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Wednesday 25 July 2012

OVAL: CALCUTTA’S ULTIMATE PLACE TO CHILL!


Moloy Dutta makes it big

Oval Lounge Bar & Restaurant
Visual Merchandising and Retail Design – popularly known as VM&RD magazine which covers the retail and lifestyle space has featured Moloy Dutta, partner Oval in its July 2012 edition. Oval, as the name suggests is the shape of the building and Calcutta’s latest up-market corporate Lounge Bar and Restaurant located at DLF IT Park, New Town.


In May last, Oval had organized a unique food and bike pairing where scores of Calcutta’s Harley Owners Group participated in a 150km ride to CCD on the Durgapur Expressway and back. Oval was the sip-and-dine destination for all the participants. The Telegraph newspaper had a special write-up on this event.

The pub with its cool design, cozy sitting arrangement is the ultimate place for employees of various software companies located in and around Salt Lake City to hang out. From pop, rock, jazz or fusion, Oval boasts of having the best audio and video music played round the clock. And yes, this bit of trait can be attributed to Moloy who grew up in Shillong and Bangalore with such genre of music!

With psychedelic lights, high-end sound system coupled with the images of super rock star legends like Jim Morrison, Riche Blackmore, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendrix to name a few, it’s no doubt a great place to chill out.

The Oval Bar stocks a range of finest whisky, flavoured vodka and wines. For snacks, chef at Oval recommends the Oval non-veg platter, with a mix of tandoori chicken, fish and lamb.

Special dish served here that deserves a mention is the stuffed chicken which has been masterminded with an array of grilled chicken and black pepper sauce. 3idiots a mouth watering non-vegetarian main course is a combination of crump fried jumbo prawn, Calcutta bhetki and chicken served with fries and tartre sauce.
The Bar Counter with Jim Morrison's image

The prices are pocket friendly too. A meal for two along with drinks will come for around Rs 700.

Hats off to this gentleman who had a meteorite rise in his career. After working for several years at a professional hotel management institute as a vice president, Moloy Dutta, alias Rahul chose to quit his job and come up with Oval. 

Internet image grab of Visual Merchandising and Retail Design (VM&RD) July 2012 edition









Saturday 7 July 2012

CORBETT SAFARI: My Diary

Avian Media Offsite

The alarm shrilled at 5:00 a.m. I groaned as the destroyer of sleep pinged me at the preset time.  The chill of the dark pre-dawn tempted me to struggle deeper into the quilt. With a sigh, I remembered that I was at Corbett Park and colleagues from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai branches would be waiting to start our company off-site experience.

Five open back Maruti Gypsies arrived at Infinity Resort where we had been camping the previous night, ready to take us to experience the adrenaline rush of thrilling wild safari!

Armed with cameras, telephoto lens and binoculars, Avianites boarded the off-roaders and headed into the wilderness of Corbett National Park.

The scenery was undeniably picturesque, especially the sun rays penetrating through the majestic Oak, Sal and Eucalyptus trees into the deep woods. Exotic wild flowers and shrubs with 
floating dew drops created a
heavenly rainbow-effect with the misty ambiance as a backdrop. It was quite magical to watch the jungle come alive.

Corbett National Park, located close to Ramnagar, is the first official national park of India. Hordes of adventure aficionados and wildlife lovers plan tours for witnessing the natural wealth of the park.

Home to over 488 different species of plants, 585 species of resident migratory birds, 33 species of reptiles, 37 species of dragonflies and 7 species of amphibians and fishes, Corbett National Park is undoubtedly a heaven for tourists.

I was seated in the back and at times standing up to get best possible view of the woods. It was tough to secure the camera and other equipment since the moving vehicle on a rough terrain causes violent jerks.
Many ventured into the riverside playing in the crystal clear water while others took turns posing for photographs.

When all other jeeps passed we stopped for few minutes at a nondescript hamlet to sip steaming cups of tea. Here we could listen to the sound of silence that filled our hearts with peace and bliss. We were the last of the fleet of jeeps, trying our best to spot some wildlife.

Our young guide and driver, Sher Bahadur suddenly slowed down and gradually brought the vehicle to a halt. He pointed out a herd of spotted deer crossing a rivulet far away. Within seconds they disappeared into the thick green bushes.

We were all optimistic to spot the king of jungle, but, the closest we got to see a tiger were some claw marks on a tree and a tiger poop!
Tiger paw marks

Our guide, led us few steps ahead towards a muddy surface which had paw marks. With his experience he carefully examined the trail of impressions and then revealed that the tiger had just passed this way less than an hour ago to quench its thirst!

At Sitavani, an ancient temple protected by the Archeological Survey of India we spotted two type of simians. The temple holds mythological importance to the Hindus. It is believed to be the place where Sita spent her years in exile and raised her children.

On our way back while coasting down in neutral, we noticed sudden violent movements of the bushes. Here we stopped once again for a while keeping our fingers crossed hopping to see what it was. After moving few steps towards edge of the road we spotted a couple of small deer racing to catch up with the herd.

The adventure at Corbett offsite has surely created a deeper bond with colleagues across branches, colleagues who have moved on to other organizations, yet in touch – thus leaving an everlasting impression in our minds.

Check on to the stills and video clips below which will take you all down through-the-memory lane. Do put on your headphones or connect to external speakers for sound effects!


Sun rays penetrating into the woods
The temple preist of Sitavani temple
Giant ant hill
The majestic Ramganga river