The Fourth Seat

The truth hurts. Most often living on lies is better than facing the stark truth. The hideous truth, that bares its ugly face to you. The face doesn't leave you. Even when you look away, close your eyes or try to sleep. It is staring at you with a smirk. Eventually you fall asleep and it manifests itself into your dreams. Blowing itself to humongous proportions and driving your sleep away. As you jolt up on your bed and break into a cold sweat, it startles you again. It now laughs, a wicked ringing laughter. That doesn't seem to wake anyone up except you. Ignoring it, you hide under a blanket. Twisting and turning until the sun starts to shine again. But at the crack of dawn, only ghosts disappear. The light drives away all evil. But truth is no evil. It is the highest virtue. And practitioners of truth need to be worshiped. The honest need to be revered and respected. And one need not feel any hatred to the person who reveals that ugly face to you. However, agonizing it mi...

Change is the only constant they tell you. But then they say somethings are meant to last forever. The world is full of contradictions. And so is the human heart. Maybe thats why one finds himself in a dilemma more often than not. Choices within choices, options within options. And one continues to play the Russian Roulette. You are safe until the bullet is safe within the confines of the cylinder. The muzzle stares at you with a grim smile, it's just doing its job. You got to let it be. Press the trigger knowing all the consequences that will follow. Sometimes the bullet and the muzzle align. And what follows is pain. Excruciating pain. Sometimes it is powerful enough to kill. But most often it doesn't. Leaves behind an ugly mark though. A cruel reminder of your poor choices. Of the poor calculations of your chances. But more over it is a stark reminder of your foolishness. Regret is a by product of a decision that's gone wrong. Regret can hold you back. Intensify the p...

Family gatherings are a great time to talk about food. And especially when you have members who are fond of budget friendly eating out places. These places are what I feel like the underdogs of a team. Always overshadowed by the media hyped-shinier places, they continue serving good food in a manner that could be best characterized as unassuming. So when my cousin spoke of a place known as Central Lunch Home, where she regularly ordered from my mind was busy conjuring up images of the dishes she spoke of. However, she had never visited it, it seemed like a good place. Google search revealed it's menu and a couple of photos but no reviews. It didn't matter, I had Shweta's thumbs up and that was sufficient. The kitchen shuts at 1530. We were at Causeway at 1515. We were prepared to be turned down but to our surprise Manoj, welcomed us with a polite smile and made a few recommendations. We were in an experimental mood so didn't opt for the Thali which Shweta had mention...

For folks who are friends with Parsis, their food is just an added benefit of their friendship. But for lesser mortals like me, this is only the stuff one reads about. So when a friend recommended this place, a plan was put in place and here we were. It was a deserted Sunday evening at the usually bustling business district of Horniman Circle when we alighted from the cab opposite the Hermes showroom. A small walk down the circle and we were walking in the first lane passing the about to be opened Bademiyan the Restaurant. Our destination for the evening was Jimmy Boy, one of the few eateries in the city serving authentic Parsi cuisine. Located on a corner of the street as all Irani eateries, this revered place was unusually empty. Excited as we were, we entered and made our way to the mezzanine floor, only to be stopped by the manager. He was quite unapologetic of the fact that they wouldn't switch on the AC for only the two of us. So we settled for a corner table by the windo...