Fun at Nimisha's Kitchen

Genuine warmheartedness and friendship - only the blessed get to experience. This past weekend, I felt blessed at Living Inn, Ludwigsburg. An invite for dinner turned out to be my most memorable evening in this German city...

On a cold Saturday afternoon, I started cycling toward Ludwigsburg. The cycling track cut across vast tracks of fields and I was lucky enough to spot two old gentlemen harvesting carrots while engaged in jovial banter. Unbeknown to them, I stopped my bike to take in this rare sight. How often does one get to observe a thing like this in a foreign land??? Oblivious to their surroundings, they continued to wriggle their arms in the mud...

Nimisha in her quintessential multilingual style had spelt the address as bhooka pahad, naalu, Ludwigsburg.  (For the benefit of the majority who won't get this, she had meant Hungerberg 4, Ludwigsburg) I reached to find an apartment complex set in the most beautiful of surroundings. The Neckar was meandering along in its trail close by and a narrow path next to the complex seemed to lead to the Ludwigsburg Castle. The apparition of the complex could have been straight out of some fairytale.

Rasam with rice

Arun had made rasam and rice and I don't think I had enjoyed the taste of rasam quite as much as I did that particular afternoon. The salty-sour-spicy syrup gave life to taste buds that I never knew existed! Abhilash relished the taste so much that he slurped with satisfaction!

Swans on the Neckar

After that simple tasty lunch, we set out to explore the surroundings. Guided by Arun, we walked the stretch along the Neckar trail. Swans graced the shore with a charm and elegance that only the proud and beautiful can produce with ease! With their slender necks, they looked for easy prey and a bespectacled old guy happily obliged by taking pleasure in feeding them. We experimented with different angles for some pictures. 

Back at the Living inn, Ashutosh and Nimisha were just finishing noodles. Soon enough, the cabinet was opened again...all sorts of spices in all possible packet sizes could be seen fighting for space. Out of boxes, Tupperware and hung from nooks, they were waiting to exude their aroma...We set out to work. (A correction is in order: Nimisha and Arun set out while Abhilash and Ashutosh lent them a helping hand. Useless me just loitered around clicking pictures!) Ashutosh set about making bhel poori; Abhilash busied himself with making the sweet popcorn spicy.  Nimisha made dough and Arun got the vegetables in order. 

I fail to recall who began singing while I certainly remember Nimisha prodding Arun with Abhirami, Abhirami. In no time, Abhilash started his favorite Ghar se nikalte hi ; Ashutosh surprised everyone by playing his own rendition of Maa that got me a bit emotional. Nimisha, with her exuberance surpassed Shreya Goshal by firstly singing Pal pal and then striving to make every pal of the evening so beautiful for all of us. Sometimes I do wonder where this girl draws her energy and enthusiasm from...they seem to be from some perennial source! Arun mimicked actor Kamal Hassan from Dasavatharam to near perfection...

One for the group

When the clock neared 10, dinner was ready and we were ready to feast. Chairs materialized out of nowhere and that small kitchen expanded to accommodate the five of us. Abhilash did some running around before he could find a perfect spot for a timed click.  The smiles are all too evident. The Parathas and the brinjal curry tasted brilliant. Salad, curd and pickle complemented the menu perfectly.

Post lunch, flavored yoghurt and bananas made for a delectable dessert. What a memorable evening it turned out to be...one that I would cherish and hold dear for a long long time!

Reading experience unparalleled!

I am a die-hard fan of good libraries...the first reasonably good library I encountered was in my first year of college. The Madras Institute of Technology library in Chennai might not be the biggest and it is certainly not the most well maintained, yet, it had a special charm for me. I borrowed books almost every week but almost always, returned them untouched...the library was my abode during short breaks and the aircraft model opposite the entrance always reminded me of black and white images. 

Then, there was the British Council Library near the TVS bus stop on Mount road. There were days when I had spent more time there than at my college campus. If I got a 4 hour break between classes, I would catch a MTC bus, go to the library, browse through the collection and come back in time for the class....those days!! 

In Bangalore, I began to frequent Mylib. Located in the southern part of the city, it is a compact, well equipped library that lives up to its "neighborhood library" tag. Run by two wonderful and passionate people, am sure, it will branch out and expand soon..! You can read my post on it here.  Even at work, my love for libraries remained undiminished. The SRR campus library of Intel and the Koramangala library of Bosch, well, to me, they are special places!

Books & Media collection

Now, coming to the point of this post, I recently became a member of the Stuttgart city library. At a yearly membership fee of 15 EUR, one can borrow as many as 15 items at a time (books or media) and return them a month later. It has nearly 20 branches distributed throughout the city. Whilst I have been frequenting the branches at Feuerbach and zufenhausen, the latter mostly, today, I decided to visit the main branch at Mailänder Platz. 

Reading area for children

It is a massive structure, spread over 8 floors and boasting of jaw-dropping infrastructure! I have never in all my life seen such a rich collection on so many wide variety of subjects. Art, Culture, travel, business, management, information technology, literature, books for young children, music, dance, languages and media in almost every European language ‐ the collection is simply mind blowing! 

View from the one of the gallery halls

Infrastructure is ultra modern and tasteful. There is an entire floor of media and books dedicated to children on the second floor. It is a treat to the eyes to see such interiors....if only, we do even 10% this back in India!! A cafe at the 8th floor serves drinks, salad and pastries. Of special highlight are the gallery halls, located centrally in every floor starting from the 4th. 

I picked up 2 finnish, 1 french, 1 spanish and 1 turkish movie, a novel by JM Coetzee and an essay collection by Emerson....pure indulgence!