Bangalore's Synonymous for Bond 'a' Soup

For some reason last evening, the topic of Bondsoup and blogging was brought up while we were sitting at Kaati zone, Koramangla. While most of us were barely in our senses having been on the 3rd floor of Rockin' People just a couple of hours before the discussion, one could forgive the birthday girl Sri for questioning with a deep sense of ignorance on how blog templates could be changed! The answer to that was that, firstly, you've got to have a blog. And then you need to sign in.

I would joke to the extent that the initials in his name (BS) stood for Bonda Soup. While the less naive laughed it off, few others wondered if his parents were the kinds that were influenced by the parents of WWE stars. If a parent could name their kid Undertaker or Beefcake Barber, I don't think his parents were that cruel to me. But that is hardly the point here. My calling, as I understand, is to put Bonda Soup on the World map. I mean, the dish Bonda Soup.

Mumbai has the vada-pav. For Kolkatta, it's the Rossogulla. Hyderabad for biryani. Chennai for idlly-vada (said very fast almost in a monosyllable). And if you come to think of it, there is no dish synonymous with Bengaluru. Why not bondasoup? The anatomy of the Bonda Soup is real simple: There's a brown coloured almost perfect oval-round (somewhere between oval and round) object, about the size of a Cosco cricket ball; maybe a little smaller than that. And it's swimming in a bath-tub of hot yellow coloured 'soup' sprinkled with generous amounts of coriander, green chilli and jeera. You send the spoon through the brown ball and cut it into small pieces. The inside of the ball is white, but that's before the soup gets the better of it. Once the pieces are floating/ sinking in the bowl of soup, you proceed to finish them off one piece at a time (three at a time if your Satya); and drink up the soup. Fairly simple.

The next time you’re in Bangalore and wondering what to eat at a restaurant, ask for BondaSoup. Say it out loud so that the person at the next table hears you and changes his/her mind. And if we keep doing this, one person at a time, the effect could be cumulative. Let's say you’re lost on a highway in Finland some years down the road. You stop a passing car for a lift till the nearest town. The man in the car speaks broken Ingleesh. You say you’re from India. He's been to India before. You tell him that you work in Bangalore. He looks at you with a big grin and says “Bonda Soupu!”. All you can say then is “YES!”

nav-foodie

Of Coffee days and Hard-rock cafes across Bangalore

1) Ever since I read The Undercover Economist, I've had new perspectives to many old things. One example would be paying the exorbitant 50 bucks for a cup of coffee at Cafe Coffee Day. There had always been one explanation for that; you are not charged only for the coffee, but also for the overheads such as the service, ambiance, real estate rentals (typically a CCD would be located at a prime area) etc. But more recently, I got another view of it when I heard an entrepreneur with a communications back ground talk about it. Let's say you were to meet a client over coffee at CCD. For the cost of 2 coffees which is Rs. 100, you get comfortable seating and good treatment for a decent amount of time that would let you do business. In effect, what should have been done in the office room, got done across the table at a CCD, which interprets to the point that you have paid Rs. 100 for renting out an office space for a couple of hours, and yes, coffee was served too. To my understanding, one hundred bucks for prime office space on MG Road/ CP/ any other major place for a couple of hours is a real bargain. That ways, the coffee is under priced.

2) The merchandise section at Hard Rock Cafe Bengaluru is a real let down. Even before HRC came to namma ooru, I had dreamt of owning a Tee that said: HARD ROCK CAFE BANGALORE, especially after I saw a couple of HRC Bangkok T-shirts. Now here on St. Marks road, I guess the girls that attend to you at the merchandise section are Thai; because they are really pretty. But as for the Rs. 995 label on it, nope. That don't impress me much.

3) Silk board junction is handling 12,000 vehicles per hour at peak times daily. Beat that! Come seven o clock and traffic congestion starts at Mekhri Cirle underpass all the way to Hebbal Flyover. BIAL is looking good, but what about in 3 months' time? Expect the city to become the first in the world to adopt a mode of transport inspired by The Fifth Element: See them Nanos flying overhead. Ratan Tata had better feed his baby with Red Bull soon- something needs wings real bad.

4) There's a rag picker sitting on the side walk. He's laid down the bundle of scrap and is resting by the compound wall of a huge house and is soaking in the shade. He's got a pen in his hand, and is busy scribbling away on a newspaper. I peep over as I walk by, curious to know what he's writing. He's solving a Sudo-ku.