a PS on Chicks' Lits

I don't know how but I forgot two of the books that I had read, one of them, absolutely brilliant!

• Advaita Kala's Almost Single: 'My name is Aisha Bhatia, I am twenty-nine years old and single. I dine at luxury hotels and stay in five-stars during my travels, thanks to my job; I can name old and new world wines with great elan, and can tell my cheeses apart. I tolerate my job, hate my boss, and bond big time with my friends, while routinely suffering from umbilical cord whiplash. I really don't care for my vital stats right now and I don't have a cute/ funny nickname. Hence the introduction. It stinks but it sticks. In fact, sometimes I think there should be support groups like the AA out there for people like us...' Predictable? Yes. But then again, most chick lits are. They are supposed to be. What's a chick lit if not predictable. It's not about the what but rather about the how. And that how has been executed very well by Kala. This is one of the funniest book I've read in a while and a rare gem in the category of Indian chick lits. :D
• Sonia Singh's Bollywood Confidential: Raveena, a wannabe Hollywood actress, accepts a lead role in a Bollywood film for the lack of jobs in Hollywood, comes to India and obviously, falls in love with the lead actor opposite her in the film. A lecherous director, a strong, silent type hero, a bitchy supermodel who regards her with jealous eyes as competition for the silent hero's attentions and some bizarre, crazy twists, this one's a total Bollywood pot-boiler as well. Maybe this Bollywood type plots are a something diaspora chick-lit authors think is how Indian chick-lit should be. Researching this idea is so going to be a chapter or two in my thesis. :D

Ok, that's it. For now. I have ordered a couple more books from Flipkart (Aside: I must mention here how Flipkart is a bad, bad thing and Flipkart plus Internet Banking, a lethal combination.) So, after I come back from my Leeds vacation, I might put up more reviews. Until then, well, other things. :P

Cocktails are my cuppa tea! (heh!) :P

Remember that day when I told you I make the best Mojitos in the world? Make that the best goddamn cocktails in the world! (ever wondered why are they called cock-tails?!! heh!) There is something incredible sexy about mixing the various sinful liquids and then giving them that chic look. Isn't that why the bartenders get hit on so often?

I can tell you, I feel extremely sexy and in an odd way, empowered when I am mixing spirits. Another cool fact: When you confidently walk into a shop and ask for serious booze, nobody questions your age! :P Hehe, cool, no? I remember the first time I bought alcohol here, (I was trying to buy some cider! Hardly qualifies for alcohol! :P) I was asked for a proof of age and my student ID card didn't have my date of birth on it. (It beats me why wouldn't they put DOB on an ID! It seems such an important detail!) So, I had to go back to my flat and bring back another form of identification! And anyway, since I look all small and too young for my age, I am always ID-ed everywhere. But last time I walked in the store and asked for a big bottle of rum and yesterday, I went in and asked for triple sec/ cointreau and both times I wasn't asked to produce a proof of age! Oh, and all this was in different stores, just in case you are thinking that maybe it's because the people there know me by now. :P Though I'm sure if I went to just one place, they'd place me in the category of an alcoholic! :P Hee.

Anyway, so, once every week, all of us house-mates meet for dinner. There is a great international atmosphere and various cuisines on the table. In fact, I think all of us bond most over food talk! :P And I had volunteered to cook this week. I cooked that particular species of typically Indian food - "Indian Chinese." :D It is very different from Chinese food and I think the closest thing that would come to it would be the cheap South Asian Chinese joints in the UK. It tastes awesome and I'll put up the recipes sometime soon on the food blog. Well, since I don't know what alcohol goes the best with any kind of Indian food, I decided I'll just make some cocktails. (ahem, very original excuse, you have to agree! :P) I just wanted to feel all sexy! :P And as soon as I thought of "sexy," I knew I'd make the Sex and the City signature drink - the Cosmopolitan. And boy, did it look all pretty in pink! :P :D See, see!! :D I even frosted the glasses and made them look all professional cocktail types! Yay! I feel all proud and awesome! :D Now, if only my poor, neglected dissertation went as well as my alcohol exploits! Sigh! :P

Of Alcoholics and Drinking Games

S and her Italian Lover-boy (lets call him, ummmm, oh, I know! M for Mafia! We could've kept calling him Italian Loverboy but M is just easier and also funnier. It's funny because he's SO not like Mafia. He's all gentle and caring and goofy types. But because S's father and brothers have not met him, they just assume the worst and bring out all stereotypes. Hee.) just came back from their holidays a few days ago and guess what they brought back from Italy for our house-mates? A bottle of Lemoncino! That sweet, warm, citrus-ey alcohol which will become your undoing because you will not know when to stop. As you see, I talk from experience here. :P

So, last night, after dinner, S and I  both had a bit of it and while she was being intelligent and sipping it, I decided to do a shot. For a moment there, I was totally disoriented and again found myself sitting in M's living room a few months ago and playing drinking games and having much of that dangerous liquid! It was one of the best house parties I've had in England. We were all being very adult about it and letting everyone have whatever they wanted and nobody was forced to shots or anything. Did you just say boring? Nonononono, not boring. It's called being adult abbavibba. Well, we had fun anyway. So, yea, it doesn't matter. And I think except for one of our friends, the rest of us got very drunk. Now see, when I get drunk, I get very chummy-chummy with M. Generally, in all sobriety I and M keep taking snipes at each other. He just keeps pulling my leg and annoying me. So, I retaliate. (Yes, ::nod solemnly:: it's always he who starts it. :P) If anybody so much as dares to even whisper the word 'jealous', I'll block them from reading my blog. Honest. Alright, now that we have cleared that out, where was I? Oh, yea, so, but when he gets drunk, he just sits quietly in a corner. Ok, not so quietly and not so much in a corner. But, he doesn't try to annoy me. And since I'm all happy and giggly and am also not being bothered, I get all chummy-chummy with M. That day, I defended him against some accusations. I forget what but I bet it was something silly seeing as we were all pissed. And so, everyone was rather amused by my chummy-ness. But, then, when we woke up the next day (News flash: Lemoncino doesn't give me as bad a hangover as wine and vodka do! YAY!)  I immediately cleared up all the misunderstandings about the previous evening and everyone was amused again. It was just the booze talking, said she in a matter-of-fact voice. Sigh, no one seems to take me seriously. I wonder why! :P Also, I was the cheater on the table that night! As in, I did all my shots (or sips of coke and vodka :P) but whenever I picked up a card that had something I didn't want to perform, I'd just mix it back in the pile of cards and pick another one! :P Hee. I love being myself and I also love all my friends and oh, I probably might love vodka more that I love my friends when I'm having it but I'm not sure.

Another time I had great fun playing drinking games was with Kyra, Sara and JD. (As, everyone who reads this blog knows! :P) I'm sorry for mentioning it so many times and not elaborating. Here's my apology, in the form of a whole paragraph! :P :D Ta da!!!! So, I made mojitos (Aside: I make the world's BEST mojitos. Ok, maybe not the world's best. But they are pretty damn good. Pssssst. My secret: FRESH mint and lime. The freshness of your mojitos will help them take on the world. Uhhh....as you can see, I'm in the hyperbole mood today! :P Ok, Aside over.) And then, we all played never have I ever and many secrets were revealed. :D I think everyone should play never have I ever at least once in their lives. Because you know, once you play it, you'll want to play it again and again and again, sometimes to get people very very drunk and sometimes, to know everyone's secrets. ;) Being evil is fun, ain't it? :P As far as drinking games go, this is the best one. Really. So, basically, we all drank mojitos, wine and rum and coke and smoked pot. And when we were all out of alcohol but too lazy to go out and buy more, but we were still not done with the game, we just ate the mint leaves from our mojitos instead of taking shots. Hmmm, I don't really remember being that drunk. Maybe I was wrong! :P And then, we also made Gulab Jamuns when we were all high and listened to Emotional Attyachar and Jumma Chumma De De. Fun, fun!! No? :D