Sample India's superb history at Bhaje caves

The Bhaje caves

The main prayer hall

This was one of our rare spontaneous trips (given the compulsive planner that I am). We looked up some sites and set out early on Sunday morning for Bhaje caves (or लेणी in Marathi). We took the old Pune-Mumbai highway, which by the way makes for an amazing drive (I travel to Mumbai for work so often that I've developed an express highway-fatigue so the old highway was a good change).

To get to Bhaje, you take a left at Karle village (about 45 km from Pune). An old, dusty board confirms you are on the right track. Bhaje is about 4 kms from here and the road is surprisingly motorable. You can leave your car at the parking and then set out on foot for the last couple of kilometers. The other option is to take a Pune-Lonavala local till Malavali and then walk; which would be about 3 kms to the top. The climb is steep and if you are not a regular at exercise, you will definitely need to take at least one break. We were fortunate to have amazing weather that day. Climbing in the sun could be bad.

The caves show themselves suddenly from one point on, and what you behold is stunning. There is a large prayer hall and several caves that must've served as resting rooms for the monks, complete with a water storage area. The main hall is magnificient and hosts a large stone stupa... as always one wonders how people must have built them in the 2nd Century AD! Going up and down the stone stairways feels adventurous. The view is breath-taking, which I think must've inspired the architect back then! Be sure not to miss the stupas towards the right of the caves further along the road. The same road leads to Fort Lohagad, a popular trekking route. But we decided to try that some other time.

Bhaje is one of the three ancient caves near Karle. Bedse caves near Kamshet I hear are along similar lines as Bhaje. Karle caves on the other side of the road are the largest. We attempted going there last year on the way back from Lonavala but gave up mid-way. The road to the caves passes through a temple and is absolutely filthy and downright repulsive.

There is a small entrance fee of Rs.5 for the Bhaje caves, which seems to get utilized in maintaining the caves as the premises are clean and well conserved by the Archeological Society of India. I wish there was a big fee for the entire area and heavy fines for littering. There was especially a large group ahead of us - all educated looking youngsters - and pitifully we saw several of them littering all over the way, spitting, shouting; it struck me what a horrible failure our education system is for not imbibing this basic social discipline and respect for history in us!

My verdict: 4 out of 5. Bhaje makes for a great half-day trip when the weather's good. Leave early in the morning to avoid the sun. Best not to take older people along as the climb is not exactly easy. Carry food and water as the old highway hardly has any good eateries left.

Panchavati Gaurav – Mediocre stuff

It's hard for me to consent to eat at a thali restaurant these days, simply because I feel like a waste going out and eating the same food that you can cook (sometimes better) at home. I'd rather pick from some specialty, multi-cuisine options from which I can derive a unique experience. I was even more convinced after our experience at Panchavati Gaurav, off Bhandarkar road last week. We had to choose this place because we had people with us who don't particularly enjoy experimenting with their food, but then Marwadi seemed like a good change from the normal Maharashtrian Thali.

I tried to reserve a table in the morning, but the restaurant does not take reservations, which is disappointing because there is always the anxiety (for hyper people like me) about whether you will get a table and the likelihood of having to wait. Fortunately we got a table without a wait. The place has adequate parking and the ambience is ok.

You are of course served as soon as you choose your table. The preparation was aesthetic - no large chunks of sloppily cut vegetables or uncut coriander drooping down from your katori. In fact, the mini-puran poli which was served out of a kadai full of ghee both looked and tasted great. The undiyo and jal jeera with mint were also decent. However, the rest of the fare was run of the mill. The dhoklas were too dry, the mutter kachori was tasteless, rasmalai was rubbery and the vegetables were not even worth a mention. All in all, nothing unique about the Thali here that you would not get anywhere else – in terms of the spread as well as the taste.

Even more annoying was the service. I simply hate it when waiters messily thump food into your plate, spilling and splotching it all around (and over) you. We had to call for items like roti and rice several times before we were served. Moreover, they started gathering our plates the minute we were done and even started cleaning the table. I could not find a single reason why that could not have happened after we'd left the table, considering that in a thali restaurant that typically happens as soon as everyone has finished.

I often wonder why Thali places cannot create a nice, relaxed ambience and have to seem like low-end "khanawals" (lunch homes). Do they really need to loom over you and compel you to stuff your food, pay your bill and leave? I think 7 of us finished lunch and were out of the place within some 30 minutes. Hardly the sort of Sunday afternoon you would envisage with extended family! The price at Rs. 195 per plate too is far more than that charged by some of the better Thali places in town. I doubt I will ever go back!

My verdict: 2 out of 5 – for the total lack of differentiation and the poor service.

Bringing home good old grandma’s recipes – Sakas on Law College Road

Here’s a store I totally enjoy visiting. And not just for the old tom-cat that hangs around there that I love to pet. Actually Sakas is the place to go for all sorts of attas (wheat, rice, jowar, bajri), spices (Garam masala, Goda masala, Cardamom powder, Cinnamon powder), and delicious, authentic Maharashtrian foods. One trip to the shop and you can stock up your kitchen on days of tasty, healthy and quick cooking meals – nachani (raagi), sattu, daliya are some examples.

The store also stocks laddoos of various kinds (rawa, besan, puffed rice/kurmura), chaklis, chivdas (mixtures) and amazing polis – gulpoli, puranpoli, khawa poli. The polis make for a very reasonable and enjoyable meal. Make a koshimbir or simple salad or get solkadhi with it and your meal is complete. Not to mention reminiscing on that taste your grandma’s cooking brought to your mouth, because the quality of preparation from the store is excellent and is sure to leave you smacking your lips. However, in peak season – for e.g. puran polis in shravan or gulachi poli around makar sankrant, it is advisable to call them in advance and book your polis. Prices are only slightly higher than that in your neighbourhood store, but the quality will be well worth that extra spend.

The Sakas brand sells its products through several retail stores and even their own franchises around Pune. But the freshness of the products you can pick up from the main store on Law College road is unparalleled. However, you will need to bear in mind their ‘timings’ – daily 9 to 1 and 4.30 to 8.30 pm, with Thursdays off. The over-the-counter retail style is also a little uncomfortable for people like us used to the retail chains these days.

My verdict: You won’t regret visiting this place. Keeping with the green trend, they do not provide carry bags. So remember to carry your own.
To reach this place, you need to take a turn after the two petrol pumps in front of Ranka Jewellers (if you are heading from Nal stop to Deccan) and then take the second left.

No Justice to the title – Divine Justice by David Baldacci

I don’t know if there are others who feel the same way, but I’ve been having real trouble trying to finish books lately. And I am convinced it’s not just the lack of time or energy at the end of a hard day to blame. On the contrary, which book lover wouldn’t like to unwind with a thriller or a stylish novel when you can spare the time? However, these days I feel as if there are no good books out there. Even the ones that start well fizzle out over the pages. Where have all the good writers gone?

I picked up Divine Justice from several bestseller lists. Some reviews I saw gave it high star ratings. In truth, the book was a huge disappointment. There is neither any obvious writing style nor pace in the book. The plot is actually quite good. The parallel storyline shifting between the erstwhile CIA sharp shooter Oliver, who murders two important American men, and the agent Knox caught between his boss with an ulterior motive to track down Oliver and the value judgments that come from his own past is intriguing. However, the author’s reluctance to keep the narrative crisp makes the book drift on and on. Multiple plots and forced coincidences kill the focus, and again, the all-too-common property among authors to glorify the protagonist make your interest wane after the first few pages.

I had real trouble finishing this one despite much determination to not put it away half-read.

My verdict – This one may be for you if you are really interested in the CIA, or the legacies of the American war in Vietnam and Afghanistan. Or if you really don’t have anything else to read AND are well versed with the art of speed reading.

3 Idiots - the over-hyped revenue machine?

I went to see 3 idiots early in the New Year on a Saturday morning. Opted for the morning show for three reasons: One, I was not partying so hard on the 31st that I would need to spend the next 2-3 days recuperating. Two: Judging by the size of the queue for advance booking, I did not even expect to get the tickets for an evening show over the long weekend. And three, and rather obviously, it was the cheapest show. By saying cheapest, I am being very relative, since the price of the cheapest movie ticket that day was actually higher than what a typical ticket would cost on another day. Hard to see why the movie would not gross as much as it has.

Let me bring in some more necessary digression by telling you that I am not exactly what they call a movie buff. You would hardly find me in the theatre as soon as the movie is released, unless its Harry Potter may be. I seek the opinion of people whose taste in movies matches that of my own before I even consider seeing a movie in the theater. I would probably allow more concession when it comes to renting a DVD, but that’s simply because I can walk away from the movie at any time if I am bored, without feeling guilty about having paid through my nose for the ticket. Even after all the reviews, and after the calculated risk of expecting to like the movie, I end up not liking the movies, and have in fact burnt my fingers real bad on some occasions. Which basically means you would rather place me in the critic or even cynic category when it comes to movies.

However, I completely believe that some movies ought to be seen for their ‘public image value’ (PIV). They can’t be missed if you want to uphold that ‘happening status’ in your social life. I decided that 3 Idiots was one of those movies with a high PIV.

The euphoria surrounding 3 Idiots was evident in the packed theatre with people of all age groups scrambling at 10 am to be equipped with popcorn and all the other paraphernalia that comes with seeing movies in a multiplex these days. I must admit the movie made for an entertaining 3 hours. The audience was compelled to laugh, cry, marvel, ogle, smirk, and all of it in the time. And as has come to be expected from a Rajkumar Hirani creation, people got out of the theatre feeling good.

I actually came out feeling a little ‘different’. Yes, movies must be entertaining. But perhaps my expectations about an underlying message are too high. What is the real takeaway from spending so much money and putting in so much effort into moviemaking? In this case what was it - Question marks on the Indian education system? Tips on how to rebel against stereotypical professors? Lessons in true friendship? Or a different take on how to derive more value from life? Did you really think it achieved any of this?

May be it is the whole genre of escapist cinema that fails to appeal to me. Five-Point Someone is a simple story, of ordinary people in a common setting. Yet it says a lot, yields more realism and ends pleasantly though not without trying to tie up all the loose ends. The movie on the other hand, enjoys creating the larger than life image to the extent of being melodramatic at times, stretches all characters to the extreme by either glorifying or falsifying human nature, and seeks that picture-perfect ending that one can never dream of in real life. (And not even give credit to the author – but let me get into that some other time.)

My verdict – I would give it 3.5 out of 5 for the excellent cinematography and Chatur’s speech. A definite one time watch, especially for the PIV.