Wine and Cheese Evening

It was nice. It was different. It was good. Say Cheese :D

Being a student of French and not having a passion for wine tasting and cheese is like owning a car and not knowing about the engine or wheels.

So when I got wind of the wine and cheese evening at Rhapsody, Courtyard Marriott I eagerly awaited the evening. And it wasn't a let down at all. It was actually a great evening. 

Now, this being my first such formal social evening event I do not have a frame of reference but anyway let me write what I think about it.

Lets start with the ambiance. Rhapsody is basically a bar and pub so you have muted lightings ,leather chairs, polished tables, smart waiters, background music that wasn't very intrusive and all the things you may want. I didn't find any problem with it.

Next, the event: I don't have any negative points about it. The event was well organized (although it started late). Wine and cheese evenings are a new culture Alliance Francaise of Madras is trying to start in Chennai. This event was part of a series of events hosted by AF as part of its Club Degustation events. The cheese were organised by Daniel Dubosclard, the owner of La Fromagerie from Bangalore. The wine was sponsored by Four Seasons by UB Spirits. These wines are new additions to the porfolio of UB and it was like a promotional campaign by them. There were 5 kinds of cheese Brie de Brie, Fourme d'Ambert, Buche de chevre, Morbier and Cantal. As for the wine there was a selection of 5 wines, 3 white wines and 2 red wines(Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Blush Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz). The people at the party were mostly foreigners and they talked in fluent french :( 

The cheese: Now I do not know the C of Cheese but I can tell you one thing. If you have grown up on only processed cheese (Amul, Britannia etc) your in for a big and surprise treat. When I tasted the cheese I could really see the difference between what Indians call Cheese and what cheese can actually be. From the subtlest flavour to the most prominent and aggressive ones.

the wines also have distinct taste. From sweet tasting Blush Red to the strong Souvignon Blanc. But then you need to acquire a taste for the wines so I couldnt really understand the good from the bad.

On the whole it was a good evening, a new experience for me and it was something to remember.

Au revoir :) A bientot.

Friendship

I STOOD WITH TRUTH

BUT NOT JUSTICE

I STOOD WITH A LIE

THEN IS IT JUSTICE?

I WANTED WHITE

BUT GOT BLACK

MURPHY’S LAW IS

STILL INTACT

 

KEEP FRIENDS CLOSE BUT ENEMIES CLOSER

YOU MAY BE STABBED WHEN U DOZE OFF

 

LIFE LONG BOND WAS NOT IN MY MIND

IT WAS JUST A WISH I HAD TO BIND

ALL I GOT WAS LIES AND PAIN

YEARS FRIENDSHIP DOWN THE DRAIN

 

TRUST IS LIKE A HOUSE OF CARDS

BE THE FORCE LIGHT OR HARD

A BRUSH OF WIND CAN TEAR IT APART

NOT TO MENTION HOW HARD IT IS TO START

 

 

 

IT IS TRUE OR IS IT?

PEOPLE ARE AS PEOPLE DO IT

DO OTHERS CARE ABOUT OTHERS A BIT

AND IS FRIENDSHIP JUST A PACK OF SHIT?

 

BEING EXASPERATED IS NOTHING NEW FOR ME

IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER ITS FOUR OR THREE

EVEN TWO WOULD BE ENOUGH FOR ME

NOW ITS ONLY YOU AND ME

 

I TOOK A CHANCE

SEE WHAT HAPPENED

MY HEART WAS BROKEN

AND MY SPIRIT DAMPENED

 

IT TAKES A WHILE TO ACCEPT SOMETHINGS

IT TAKES A WHILE TO BELIEVE SOMETHINGS

IT TAKES A WHILE TO FORGET SOMETHINGS

BUT IT TAKES A LIFE TO UNDERSTAND SOMEONE

 

IS THIS LIFE OR IS IT?

ITS DEFINATELY NOT A BED OF ROSES

ITS DEFINITELY NOT AS BAD AS SAID

ITS DEFINITELY NOT AS GOOD AS MADE

Dan Brown-The Lost Symbol- my Review

Now this was one book I had been eagerly been waiting for. I had even visited his website and played the pre-release game and won the prize which was a message from Dan Brown saying that if I was able to decipher the code in the cover page and send it to him, he will send me a signed copy of the book. This was applicable on the first 33 people. 

So I eagerly went to Landmark, purchased the book at the discounted prize which ironically still was expensive(Rs 599) only to realize that there was no code in the front cover.

Only then did I realize that as with the HP 7 book, the actual cover was not published in India and it was an Indian cover altogether. So much for my hopes of cracking the code.

Coming to the book itself, It is written in classical Dan brown style with lots of fact and fiction mixed together in such a way that you wont know where one ends and another begins. You see things you do and see in a entirely different perspective. It makes you wonder what had made you so blind so as not to see all that. It arouses you imagination, challenges you existing beliefs and makes you aware there is something more to things that what you see.

Overall the book is a good read. But I did not find it worth the exorbitant amount I paid to have it or the hours of study time I wasted to read it.  

You may ask Why? ...

Well first of all, the story has nothing new to offer in term on a baseline.

As a engineer I would say Dan Brown has created a Class of story and all his novels are Objects of this same class. 

As a cook I might say, he has used the same old recipe again and again.

As a fan I would say "Dude, don't you get tired of writing the same old shit"

1 ) Same plot as used in Da vinci and A&D. One hero...(no prizes there... its Robert again still doing 50 laps in the pool). 

2 ) Same concept of signs hidden in buildings. ( London and Paris, Rome etc) This time its W D.C.

3 )Secret cult/brotherhood(Illuminati, Priori of Sion, etc) protecting ancient secrets that have the potential to change world.

4 )Advancement in Science that opposes the ideas of the secret.(actually here it was collaborating with that of the ancients.)

5 )One evil demonic figure(Silas et all) hell bent on bringing the secret in the open.

6 )One map(The path of Illumination, The Cryptex, The single digit code et all) that tries and tests whether you deserve to know the secret or not

7 ) The map this time is not very long and it has very things to offer. Not much for cryptographers mind here. 

8 ) Misunderstanding between Langdon and Government officials. Langdon escaping, chased by police.

and everything in between. Ppl getting killed. blasts, etc. 

The only thing that changes is the way the signs are decoded and the underlying history behind it. The etymology of frequently used words and why we use certain phrases (I found the one about giving the 3rd degree a good one).

Overall I think it was a big let down after months of anticipation and waiting. 

Overall: Typical Dan Brown but fast getting boring. I swear if I get the same plot next time,I'm throwing the book out of the window with its price label still attached.

Originality of Story: 2

Facts and information:  10

Suspense and Thriller: 8 (yes it has its good edges and U turns)

Price: 6 (you really should wait for the paperback cheaper ones)

The Real You

This article may seem like crap to some and some might just curse me for wasting their time. But anyway here it is...

One day someone asked me: " Tell me who you really are". And what was I supposed to say?

Before you read this article I would like if you would read this one first:

http://oceanika-oceantalks.blogspot.com/2009/09/best-plum-ever.html

And then......

Philosophers say :"Each person is unique"         

Science says:" All person are 99% same and 1% different".

But take a look at the following pics and then truthfully answer me: Are you one person? Can you honestly say you behave the same way all the time with everyone?

In the short span of my life ( am 21 FYI)... I have met many people but if you ask me how many people I have met I would say "Uncountable" . 

Why? Because each person is a melange of many faces and personalities , all hidden one behind the other or which surfaces at different time in different places. No I'm not talking about Multiple Personality Disorder(MPD) but about how the same people behave differently at different times.

Consider my own example..

Previously, I used to behave differently in college and at home. I was extrovert at times and introvert at times. Why you may ask? The answer is somewhat the one written in the blog mentioned above... that is :

We try to be what others want us to be.

We wear a mask ,a false face, a substitute face over our real self so that we may "fit in" with the other people around us. 

We wear faces and change faces just like an actor in a play where there are a lot of roles but fewer actors. He has to juggle a lot of personalities and faces simultaneous taking care never to switch one for the other.

We for the most part are all such actors in life. We wear a smiling face with one person, a loving with another, a hateful with third, a pitiful with fourth, an angry with 5th, an aloof one with 6th, a stranger with a 7th and the list goes on.

Why cannot we be ourselves? But then "Who are we really?"

Acting as we have for a long time, we forget who we really are. We create the strings of parallel lives within ourselves and then we get entangles in them ourselves. Like a quagmire you yourself created and then got stuck in it yourself. And most of the time we cannot get ourselves out of it all.

Most of the time, the cause for such faces is not oneself but the people with whom one associates himself. By taking note of what people say about a person, the person starts to believe in it himself. Something like "if you call a donkey a goat 1000 times he will believe he is a goat". Tell a person a 1000 times " this is the truth. It should be like this" and he will throw away his ideas and accept that as the truth.

I have met people whom I think are good at heart, but was surprised to see the dark side of theirs when the situation arose. I want to say I have made many friends but truth be  told I have simply made a lot of "acquaintance" ... why? you may ask....

because when you say " He/she is my friend" you mean that you understand the person for who he/she really is. The best example of friendship I can give you is of the series called F.R.I.E.N.D.S on star world

But what I have experienced is nothing but bits and pieces of faces and personalities people keep in front while hiding behind the mask. It has given me some rude shocks and some of my friends have had a similar experience with me too.

The point I am trying to make is... People see us as one. Then why is it that we have so many faces?

Performance Vs Progress

Everyone of us has read the story about the hare and the tortoise and concluded that "Slow and Steady wins the race" 

I read a poster posted outside one of my professor's door and its idea and meaning is what I am essaying to reproduce here.

There are several questions that we can ask in the story.

1) What if the hare hadn't slept? 

            Would he have won the race and we would have a new moral called " Run as fast as you can,don't look back and you will surely win" ?

2) What if the tortoise on seeing the sleeping hare had woken him up and said " hey, we are in a race. how can you be sleeping?" 

           This would still ended in the hare winning the race maybe. But there is a world of a difference in the above 2 ways.

One makes you achieve Performance. The other makes you achieve Progress. 

In the current world, the hectic life that we are all subject to is nothing but the fruition of our being focused on performance rather than progress. In performance, you alone move forward leaving others behind. Therefore you can run faster and go a longer way. But then what? you wait for others to catch up?or you again start running even further ahead? 

Does performance really matter in the world? I have heard a lot of people saying "Dont stop running else the tide will overtake you". But how long do you run? Forever? You live your life       "on the run" metaphorically?I ask you a simple question.....

With whom would you enjoy your performance if you consider everyone else a competition?

--------------------------------

What would you say if the hare takes the tortoise on his back and both finish ?

Progress is moving forward as a whole team/group/society or even nation as a whole. Where we involve others in our working and strive together to achieve the cliched "Tryst with Destiny". Where one complements the other and pulls everyone else along so that the progress may be slow , but is much more sweet, steady and in general, a progress in the real sense. You may perform all your life, but can you call that progress?

What is the use of a society which doesn't progress?

"That which doesn't change, doesn't grow. That which doesn't grow, dies"

Thus, I would like to wind up by saying that, do perform, but don't forget to progress also.

Adieu. hasta luego.