A Home-made Mosquito Repellent

Note: The views, opinions and content mentioned in the blog are solely mine and are not of those of my current or previous employers'.

With the recent heavy rain in most of the Southern states of India, there has been a rise in the number of mosquitoes and diseases carried by them, Dengue in particular, is on the rise (read here). It becomes important for us to protect ourselves from mosquito bites to avoid transmission of the diseases. Even if the mosquitoes are not carrying any disease causing organisms, no one enjoys a bite from them. There are several methods that we use to protect ourselves in India, most popular are as follows:

- Mosquito Repellent Coils
- Mosquito Repellent Diffusers- liquids and mats
- Mosquito Repellent Creams, sprays, patches and roll-on
- In some parts of the country- Mosquito nets (not too effective in my experience)

Most of these methods (except for use of mosquito nets) are quite unsafe and it involves inhalation of a lot of chemicals directly or indirectly. Some people also use Mosquito Repellent plants as well. I think this can be safe as well and if it was possible, I would have grown these at home. Unfortunately, I cannot :-(. I am not sure how effective these are but if you are interested, you can read about 12 such plants here.

Now, I have an "indoorsy" garden just outside my front door and the mosquitoes are usually waiting eagerly in the garden, for us to open our doors to them and they really love our blood. I was using (until this morning) liquid or mat diffusers and they actually worked for me but I always felt uncomfortable at the thought of inhaling invisible fumes of a concoction of chemicals which could harm us in a long run.

Recently, I saw a video on a simple home made mosquito repellent circulating on WhatsApp and thought of trying it out at home. I prepared it today. It is quite easy. All you need is:

- A few pellets of camphor
- Neem Oil

Neem Oil- Brand information and other methods of identification redacted

To prepare the repellent, crush the camphor pellets to a powder- finer, the better. However, I left it a bit chunky. Mix this powder very well with the neem oil. I used about 25 ml of oil and crushed about 5 pellets of camphor.

This mixture can be used in 3 ways:

- Light a lamp using the oil.
- Apply it directly on your skin
- Fill the mixture in an empty liquid diffuser bottle and plug it on.

I used the diffuser method. It has been 3 hours since I turned it on (7pm to 10pm) prior to writing this blog and so far I have not had a mosquito bite. I am not sure if it is because there have been no mosquitoes, or if the repellent is really working. I have to test it out some other time as well and also during different times during the day. I will keep you posted if you are interested in knowing- just drop a comment and I will let you know.

Liquid Diffuser with Camphor-Neem Oil mixture

P.S:
Neem is known to have natural pest repellent qualities. There is a lot of material on the internet to read on this topic.
As per some online content that I read, mainly coming from US, Camphor vapours are likely safe to inhale in small quantities in adults and may have minor side effects. It should not be swallowed whatsoever. Some people are allergic to camphor while applied on skin, so, best to do a small patch test before using it. Please do consult a doctor for the use of camphor, if there are babies, pregnant or lactating mothers around you or if you are one.
Most Indians use camphor as a part of religious worship and are used to it and I have not really known/heard of any one being harmed by its use- but one never knows. In my opinion, this would still be safer than the highly concentrated chemicals (including DDT which our gardener sprays in our garden). Many of the popular vaporubs available in the market also use camphor. Hope you found this useful.

The Magic of the Lost Temple by Sudha Murthy

As you already know that I got this book from Sapna bookstore in my recent book haul (read about the haul here). I wanted to read something light and nothing better than a children's book for it. Now, if you remember my previous review about Sudha Murthy's book (click here to read the review), I had mentioned that I hope that the next book of hers that I read would be different. Thankfully, this book was. The book's target readership is children and hence, written in a very simple language and has some interesting illustrations as as well.

The story revolves around Nooni, a 12 year old who goes to her village in Somanahalli to spend her summer holidays with her grandparents. The book paints a vivid picture of the slow paced village life, constantly comparing it against Bangalore. Nooni's grandma and grandpa narrate to her two different versions of a story of a stepwell related to an ancient ruler Somanayaka. The stories are both intriguing. Nooni makes a bunch of friends in Somanahalli and enjoys the village life a lot by going swimming in the river, picnicking and hiking to nearby places. On one such hikes, she stumbles upon something that feels like the stepwell described in the stories of Somanayaka and that sets the ball rolling for all the forthcoming activities in the village.

The book has amazing descriptions of food and had my mouth watering several times. In addition, the village life is very tempting and made me want to pack my bags and visit Somanahalli. I would have loved to go with Nooni and friends on the picnic by the river. However, I really did not enjoy the comparisons between Bangalore and the village. The village life has been glorified a lot and the city life has been shown as a negative.  Both have their own positives and negatives and I would have really preferred if the writer focussed mainly on the village life.

Some of the writing which describes Nooni's thoughts actually sound like those of an old person and not that of a child. For example, Nooni does not understand what a native fruit is, but, in another place she says that people in Bangalore are more interested in eating at weddings. Somehow, the former comes across as a child's thought but the latter of that of an old person, in my opinion. These are some other such examples which are a little awkward and does not seem to originate from the same person's brain. The book does get a little preachy in parts- I guess it is intended to be, considering, the target readers to be children. Otherwise, the book is a great read for kids and adults alike. It was a page turner and unputdownable. I hope to read similar stories from Sudha Murthy going forward.  I enjoyed reading this book thoroughly and highly recommend it for a children's movie too. The book has also touched up on some social issues such as lack of toilets etc.

Overall, a good read and I would rate it 4/5.

The Empty House

I bought the book at Sapna Bookstore during my Christmas vacation last year (again!). I wanted a light book to read as I was travelling to Hubli to attend a wedding. I love reading books on train and thought this would be a great read on the train.

Now, I really picked this book up without reading much on the back cover. The front cover indicated Ruskin Bond- The Empty House and Ruskin Bond was good enough for me to pick book up. However, once I started reading, I realised that this book is a compilation of stories by Ruskin Bond. Except one, all stories have been written by various writers.

The theme of the stories is 'Spooky' and comprises of supernatural thrillers. The Empty House happens to be one of the stories in the book. Probably Ruskin Bond or the publisher thought that this is the best story in the book and decided to put the name on the cover. Though the story was good, it was not the best according to me. My favourite in the book was that of Ruskin Bond's called Gone Fishing about a loyal servant waiting for his master's return who had Gone Fishing years back and the master does return and How!!! Read to enjoy. It was a simple story yet had a superb twist in the tale- Loved it. There were other good stories too of which I liked- The White Wolf of Hartz Mountain and Mrs. Raeburn's Waxworks. Though the compilation is good, none of them could equal Gone Fishing for me.

If I have to rate the book, it will be 4/5 as some stories did not thrill me enough for a supernatural thriller compilation. However, I strongly recommend that you read the book as a big part of it is still quite good.

Book Haul from Sapna Book Store

I went to meet a friend visiting from Hyderabad on Gandhi Jayanti, for lunch. Following lunch, we had a milkshake at the Drunken Monkey and just went to Sapna Bookstore for just a glimpse...thought we would peep in and out without any plans/intentions of buying books. However, we both ended up buying books and I also bought some stationery to make myself feel good.

It is now time to unveil my book purchases.

I observed an Instagramer consistently post pictures of Agatha Christie's books. When I saw the ABC murder, I recalled that the Instagramer had posted a picture of the book with the same front cover. The cover was so inviting, I couldn't help myself and decided to get it. I sometimes, do judge books by their cover. I have read many of Agatha Christie's books in high school. I somehow do not recall if I have read the ABC murders so that gave me one more reason to buy the book. I do not mind re-reading such books.

I wanted to read a fictional story from Sudha Murthy and not a compilation of anecdotes from her life. Though the book- The Magic of the Lost Temple is intended to be a children's book, I do not mind reading it. I love reading children's books to date and read them from time to time.

I have been hearing a lot about Twinkle Khanna as a writer and how witty and hilarious she is, especially in The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, that I had decided to buy the book long back but it was never in sight or on top of my mind whenever I shopped. At Sapna, it was staring at me and did not allow me to forget buying it.

This is it- a small little update from my recent purchase.

Vikram Rana Investigates: Tales of Murder and Deception in Hyderabad by Sharmishtha Shenoy

I picked up this book at the Sapna Bookstore in Bangalore last year during Christmas vacation and read the book in a couple of days. I could not find many interesting books when I went book shopping that day. This book caught my eye, as, mystery novels woven in Hyderabad are not common, and since I live in Hyderabad, I was drawn to it instantly.

The book consists of 2 different stories- The Sonia Sinha case and the Mysterious Affair of the Lohia Mansion. The common factor is a former cop Vikram Rana, who leaves the force and starts his private investigation agency. The Lohia mansion case is the first case he investigates. The other common factor is inspector Reddy who is 'formally' investigating the case in both the stories. There is a brief description about Vikram's wife as well, who plays a bit of a role in Vikram's character building in the eyes of the readers.

Vikram Rana bags his first case when his friend hires him to investigate the murder of his sister-in- law, a socialite in Hyderabad who dies under mysterious circumstances in the Lohia mansion. The story obviously revolves around how Vikram resolves the mystery.

The second case that is brought to Vikram is by Mrs. Raju who wants to prove her son (a suspect), innocent in the murder of her husband. He is awarded this case based on his famed resolution of the Lohia mansion case. This story is about how Vikram reveals the true murderer in the case. Of course, he takes support from Inspector Reddy.

The writing style is quite casual. The book is fast paced and easy to read. There are a few spelling mistakes which seems to have not been at the time of editing. There are some irrelevant descriptions in the book. Example- about autodriver woes in Hyderabad- does not help readers make a connection, is completely irrelevant and does not contribute to anything in the story; and an irrelevant quote by Groucho Marx when Vikram meets Gaurav, a character in the Lohia mansion story. Certain things are stated quite directly and plainly, where making it more experiential would have been nicer. Also, some sentences seem as passing narrations without any proper basis. As an example- Full lips are a symbol of fertility, seems a little far-fetched. The chronology of events in terms of dates in the Sonia Sinha case are quite messed up and a complete put off.

I liked the descriptions of food in the book and references of different localities in Hyderabad. It makes it very relatable to the Hyderabadis. The non-Hyderabadis or those in RR district of Hyderabad may find it a little difficult to relate to all the places mentioned. However, I appreciate the author's effort in painting a picture of Hyderabad in the minds of such readers.

Since this is the writer's first book, I sincerely appreciate her effort, as, in the current generation of writers, we do not have too many Indians venturing into this genre of writing- crime, thriller and mystery. This is a difficult genre to write and requires a lot more research, perspective and understanding on means, method, psychology, deduction than writing a drama or a love story. However, I would rate it 2 on a scale of 5. The main reason being the predictability of the culprits of the the crimes committed. It just happens too early in the story and I did not have the 'What!!" or "Aaaahhh!!" moments in both the stories when the culprits are revealed which generally happens with good mystery novels. The writer made it too obvious, especially in the Sonia Sinha case and one could easily figure out the murderer very early in the story and the only reason I read it was to understand the motive behind the murder, which I lost interest in once it was obvious who the murderer was. I like mystery novels where we are kept guessing on the murderer until the very end.

I hear the writer's second book is out already and I will definitely pick it up- I actually looked for it but could not find it in bookstores. I would like to encourage more Indians to write in this genre and I surely hope and have gut feeling that the second book would be way better than the first. Wishing her all the best and look forward to reading the next book.

My Top 5 Pure Veg All-You-Can-Eat Places in Hyderabad

Hyderabad is a paradise for meat lovers. There is also a popular chain of restaurants called Paradise, famed for its Biryani. For those of you who did not know, 99% of Telangana State's population is non-vegetarian, which is the highest proportion of meat eaters in the entire country as per a survey conducted by Registrar General of India. Click here to read more. I have not come across exclusive non-vegetarian restaurants there myself but most places have a mix of both veg and non-veg dishes on their menu. Some restaurants have a minuscule number of veg dishes. However, the city is not devoid of pure veg restaurants. In this post, I will make a mention of my top 5 pure veg all-you-can-eat places: some have a nice buffet and others an all you can eat thaali. I have to thank my colleagues and friends for helping me find these. In Hyderabad, veg food is synonymous with Paneer. So, do not be surprised if you find an excessive number of paneer dishes on the menu.

In no particular order, my top 5 are:

Purani Dilli- Himayatnagar

This restaurant is a part of the Dadu's franchise and has an amazing pocket-friendly buffet. The restaurant focusses on a North Indian menu. A welcome drink, soup, starters and bread are served at the table and the rest have to be self-served. They have a wide variety of pickles and desserts. One can enjoy the view of Himayatnagar (which is mainly heavy traffic- if that is enjoyable!) while relishing the meal. Service and ambience is ordinary. Food is good.

Jiva's Imperia- Begumpet

This is one of the popular Ohri's franchises. It is located in one of the White House blocks (nothing to do with US), beside Lifestyle. It is a multicuisine restaurant but is again heavy on the North Indian menu, with a bit of Chinese and Italian thrown in. The ambience is really nice and their lovely chandeliers are hard to miss. The lunch buffet claims to start at 12pm but they are usually not completely ready before 12:45pm (Hyderabadis love late meals). They do have a nice spread of starters and desserts. Soup and breads are served at the table. Food is good. Service and ambience is great.

The Venue- Hotel Fidalgo- Nampally

This restaurant is close to the Nampally Railway Station (also known as Hyderabad Deccan Station). Even though the restaurant is a part of Hotel Fidalgo, it is quite pocket friendly. The spread is not very extensive. The number of dishes are limited. Though they claim it is a multicuisine spread,  it is dominant on North Indian and South Indian flavours.  There is a bit of Chinese and a teeny bit of Italian. Since I visited it during the Mango season, they were celebrating the flavour and it was quite enjoyable. Food and ambience is good.


De Thaali- Begumpet

This restaurant is right next to Jiva's Imperia and is also a part of the Ohri's franchises. This restaurant is an all you can eat thaali restaurant as the name suggests. The cuisine is from Rajasthan and Gujarat. The thaali is quite extensive and best visited on an empty stomach. The flavours are quite subtle and you have to be mentally prepared to enjoy this if you are accustomed to heavily spiced food. Clad in traditional Rajasthani attire, the people who serve the food at the restaurant take a lot of pride in their service and do their very best to please the customers. The restaurant is reasonably priced. I have visited the restaurant twice and the first time, the food was great and the next was quite ordinary. The quality of food in terms of taste is quite inconsistent.  Ambience is fair and food can be great (or not).


Woodlands- Himayatnagar

My family would definitely be surprised to see this make it to my list. It is our most visited restaurant in the city.  This place is not an all-you-can-eat place. However, their thaali is. It does not have a great ambience and is not a place to visit if you are looking for a fine dining experience. It is quite ordinary in terms of ambience. However, in terms of service, quantity of food served and the taste (even though on a very spicy side), it is quite good. It was our go to place when not in mood for cooking or going to far off places. We usually get the Special Combo Plate meals here which, I had mentioned it in one of my older blogs as well. It is special for me as it was the first restaurant I visited in Hyderabad in my adult life.


These are my picks from the pure veg, all-you-can-eat restaurants that I visited in Hyderabad out of the few that I have visited. There are other good veg restaurants as well but have not featured on this list either because they do not have an all-you-can-eat option, or  because they also serve non-vegetarian food. Do let me know if you would like to know of such places in Hyderabad. I have visited quite a few of those. Those who know me well, know that these cuisines are not my most preferred ones but I enjoy them if the taste is good.

P.S: Sorry for no pictures. I do have a few but of empty plates, smacked clean while eating :(

What I Know I Will Miss About Hyderabad

By now, most of you know that I would be leaving Hyderabad and relocating. Like most people, I too share a love-hate relationship with the city that I live in. I love certain things about Hyderabad and hate a few things about it. Now that I would be relocating, I would like to focus on the positives as those are the things that I would be missing about the city. So, in no particular order, here are the things that I know I would definitely miss:

Street Shopping at Koti-Sultan Bazaar:

Every city in India, I believe, has its own landmark street shopping area. In Hyderabad, Koti-Sultan Bazaar is one of the popular places for street shopping. It is an amalgamation of some exquisite shops and the usual street vendors. One can find a whole lot of things here from clothes, furnishing, hobby stores, books etc. Being a foodie, one of my favourite shops there is Rajshree Dry Fruits. The name may suggest it is a dry fruit shop, but it also sells amazing packed food, ready to eat/cook, instant foods from Maharashtra and Gujarat. Do try and get their instant Misal, which is extremely close to the freshly prepared one. It is a must visit for all the foodies. Another must visit is Joshi Pickles which sells many Maharashtrian delicacies (strange! I know, too many Maharashtrian places there!)


Balaji Grand Bazar:

While we are still on the subject of food, Balaji Grand Bazar is one of my favourite supermarkets in the city. They have about 5-6 branches in the city. The ones I have visited most often is the one in Basheer Bagh and the other one at Masab Tank en route Banjara Hills Road No. 12. This store is very unique as it sells some of the rarest spices- many of which I have not even heard of, and a lot of difficult to find food stuff, including imported food stuff. Since many products sold in the shop are imported, rare/difficult to find, the prices are on a slightly (only slightly!)higher side. However, I loved the place and never ever left it with light bags :)

Balaji Grand Bazar- Masab Tank Branch

Sunday Book Market at Abids:

On Sundays, almost the whole of Abids market area transforms into a massive book market, mainly for used books. One can also find very rare books, magazines and comics at throwaway prices. I have bought books at prices as low as Rs 10 and 20. If you are a book worm, this place is a must visit for you. Now, in the last 2 years, I have not been visiting it too often but it was always reassuring to know it exists and one can just go over if bored on a Sunday. You can follow this blog of someone who visits it almost every Sunday.
Other things about Abids, not related to books but worth a mention- Hollywood shoes. This is a big shoe shop in the heart of Abids where one can find their style and size. Those who know me well, know that I struggle to find my shoe size in India, especially because it is in between 2 sizes. However, Hollywood has never disappointed me. It gets extremely crowded there during the weekends (I have always visited the place during weekends) and you might find it difficult to find people to attend to you.
I also visited Deccan Pen Stores in Abids quite frequently for my love of stationery. They have 3 branches in the city if I am not mistaken and I have visited all of them. However, the one at Abids and Ameerpet (below Haldiram's) are my favourites. The store is dedicated to pens, inks, refills with some amount of other stationery as well. They also make their own pens which they will display and tell the story behind them to you with a lot of passion, even if you are not interested in buying them. They take a lot of pride in making them. Now these are not pens which will cost you a few hundreds  (they have those as well) but the really good ones go up to thousands and sometimes, hundreds of thousands too.


Numaish- The annual trade fair:

I love visiting Numaish, the annual trade fair that happens in Nampally Exhibition Grounds every year from Jan to Feb. It draws traders from all over India and consumers from all over Hyderabad. I understand the daily footfall at this event is approximately 1,00,000. I had written about my 2017 experience earlier this year. You can click here to read more. My family and I have purchased a lot of things from Numaish, from instant geysers to dry fruits and nuts, clothes, junk jewellery etc. It is not a place if you hate crowds but a must visit if you do not mind the crowd and just want to have fun.

The Commute- Way to Work and Back:

I really love the route that I took to go to work and come back. Coming from Bangalore, the roads in Hyderabad are relatively congestion free for a big part (although of late, some signs of Bangalore style traffic have become common in a few parts). Apart from that, there is a beautiful and cooling KBR Park and an upscale Banjara Hills area which are just lovely. I also consider myself lucky to have the Buddha on the Hussain Sagar lake waving a hello and blessing me every day. In the evenings, the Buddha statue on the lake is illuminated and it is quite a beautiful sight. One of India's largest flags is hoisted at the Sanjeevaiah Park and it is nice to see it in all its glory, while going to/coming back home from work. Near the Masab Tank area is a hospital- Virinchi but it looks palatial- always has people wondering if it is indeed a hospital. There is also a glimpse of the sparkling white marble from the Birla Mandir, which I love viewing.

Glimpse of the Virinch Hospital

A view of the illuminated Buddha. Taken on the go with zoom- Sorry for the image quality.
It is much more remarkable in reality. My friends from Hyderabad will vouch for it. :)

One of India's largest flags and I am lucky to have the bright moon in the backdrop.
The  image is not doing any justice to the actual view. Bad shot :(

My Workplace:

Last, but not the least, I consider myself very fortunate to have a remarkable workplace. In terms of facilities provided to employees, it is in the 5 star category with a huge cafeteria  (FOOD on my mind again!!) which would remind one of a huge food court in a big mall. It caters to all, with a wide variety of food and special dietary requirements (including Satwik meals!!). There is a lovely restaurant and a great coffee shop in the campus too with great quality of food. All other facilities provided to employees are great as well. However, these are only material in nature. What I am going to miss the most is the great set of people I worked with, the healthy working relationships built and the good and bad times we have lived through together. I have worked with some not-so-great people as well but it has only helped learn better and understand how to deal with people. Like I said, I would like to focus on the positives- it was a privilege for me to work with a set of great minds and terrific human beings. The culture of collaboration was great and be it my functional team or my project teams- I loved working with all of them and will surely miss everyone a lot. To be honest, I do not really feel like I have left the place. I feel I am on a long vacation and will be back some day.

These were the first things that came to my mind. There are a few other things as well, like the community Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, the Ganesh Visarjan- it is quite different from other states and in 2017, it was managed incredibly well by the Hyderabad Traffic Police- kudos to them. If I think of more things or if I genuinely miss some other things, I will do a part 2 of this blog.

P.S: I do not know if you recall my post about my move to Hyderabad. You can read about it here.