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You know you’re in for a rocking treat when the venue you’re entering has the legendary The Rolling Stones band’s iconic insignia fashioned as the entrance door. And once you set foot inside, the Rolling Stones Rock Bar doesn’t disappoint. True to its name, the rock bar in the heart of Lakeside, Pokhara is probably the biggest and loudest live music venue in the tourist hotspot. A full-fledged stage, complete sound system and light­ning, the very best performing artists, along with a wide selection of food and drinks, make every evening at Roll­ing Stones musically enriching. The bar is popular among locals as well as tourists from around the world and from right across the country too. There are many Kathman­duites who never miss a chance to go to the Rolling Stones whenever they are in the Lakeside. The venue is also a favorite spot for musicians from Kathmandu to perform for the Pokhara audience.

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Jhol mo:mo

- Mustang Aalu

- Dragon Wings

Opening hours: 12 noon - 12 am

Meal for 2: Rs 2,500 

Cards: Accepted

Reservations:061467496

Location: Lakeside, Pokhara

Non-Fiction

HOW TO BE HUMAN: LIFE LESSONS FROM BUDDY HIRANI

Manjeet Hirani

Publisher: Ebury Press

Published: January 2018

Pages: 156, Hardcover

They say, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. That idiom holds true quite literally in the case of ‘How To Be Human’ because the cover is nice and thus misleading. The only good thing about the book is that the chapters are short so you don’t have to suffer for too long. Also, the illustrations that accom­pany the chapters are fun to look at, making reading the badly writ­ten (and edited) somewhat preachy chapters just about bearable.‘How To Be Human’ is basically about what Bollywood director Raj­kumar Hirani’s wife Manjeet Hirani, who is a pilot and motivational speaker, has learnt in and of life so far through her dog, Buddy, who was, if anyone remembers, Anuskha Sharma’s depressed dog in the 2014 movie PK, featuring Aamir Khan.

Though Manjeet was scared of dogs and would have never allowed one into her house, she couldn’t say no when her husband sent a six-week-old pup to their son, Vir. Earlier named Nikku, the pup then became Buddy because the Hiranis felt Nikku didn’t suit his vibrant, always-up-to-something personality.

As Manjeet got close to Buddy, she claims to have learnt invaluable les­sons from him. She started writing blog posts on Buddy and his shenan­igans and, as someone who with a keen interest in philosophy, she then found herself comparing his ways to people’s habits and wondering what Buddy would do in certain situa­tions. ‘How To Be Human’ was the result of that contemplation.

As delightful as that idea sounds, and despite great reviews from Ranbir Kapoor and John Abra­ham, and a gushy foreword by Dia Mirza, ‘How To Be Human’ is not a book you will enjoy because the writing is sloppy and erratic. Although the author starts each chapter by singing praises about Buddy, it eventually leads to a rant and then ends with her telling you what you should and shouldn’t do or how you can make the world a better place.

Sometimes Manjeet manages to bring Buddy back in at the end of the chapter as an afterthought, having forgotten all about him while she went on and on about politics, health, society, and what not. It’s almost like she suddenly remembers that the theme of the book is ‘Life Lessons from Buddy Hirani’ and she can’t afford to digress anymore and has to quickly wrap up the chapter too.

It’s this erratic nature of the book, apart from the shoddy writing, that leaves you with a bad aftertaste, making you wonder why you picked up the book in the first place. Or maybe you can blame Ranbir Kapoor for that, whose two sentences on the cover are the only nicely written ones in the entire book.

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Spaghetti Carbonara

- Ricotta Pizza

- Fish N Chips

Location: New Road

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 1500

Reservation: 014243333

New Road—the old shopping haven of Kath­mandu and the cultural center of this ancient city—is also the home of street foods, lightning fast and cheap. Almost every other door opens to a place where one can get a quick bite. But what if one wants to spend some time relishing the meal in a nice environment, and also escape the heat of the commercial zone? The newly opened New Road-branch of the Black Water Restro and Bar is such a place where you can relax with your food, and at affordable prices too. The New Road branch of Black Water, located in the New Road Complex, has become popular for its beautiful ambiance and affordable menu. Sandwiches, burgers, noodles, pasta, friend chicken are some popular orders that Black Water receives along with its various offerings of pizza, which it claims to be “probably the best pizza in town.”

Fiction

THE VEGETARIAN

Han Kang

Publisher: Portobello Books

Published: 2015

Translated into English from Korean by Deborah Smith

Pages: 183, paperback

In the opening sentence of Han Kang’s ‘The Vegetarian’, Yeo­ng-hye is described as someone who is “completely unremarkable in every way”. And it is this ordi­nary woman who, one day, throws away all the meat from the freezer because she has had a ‘dream’ and announces that she is going to become a vegetarian. Things quickly spiral out of con­trol from there on as her husband, unable to understand her choices, drags in her whole family to try and ‘solve’ the ‘problem’. Yeong-hye’s father even tries to force a piece of pork into her mouth and she stabs herself in retaliation. But despite all the chaos that ensues, Yeong-hye’s decision remains rock solid.

The story is structured in three acts. The first part is about Yeo­ng-hye’s decision and her family’s reaction to it, the second mainly revolves around her artist brother-in-law who becomes increasingly obsessed with her body, and the final one is about Yeong-hye’s sister, In-hye, who tries to help Yeong-hye even as her own family is falling apart in the process.

‘The Vegetarian’ is disturbing. It’s a little gory too. While reading it, sometimes you will squirm, ill at ease in your own body. But it’s easily one of the best books you will ever come across. The story, with all its wild concepts and ideas, has a cer­tain appeal that makes it seem more like a work of abstract art rather than a neatly crafted fiction.

Thus it manages to stay in your mind long after, making you rethink and question everything you believed to be true, challenging con­formism and making you wonder why the society puts such strict code of conduct on sex when it is the very basis of evolution.

But think and ponder all you want, you will, at the end of the book, still struggle to make sense of it in its entirety or you will take away multiple (often contradictory) mes­sages. And it’s perhaps this churning of the story in your mind that makes this little novella so special, willing you to return to it in anticipation of a different take on it altogether this time around.