I'm back

It's good to be back home, sleeping in your own bed and settling back into a familiar routine.

The Great Driving Challenge which took over our lives for the past month has drawn to a close for R and me. I'd like to thank all of you who supported us, can't tell you how much it meant to us to make it to the semi finals. We got to meet and interact with a number of interesting people and came away with an all expenses paid holiday at Fort Aguada, Goa even though we didn't make it to the top three. The travel bug has bitten us. We got off the plane from Mumbai and got home long enough to repack our bags and set off by car for a long weekend in theNilgiris with family and there's Goa to look forward to in September. When it rains it pours.

One week away and I've discovered significant changes around me. Some like my google reader which was close to exploding with 250 unread posts was quite over whelming. My blog now has 56 followers, which is a pleasant surprise and my plants are multiplying and growing so I must be doing something right. All very gratifying.

I've begun a fibre book inspired by our love for biryani. Come back and visit, I don't foresee disappearing and leaving my blogs unattended for a while to come.

Family Time

Just back after two weeks of family time. It was a time for re-discovering a number of things through the eyes of an eleven year old and a seven year old.

Enormous granite boulders on the way to Chennai. Snapped this with my cellphone.

This alfresco lunch will be remembered for the charming setting ,the vanilla milkshake and the quirky plumbing in the restroom. We sat under a big old mango tree in the courtyard of a house which has been converted into a hotel in Pondicherry.
Late evening swim before dinner.Paintball which left a painful mark on one, Lemon grass, Forget-me-not and a camera shy chameleon.

Shell decor for the entryway of a crab's home. Yoga on the beach and cavorting in the surf.Salt pans, the crocodile farm, and drinking tender coconut water on the ECR (East coast road).

There was a birthday in the family and celebrations for the landmark year included a catamaran ride into the sea, beach cricket and dinner with friends and family. Jalapeno the pet dog got its first taste of chocolate cake which there was plenty of and the phone wouldn't stop ringing.

The Great Driving Challenge took up a fair portion of my time like it did R's. It seems to have paid off because we made it to the first shortlist of 100 couples. Thank-you everyone who took the time to vote for us, write testimonials and got your friends and family to vote. R & I are truly grateful. Waiting for the next phase to unfold.

What's your Interior Style

Take the Interior Style quiz by the International School of Colour and Design to discover your personal interior style. My interior style is decribed as Eastern Boho and I'd say its pretty accurate. This is my way of relaxing after a hectic two weeks of vote & testimonial gathering for The Great Driving Challenge.

The first leg of the challenge drew to an end at midnight last night and R & I are delighted with the 646 votes and 33 testimonials we recieved. Thank you everyone who made this possible. The jury is working hard this weekend to shortlist 100 applicants who go into the next round. Come back on monday to know if we've made it to the next round. Keeping our fingers.
crossed.
Thanks again and have a great weekend.

Rerouting for Biryani & The Great Driving Challenge

View Biryani quest in a larger map

We are rerouting our 3,000km trip for The great Driving Challenge so that it begins and ends in Bombay, a requirement by the organisers.

This route has been carefully chosen to include visits to a number of heritage sites which have been on my wish list for a long time as well as providing us with opportunities to sample different types of biryani.

Our Quest for Biryani and The Great driving Challenge has been noticed and we have been featured here and here.

You have until the 17th of July to vote for us if you haven't done so. ( There's a button on the side bar, you can click to vote) and we'd like to thank 412 of you who took the time to vote and passed on the request to family and friends. Some of you have had problems with the voting process and confirming your votes. All these issues are being resolved by the organisers of the challenge who have been overwhelmed by votes
which are pouring in for the participants.
I'd request you to try again after a couple of hours if you haven't been able to vote and for those who don't get a confirmation mail to complete the voting process please check your mail box in a day or two.
Thanks again, hope you have a great week ahead. Cheers!!

The Great Driving Challenge

As of Wednesday I've gotten myself involved in The Great Driving Challenge and in the process got R involved as well because its for couples.

Organised by Mitsubishi, three lucky couples will enjoy an all expenses paid 12 day driving challenge in the new Mitsubishi Cedia Sports, and one couple wins 10lakh rupees (even half that would be a tidy sum to indulge ones fibre & bead cravings). Anyway the exciting bit for us is the 12 day drive which if we get to do will be fantastic.

We plan to drive from Bangalore to Leh and sample Biryani along the way and you'll get to witness it all right here. Our personal motto for the trip is "We Sverve, Reroute & Detour for Biryani". What's exciting, is the variety of biryani we're likely to encounter. The cultural landscape is going to change pretty dramatically which will have a direct impact on the biryani - the ingredients, method of cooking and flavours all waiting to tantalise the taste buds.

Which brings me to the part where your participation is going to make all the difference. We need your votes and we need names and addresses of places to sample all those fabulous biryanis between Bangalore and Leh.

To vote please follow this 3-step process. 1. Click on the link below 2. Once on the page, click 'Vote' and provide your email id 3.The actual vote is effective only once you've acknowledged it from a confirmation email which you will receive,Check your inbox and click on the confirmation link. Click here to vote.

Let me thank you in advance for taking the trouble to vote for us, can't tell you how much R & I appreciate it.