Spent a weekend in Bangalore after what seemed like ages. And as usual, the visit combines something of a sense of nostalgia and pleasant familiarity with this disturbing recognition that the Bangalore of one's memories has been mutilated perhaps beyond repair. Heaven knows exactly why we allowed our city to come to this, but we sat by and did nothing.

The good thing about Bangalore is that I always get to catch up with friends I never seem to outgrow. The kinds who knew you before you knew yourself. It's amazing how you can never seem to drift apart so much that you have uncomfortable silences hanging over you.

Amongst my oldest friends@ Bangalore, is HK who's going through the wringer. It seems his parents are turning the screws on him to "go forth, find a woman and start a family". Along with that directive come all the whys and why-nots that all such interventions come with. So as it turns out, HK has developed an ingenious method of deflecting the inquisition. Apart from being somewhat hilarious, I thought that it might also be a great ploy for female readers of this blog (of which one hopes there is an invisible, growing army) I often get to hear them griping about how their parents are on their case regarding one or the other "eligible software engineer" with the right antecedents/references. Well, fear not, for help is at hand... or atleast an experiment worth emulating. Apparently, HK has developed a simple filter for shaadi.com (more on this one later) profiles. He simply records his first reaction to it - his parents always get to hear if he's unable to take a particular recommendation of theirs on board because his first reaction is ... "Akka!". Something of a KLP-R in reverse (no, if you didn't get it, I can't tell you - this is good shantam-paaapam blog).

Ok - so much for Bangalore. My weekend vist draws to a close, and this time I haven't had my good darshini masala-dosa at my favourite haunts... woe is me!!!

Next stop - Biryani city...