months ago when I and another dear friend of mine decided to have Makai Ki Roti and Sarson Ka Saag. Though we could get this famous dish there was something which was missing, the punjabi flavour and style.

And now almost after a decade I finally could please my stomach with some lip smacking punjabi food at a joint close to my new office premises. The food was good considering the limited opportunities I had to check out Punjabi food in all the restaurants I have been to in around Hyderabad. Today’s lunch menu consisted of the following:

• Paneer Channa Masala
• Egg Burji
• Butter Chicken (Boneless)
• Dal Fry
• Gobi
• Onion Parathas
• Egg Paratha
• Phulkas
• Mango Pickle
• Chilli and Methi Chutney
• Lassi

I really enjoyed the food and that it came after a long time I just dug into the food and had my stomach’s fill. The place was not great in terms of ambience but the pricing (very cheap), the portion size and the service were quite good considering the location of the place and people that come to the joint. Now that the place is nearby I will explore some other punjabi dishes soon.

Moksh situated at Ranigunj besides Nissan Tapasvi showroom is managed by Biligiri group which also operates Hyderabad’s another famous vegetarian restaurant Utsav (Near Tivoli Cinema at parade grounds).

Moksh serves a limited fare that includes vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Accommodating around 100 people in the dining section, Moksh also has got a separate floor for small get-togethers and parties.

The dishes are priced a bit on the higher side compared to other restaurants. Moksh serves afternoon lunch buffets priced at a resonable Rs. 149/- plus taxes on weekdays and Rs. 229/- plus taxes on weekends which is quite easy on the purse. However, a meal for two ordering from the menu would cost close to Rs. 750.

The most enjoyable aspect at Moksh is the wonderful ambience that includes a wonderful view of Hussain Sagar, great food served quickly with some great music in the background by a polite and helpful staff– wonderful dining experience. All in all a must visit for people who want to spend some quality time with dear ones over some delicious food served quick and hot!

For a person like me who always wondered about why good food, great ambience and quick service do not go together, here was Moksh that left me with time to wonder about other things.

It’s quite interesting to know what an average family consumes in a week and how much it costs them. Happened to watch this photo feature on Time.com

Though the feature is well spread out it should have come out well if they could target a more diverse sample that included families from the developing and under developed countries. Only two families in the entire feature actually do away with less than $6 per week for their food.