All Things Baked and Beautiful

When we studied business and completed an exhaustive project on entrepreneurship in college, for me, it was all about getting a good grade, and grabbing a few minutes on stage, presenting case studies before an audience that may or may not have been attacked by Morpheus at around the same time. I couldn't have known then, that a few years down the line, a classmate - and incidentally, one of my dearest friends - would turn entrepreneur herself, and do us all proud by actually applying what we'd learned in the real world.

A passion for baking, a lot of spunk, a dash of imagination and dedicated planning and hard work resulted in 'All That's Baked', a home-baking venture in Bangalore, that provides, as the name suggests, baked goodies of all kinds. I, for one, have had the good fortune of being treated to an assortment of amazing cakes, brownies and muffins, fresh from the ovens of All That's Baked.

The venture is only a few months old now, and yet it's made for some happy and satisfied customers already. Add to that plenty more who have tasted, and fallen in love with her magical preparations at The Baker Showcase in Bangalore, last weekend. Her stall got sold out, naturally.

Pictures being worth a thousand words, here's a glimpse into an All That's Baked snack attack. For those who love sweet somethings, there are cakes, cookies, pies and tarts to indulge the cravings of your sweet tooth. If you're the kind that prefers something savoury, you're bound to enjoy the assorted breads, rolls, quiches and savoury pies! And if you're anything like me, you'll be in a perpetual quandary over the choices.

Maybe someday, when a future class at college will work on the same project, there will be someone like me - a watcher from the sidelines - presenting a case study on All That's Baked, and my friend - the doer, the go-getter - will be on stage, being honoured! And this time, there will be a keenly interested audience, as business will be adroitly explained with a pie chart.

Nighoj

Some fascinating pictures of the hydro-geomorphological formations in Nighoj that a friend had posted on Facebook, coupled with the fierce desire to hit the open road compelled me to wake up unusually early one Saturday morning, and chance the question, 'Let's drive to Nighoj?' Of course, I assume the 'pleeeeease' i added may have had some persuasive power - even if only through encouraging shutting me up with a hasty yes, yes, ok.

After a few minutes of putting together an uninspired picnic basket of sandwiches, potato chips and water, we were on the road. It was breaking dawn when we started out. Perfect. There's something magical about driving down a lonely road under the faint glow of streetlights, and watching the world slowly grow brighter.

We'd looked up google maps, and set the phone GPS, which kept us on the right track - until the battery died. Brilliant. We'd reached Morachi Chincholi at this point, a place where peacocks are said to be found in abundance. So naturally, we saw one.

We didn't stop to scout out more, as Nighoj was our place of interest. Drove on, lost our way, but found it after a kind guy on a bike guided us to the turn we should've taken a kilometer or so back. We finally crossed a pretty bridge, to arrive at our destination.

The river Kukadi flows through Nighoj village, and at one place, roughly 2-3 km away, near a temple, it cuts a deep gorge. This is the place we stopped at.

There's nothing much to see there, except the potholes, which are, apparently, Asia's largest, thereby gaining them entry into the Guiness Book of World Records. The potholes are caused by the swirling, erosive action of water and pebbles carried by the river, on the basalt rock over an extended period of time. The potholes so formed are smooth and roughly circular. They can be seen best during the summer and winter months when the water level is low.

We spotted some unusual nests built under the rocks, and some little birds flying around them. Swallows perhaps? We saw a few water snakes in the river too.

We didn't visit the temple. We walked a short distance down the river instead. The rocks were smooth and a tad slippery, and the potholes, simply captivating! I captured the essence of the place on video while the kid displayed some latent mountain-goat tendencies as he jumped, sure-footed, from one rock to another.

If you're headed there sometime, make sure you carry food and water, because there are no shops out there. No shade either, so a cap might be handy. And if you're bringing kids, putting them on a leash might save you the tachycardia that occurs when they venture too close to the edge.

We started back from Nighoj at around 10am. The way back seemed faster, and we got home by around noon. It was a Saturday morning well spent, if you ask me. A 'whole' lot of fun - on the rocks!