Of food and friends

My perfect weekend

I believe in working hard and partying just as hard. So, whenever I manage to snatch a weekend all to myself, I waste no time in doing whatever I want to do. Exploring and deciphering the choicest of recipes along with my sister Heena is my favourite weekend indulgence. The two of us are big foodies but I am more of the  experimental sorts.

If I get an extended weekend with an off on Friday, I consciously wake up very late only by afternoon, to eat my favourite ‘Bhindi ki sabji’ and ‘Aloo ka paratha’ prepared by my mother. I love the way she makes these two dishes. And this literally sets the tone for my weekend plans. After a rather heavy brunch, I settle down to play with my dog Murphey.
  I never get to see him and whenever I am home, he demands a lot of time which I generously give him. Weekends are also when I watch movies non-stop. I scan my computer’s hard drive for some good movies which I watch at a stretch.

Evenings are reserved for my friends, mostly from college, and a couple of them from the film industry as well. We hang out at lounges, especially those that offer some great Mughlai cuisine or even settle for some place that has good sushi. I don’t like to party too late and choose to return home only to watch a couple of more movies before going to bed.

 Weekends are the only time when I also get to ride my superbike which is a customised cruiser with a chopper tyre and one-of-a-kind coffin tank. It has been customised to suit my height and physique. Every detail of the bike has been worked upon and even the choice of colour, which is black and orange, has a certain purpose to it. I prefer to ride it when the roads are empty.

Heena and I spend a lot of time flipping through the pages  of the choicest of cookbooks to come up with some innovative ways of making salads, sushi, grilled fish and chicken. I like to eat healthy and don’t give into the temptation whatever it may be. My girlfriend Asha Negi, my mother Asha Dhanjani and father Chandraprakash also join us in cooking. And soon, cooking becomes a family affair. We also host house parties for a couple of our close friends on Saturday.

I also reserve my weekends for shopping but I would rather have Asha or Heena shop for me because I am lazy shopper. Frankly, I prefer to pick my clothes from overseas whenever I am travelling. It is so much more easier than going to the crowded shopping malls here.

Just like there are a few specific things that I do over the weekends, I also make sure I plan my career because I believe in manufacturing my own destiny. But I take one step at a time without rushing into anything and weekends give me that time to plan.

The concept of a ‘perfect weekend’ holds a lot of meaning only when I am doing things that I never get to do on a normal day. While, I enjoy work which is almost like an addiction for me, I also make time to do the little things that I used to do when I had a lot of free time on my hands.

A few of my favourite things

Music
Bikes
Musical instruments since I play a few.
Movies
Eating out

(As told to Nina C George)