FENDER CAFE: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Restaurant: Fender Cafe, Shahpur Jat 

Meal for two: Very comfortably UNDER Rs. 500

Fender Cafe has quickly emerged as one of my favourate places to eat in Delhi. Located in Shahpur Jat this place is an absolute delight for a variety of reasons. Delicious burgers (veg and non veg, and non veg is not just chicken) would be the foremost. Then there is the 'chicken meat ball wai wai', which puts any other type of experimental maggi to shame. However, there are plenty of other options, including veg. ad non veg. 'Thalis' which very much taste as good as home- made food. The veg 'Thali' includes 'daal', 'sabzi', 'raajma', curd and mint chuttney. I haven't tried the non veg Thali yet. The cafe used to be a music academy and still has a recording studio upstairs so you will find a lot of musicians going in and out. Also along with serving delicious white sauce pasta the place is also easy on the pocket. Don't be surprised if some of the items on the menu are not available but rest assured there won't be anything disappointed in anything you end up ordering. 

Those of you who love music will fall in love with the decor. Actually it is great even if you don't care about music. The walls are lined with creatively appropriated guitars and posters of all kinds. The salt and pepper caddies are made of music cassettes. I think I spotted one of 'Ajnabee' but I had to settle for a photo of 'Dirty Dancing' because good manners dictate not barging in on people eating their food to click photos of the novelty items on their table. The back f the chairs carry quotes from various artists so you are assured that there is enough fodder for small talk (in case you are looking for some). You can easily sprawl in the place for sometime without any judgment form the staff. It is refreshingly comfortable and it is far from pretentious. I would highly recommend it.

Yes, the one on the lower left is a quote by Freddie Mercury: "I won't be a Rockstar, I will be a Legend". 

Disclaimer: Don't let my poor photography skills deter you from going to the place. Also I didn't click any photos of the food because I was really hungry and it didn't occur to me. 

Enjoy eating!

INTERSTELLAR: REVIEW

The following review contains spoilers so "tread lightly". 

Interstellar: It is everything you expect from Nolan. It is grand with a thick plot and moments that bring you to the edge of our seat and twists that hit you out of nowhere (or at least hit me out of nowhere). Zimmer is the true star though. His music breathes life into the experience and draws you into the film. It is music  that gives any film an edge and Nolan uses the musical arrangement mush too wisely. For all the times you hear "the book was better" and it probably was, good music and wisely used music is where a film can make up for lost emotion or grandeur or whatever it is that you want to convey. From the deafening silence in space to the enormity of the music accompanying the most thrilling scenes, it was treat for the ears as much as it was a treat for the eyes. 

Apart from all the scientific drama that is unfolding, the plot is just complicated enough to force you keep your eyes glued on to the screen and keep striving to look past the scientific jargon. Once you look past it and understand what is going on you can go ahead, pat yourself on the back and feel superior to the rest of the mortals in the theater, who didn't gasp as much as you did. Honestly though, (AND SPOILER ALERT) the film, in terms of it's concept is uncomfortably close to Doctor Who (*cue lightning for dramatic effect*). I, for one, would trade the big space ship in for the TARDIS and the scientific jargon in for "wibbly wobbly timey wimey... stuff"... it goes down much smoother. Then there is TARS, a robot that has a human  setting, who reminded me of Marvin: the paranoid android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. So you shouldn't be going into this film expecting real conceptual novelty.     

At the center of it all are bigger philosophical questions about life and objectivity and what it means to make choices when you stand as a proxy for a community. The idea of love locks in imperfectly for me but does not feel completely out of place. (a pun you might enjoy if you have seen the film). I respect the intention and the idea of entertaining the possibility that we can never be truly objective and that emotion is not something we need to divorce ourselves from when it comes to science. However, these ideas seem like after thoughts, superimposed on the story later on.

The film does manage to make you want to stand right besides the characters in the film as they make the hard decisions they have to and the climax is like a wave slaps you and then knocks you into the sand. Never mind (AND SPOILER ALERT) that I was more shocked by the blatant parallels between it and Doctor Who. I suppose it is praise worthy when you can find manage that when a film contains what otherwise could be dismissed as (for the lack of a better work) gimmicks. However, even though it is set in the outer space do not expect the sun and the moon from the film as many reviews would promise you. If you get caught in what people are saying about the film there is an 80 per cent chance you might not enjoy it. And yes that figure fairly arbitrary.