50Bucks, R.K. Salai: Good value for money

Had the chance to go to 50bucks restaurant more than a couple of times over the past few months. It deserves appreciation on a few things

1. Nice, simple concept and a straight forward way of marketing (all dishes are either 50bucks or less)
2. Found a nice niche segment - nicely positioned between the Mess kind of eateries and the restaurants
3. Good menu/choices
4. Neat interiors - Nicely setup tables, simplistic and clean
5. Not too stingy on the Air conditioner

They are true to their name, 50 bucks or less. Menu consists of South indian, North indian, Oriental, Thai, Mexican and Continental choices in both Vegetarian as well as Non. I have tried south indian Thali, Shanghai fried rice, Pasta, Lasagna, Thai rice with Curry etc and they have been good. The portions are decent.

Obviously, they are doing good as can be seen from the increasing lines and the fact that most times the place is filled.

A few suggestions to make the experience "better"

1. Cleanliness - Steel wares, plates as well as the cleaning procedure (till about a week ago it involved just brushing stuff from tables to the ground)
2. Service – Initially there were less employees, but they were nice and smiley, now there are more guys (with nice uniforms), but the care and attention is definitely gone..

I have not mentioned about the food quality/taste here. It is Good. Not bad, not great, but good enough.

Bhagavata Mela - Rukmini Kalyanam, A fantastic treat

Normally I am not one who has opportunities to view art, theater, performances etc., so it was a pleasure when I got the good fortune to witness the dance drama "Rukmini Kalyaman" in Karnataka sangha school auditorium on 29 Dec 2010.

The drama was presented in a unique form called "Bhagavata mela" where a fixed set of stories from Bhagavatam are being enacted in the traditional form over many years (More about Bhagavata mela @http://www.bhagavatamela.org/)

The event started with some details about Melattur Bhagavata Mela and its unique properties. (Melattur is a village near Thanjavur and this art form is being practised only in about 5-6 villages around Thanjavur). The songs are sung in Telugu (as written originally many decades ago) and all artists are amateur male artists.

The dances follow a method in which each character was introduced by performing a traditional dance routine and then the drama unfolded.

Totally the dance drama was for about 2.5 hours (seems it is a smaller edition for city). The dances and the sincerity from the artists was just amazing. The singers were prefect to the last beat and the dances were graceful and beautiful.

The best part was by Rukmini, the grace, dance and the makeup was amazing. The emotions, pathos and the dance movements were so real that after a point in time, it was very difficult to remember that it was a male artist performing the role (Most of the audience felt the same)

The artists included doctors, bank officials, retired Government officers, Engineering college kids and like.

Though the event was free, there was sparse audience (about 50 in a room capable of 900+ seats). Kudos to Sponsor who helped in bringing such an art to the city and Kudos to the artists and their hardwork.

Would have been great if some of the portions were explained a bit more for the audience, but that was a minor glitch which I am sure they'll overcome in coming events.

All in all it was a great event as I got to see a theater at work and I wish the team a big success.