FISH .. GOA and ME !

I started writing this article during Navratri and it was hell difficult for me since I was vegetarian during these days 

Fish !  I am kind of a person who can survive without chicken or mutton for months but when it comes to fish its very very very difficult for me. I have this craze for fish which I cant just let go and I am sure most of the Goans reading would agree with me. Not that I don’t like veg food.. my mom cooks some of the best vegetarian delicacies but I can have them for max 3 days not more then that . Today I am gonna write about fish Fish and FISH (although this one page is not enough to write down some of the Goan Fish dishes but I’ll try to)! I know there are enumerable fish dishes that can be made like crispy prawns etc but I want to write about fish that is cooked in Goan homes and not in restaurants 

I’ll start with that fish which every individual in Goa loves anytime .. that is BANGDO (i.e.mackerel … don’t mind but I like to call it in local language .. in fact I like to call out all fish names in local language .. somehow I don’t get the feeling right in English :D). The Goan Fish curry made out of Bangdo is to die for. If you are veg for many days  you will have cravings for this curry  n there is no other curry that will satisfy you ! This curry is made out of coconut milk with spices like pepper and red chillies and not to miss the Kokum Solla and Triphal(said as Tephal in Konkani) without which this curry is incomplete. Kokum Solla are made out of Kokum bhindaa which are sundried and have a lovely pink color and provide a sour taste while tephla are green color pea sized round that give a pungent punch to curry. Such type of curry can be made also with fish like pedve (sardines) , talle  , vellyo etc. Also I want to add one more interesting fact that when this curry gravy is grinded on stone mortar (VAAN) , it goes to just another level .  And of course this dish which I will be talking about is exclusively made out of Bangdo i.e. Bangdyachi UdadMethi . It’s a curry which has this secret masala added , made from urad daal and fenugreek seeds. You can make this previous night and keep , since it tastes better as it ages .

Other dishes that can be made out of Bangdo are endless such as Reshaad Bangdo (Bangdo with Reshaad masala which is a red masala paste with vinegar) , Stuffed Bangdo (Bangdo cut sideways and sometimes deboned and stuffed with coconut spiced mixing) , Bangdyache Lonche (pickle made out of Bangdo which doesnot last for many days since you cant stop having it :D its made by steaming the fish and then adding spices and sourness of tamarind )  , Bangdyache Sukem (a type of semi-dry dish which has a spicy dry coarse coconut chutney texture with trefala and ginger in which fish is cooked )and last but not the least course fried Bangdo . (I cant believe I am writing for so long only about Bangdo and now I am nervous whether I will bring justice to other fish that are in line )

Ok this is the last thing but I have to write this. KISMOOR .. how can I forget J Dried fish is very popular in coastal areas. Nowadays we get fish in all seasons but in past when fish used to not be available , provision was made of dry fish during this season by drying salted fish in sun during summers which could be then used later. This is called purumet. There is a purumetache fest (A fest that has exclusive market for dried fish wherein people stalk their kitchen with different dried fish)  So coming back to Kismorr , this dish is made by roasting the dried fish on fire till it gets charred look and then mixed with other dried ingredients like onion , grated coconut  and spices like haldi , red chilly powder and tamarind water. [ Dunno if you’ll too like it this way but I love to have kismoor with a typical Daalcho Ros (a simple daal with onion.. do try if you’ll haven't tried J )] So here ends the Bangdo Adhyaaay :D

Next fish in line is everybodies favourite because of different reasons like no bones n hence easy to eat and its yum .. slurpyeah I am talking about SUNGTAA (Prawns) J Prawns curry made in Goa is not like the curry I mentioned above for Bangdo. Trefal and sola are not a part of this instead local available sour fruit is added like aaambli (raw mango pieces) , ambaado , bimbla , saango (drumsticks) etc. Also the coconut curry gravy is cooked with onions. Other Goan Prawn delicacies are prawn balchao (kind of a pickle where prawns are cooked in thick red tomato onion gravy ) , prawn sukem (this is made by cooking prawns with onion and potato and then adding grated coconut and any sour fruit available ) , another starter dish ..yum yum and must try is sungtache daaangar (kind of prawns cutlets made by mixing prawns in onion , spice powders , small chunks of coconut which are then flattened into small cutlets and rawa fried , this cutlets can be made out of tisryo also)  and all time favourite prawns masala rawa fry.

Next one is Viswan (King fish) J I am sure no one says no to masala rawa fried kingfish. Kingfish Balchaao is something I can die for :D Its made by making layers of onion and tomato and kingfish and then adding spicies like cloves , pepper etc.. there can be different versions of how a balchaao can be made. One more dish i.e. a fish curry  I want to mention which my granny used to cook J It takes curry to en entire different level. The curry gravy preparation is almost same but with a aaddition of ginger. And kingfish fillets are masala fried (not fully cooked though and without the rawa) and this is then added to curry . Youll must try this J

I know I can keep on writing when it comes to fish but I  need to limit myself :D Other important fish types famous among Goans are Chonak, Modso , Rawas , Tamboso. Also fish like kaalwa , tisryo , shinaayo, kullyo(crabs) are either masala fried or tonaak is made out of them (spicy coconut gravy with potato , kind of xacuti). Stuffed  Mankyo (squids) or stuffed crabs are delicious too

Haaaa ! Yaaay I am feeling so good after writing so much only about FISH :D

Once upon a time in Bambolim...

Once upon a time in Bambolim, Goa ... (Oh I miss those days  ... L ) We were these four ‘hatke’  girls always there in evening  on the wide road, hands stretched out  to stop car  to go home , in short asking lift . Oh ya ! We were working in Dona Paula, and  to go home by those local Kadamba  buses  …   in which you are lucky even if u get to stand on even  1  leg ! No ways!  So what do we ‘bichari’ girls do? … We had to ask lift!!  You won’t believe but for 6 months literally every day we went by lift.. !

We met different kinds of people. Everyday a new experience! Some people were nice, some handsome, some bored us to death with their lengthy speeches. Once an old man’s speech and his car, both were so slow that I slept in the front seat  zzzzzzzzzzzz. Now, I don’t wanna bore u’ll :P . This one incident which I will never forget, I would like to share with u all.

What happened was, this one fine day, my other 3 members of association.. Oh sorry btw did I tell u I had my own association named AILA ? ( All India Lift Association ). Of course I was the president, with 7 members!!  So my other 3 regular members of association were on leave! Y all 3 had to go on leave the same day I dunno  .. I cursed them so much the other day . x-(

And I was alone at Bambolim bus stop. I dint loose hope, n I was waiting for some relative, some friend to pass by! But time was running out and it was 6 already. But it wasn’t dark, thank God it was July. And on the bus stop there were 5 men, and 4 girls including me. I tried to convince those girls that we can ask lift together, but they were “sant mahatma” type who looked at me as if I am doing some “MAHA PAAP” by asking lift. I said “GET LOST” in my mind! I had full faith in AILA!

[Note : Asking lift is not PAAP , u r helping others to do “PUNYA” by forcing them help u .. got the  logic ? ;)]

And then, when I was busy thinking.. One “khatara maruti 800” stopped! But all men ran, n started talking to driver, and they all came back.  When they uncovered the car it was then that I saw the driver was a lady, and only one front seat was empty.  I could make out from her sari and ‘jingalala’ gold jewellery, that she was returning from some wedding. Also she had robbed almost all the wedding return gifts (I guess.. ;)) and  entire back seat was full with it.  She shouted loudly, only one can come.. n she waved out to all 4 girls . And I was the eligible candidate, so I went hurriedly n sat before she cud change her mind !! yay yay ! I gave a sarcastic smile to all those girls!! kui kui :P:P

The lady was good, talkative but not really boring. She told me she was returning from Mapusa from some wedding, n she was going to Benaulim and she wanted company. She was talking more and more.. but she demanded no response , so I was happily relaxing enjoying the breeze.  It was getting dark, n when reached near Cortalim circle , the car slowly started going out of the track. I thought some one must be overtaking, but I could not see any one behind through the rear mirror !! But when I saw car was literally landing into the gutter , I almost shouted and told her  “ You are on the extreme left ! ” . She controlled the car and slowly got it to the right. 

She gave a nervous smile and started saying, “Thanks a lot haan, you told me. My husband is usually there with me, when I m driving.  But today he could not come, n I thought I would start from Mapusa early. But you know this wedding ceremonies right. I got late. “ . I nodded.

She started again “Thanks for accompanying me. The thing is during daytime I don’t have any problem driving. But it becomes difficult rite to drive in evening .. ! and I have this little problem of Night blindness .. Cant see properly.. !!!

I was shocked to death.. ! Bloody hell.. I dint know how much she was able to see that time.. But I had gone blind when she told me she was suffering from night blindness!!!

We both were quite for some time. She was feeling guilty and I was not sure whether I will die in next few minutes or not x-(

You won’t believe what I had to do for next few minutes till we reached Margao. I asked her directly “How much can you see?” (in my mind : What are the chances  that I am gonna die ?). She told me it was all blur. Gr8 ! For about half an hour I was telling  her, go right , go left, stooooop. Pheeeeeeew.  

And finally I reached  Margao. First thing I did was I got out of that khatara. I started walking , she called me n said  “ Thanks a lot girl. You were of great help. (in my mind : Don’t tell me you want me to accompany you till Benaulim ! Don’t even dare!) . Thanks again . I will see if I can get anyone else to accompany till Benaulim “. And she went a bit further near Bus stop where buses start to go to Beanulim !!

And I saw another “BAKRI” getting into her car !! :D

I was ALIVE !!

MAAEE

People say when babies start to speak they start with addressing their mother first which is usually "aaee" , "mammi", "maa" etc. I had said "aaee". But there was one more person I used to call for along with aaee , that was "maaee", my GRANNY.
Maaee's name was Hirabai, but no one addressed her by that name. She was called Kalyaan( her maiden name)  by all her cousins, "Kalyan aakka " by her cousin’s children. I still remember her very clearly. Maaee was  very short in height, about 4 ft. I guess , dusky skin color , broad round face , broad black framed spectacles , oiled hair tightly combed back into a bun with a middle partition  . She used to wear cotton sarees in  light shades. Although she had dusky skin color , after having bath she used to go to kitchen , get some cream which is formed on milk, apply that to face as moisturizer and then put ponds powder :). She used to actually look very fair and her cheeks used to become so soft after that. 

I actually don’t remember spending much time with my parents when I was a kid. Most of the times I used to be with "Maaee". Not because my parents were busy , but because she was my favorite in the family. I got my first lessons of education from her. She was the one who taught me to write.  श्री  was the first letter she taught me to write on a slate. And then the entire devnagari varnamala , numbers from 1 to 20, small Sanskrit slokaas to say every evening etc.  So when I went to school I knew how to read letters. She was not highly educated. She had studied till 4th or 5th standard  and was not able to complete her education due to her family's poor financial conditions. But she knew the value of education.
When she was in her 30s or so she used to write small scripts or short dramas which are called "naatkules" in Konkani. These dramas were then presented by her on radio on Goa Aakashwani :)
I used to love the palms of her hand. They were extremely soft. She used to feed me lunch , by mixing rice properly with daal and making small balls of them. I used to then select the ball I want to eat and tell her what topping I wanted with it , piece of fish or salad or vegetable. And every day there used to be some fictional story or she used to tell me real life stories of her brothers, of goan freedom movement or her childhood stories. I used to tell her to feed me even when I was in 9th standard. I can’t tell you how the simple rice tasted yummy when she used to feed. I have tried mixing rice and daal the way she used to do. I can’t replicate that taste.

She used to wear soft cotton sarees at home. I used to love to sleep inside her pallu. You won’t find such a soft pillow in this entire universe. After washing hands , I and my dad used to fight  for wiping our hands using her pallu . It was dad who started it. He used to say "jo kon maaeelya padraaak haath payli pusta taaaji maaaee "( maaee loves the person more who wipes his/her hands to her pallu first  ) and then whoever wins used to tease the other saying "maeee fakt mhaji ... maaee fakt mhaji" (maaee is only mine :) ) And I have cried a 100 times when dad used to tease me like that.

She not only pampered me but also corrected  me when I made mistakes. She used to never beat me. She used to first warn me .But her real strategy to get me on track was not to talk to me or if it’s an severe mistake then threaten me to put onion in my eyes.  Although she used to go to kitchen to get an onion, usually I used to get scared so the need for really putting it in my eyes never arose.

I admire her courage when my father tells  me her stories. Our family’s financial conditions were not good at that time. So when they all shifted to Margao from Panjim when dad was in 7th std or so it was tough time for them. Although she was housewife , she tried raising the financial condition of the family so that her children can get good food and education, mainly education. She started with a small grocery shop in one of the rooms of the house. But this type of business did not suit her inner nature. She used to feel pity for poor people who sometimes used to come with their children , and she used to give them grocery items required on credit. And many times it happened that they never returned money back. So that was loss again. Then she started business of making stamp ! It was not and it is not an easy task. She learnt the technique of how to create fonts . My dad used to go to different banks and office and get orders. I feel this what she did alone during those times is commendable. She was an entrepreneur. :)
Now maaee is not with me, but her stories are... her blessings are!

Its funny !

 I, one of the “April born fools”, would like to share with you’ll one of the funny incidents in ma life .

This one was when I was in PCCE doing my 1st year of engineering.  Every morning travelling from Margao to Verna was adventure itself.  There are two bus stands from where u can catch bus to come to PCCE (yes  ... catch!  Or to be more precise catch any part of bus if you are fortunate enough). Not that any of this choice is better or something. Consider that as GK. :P 

 So we were treated like ‘bachaas’ (that’s a much better word) by the conductors. Actually we dint exist for him. We were directly addressed  as ‘half-ticket’  and the ‘full-tickets’ used to  laugh at his insensible jokes the way siddhu  might laugh even at anyone’s  funeral. The buses were locked when parked on bus stand and ‘full tickets were given chance to enter bus by this great conductor with welcome song and we used to struggle to even stand on last step! [Please note: I will never forgive that conductor in my life. I wish I could tie him by the most easily breakable thread to a bus and drive the bus as fast as I could.] 

 So you know how difficult it was and how lucky it was if you get to sit. (Not very lucky also because that person had to catch friend’s bags, drafter etc etc :D). We had a professor who used to come from Karwar who was fatter then a hippo when u look at his stomach, but had by mistake got a head of honey bee.  This fellow being a full ticket used to keep his bag on sit before climbing the bus, reserve the place, and then get in the bus ‘aaram’ se, then travel the journey towards his seat with most horrible smile I have seen with free stamping pedicure on our legs ! Ouch L (He had wasted one entire lecture giving us lecture on how picnics are bad when we had bunked class previous day) He used to give us Home Work!! We were engineering students!!!

We all used to get irritated but couldn’t do anything. One day this hippo kept his bag to reserve place, all Verna workers and people got in bus, and he got late as usual. But there was no smile on his face as he was coming towards his seat. Because there was already someone seated.  He asked in this South Indian accent of his “Where is my bag eers?” (Don’t ask me what this eers is! His brain appends this word to end of every sentence he says, For free! ) No one knew where his bag had disappeared. Let me tell you I have helped people find things when they are lost , but I was so overjoyed by this news  that ...that... I dint help!

So hippo started searching the bus seats, top racks... but alas “us din Google bhi uske help ko ata na toh bhi search nhi kar pata  :D:D.” The worst part was conductor was in bad mood and dint wait to hear his nonsense, and started with bus. We had already smsed our friends and were chatting on phone about all this, smileys were getting exchanged! Finally we reached college. Bus became half empty as all students and some workers got down. This hippo professor had got a nice change to search for his bag. But conductor dint take his ticket, and dint allow him to climb bus to check for bag. :D We couldn’t control our laughter and ran in the college. We had got off lecture because his notes and bag had disappeared in this air ;) So we were roaming around!!

After some time we saw him sitting behind his best friend’s bike and going on mission “Hippo’s bag search”.  With the speed we could make out the Activa was willing to move but there was equal and opposite resistance offered by hippo’s weight which was not allowing the scooter to speed.  They had to catch the bus which was heading back to Margao now. He was so tensed I guess that while crossing the high way, instead of showing  left hand to indicate crossing , he lifted both hands And we the 1^st year IT students witnessed  Titanic remake. :D LOL

Innocent Relations ...

“Deva ,mhaka bari buddhi di..vidya di, shakti di.. ani mhaka ek bhaav di “

 

Every evening after ‘parvad’  this is what I used to say standing  in front of GOD folding my hands !! WHY ? Because I was told so! I was told that if you want brother you will have to tell GOD about it every day! And I wanted him so badly as all my  best friends had brother, I never forgot to say it at the end of ‘parvad’. It took around 3 years for GOD to put the baby in my mom’s stomach ( again I was told so ! ) . That’s what we do when we are kids, we just do as we are told to.

(btw ‘parvad’ is saying some ‘shlokas’ in Sanskrit , or some verses in reference to GOD like ‘Shubham karoti kalyanam’ which are usually taught by grandparents )  !

Childhood! I find it so much like blank fresh drawing paper, the characters around you then draw on this canvas which slowly shapes you! I find it as light as a feather, flowing with the wind, in any direction with no burden! Haaa! Just the feeling gets me flyingJ. I love to see the innocence on the faces of kids. And the questions these ignited minds ask, even the genius people fall speechless.

So, my brother was born after I did 3 years of ‘tapascharya’ ( but you know actually who did ;) ahem ).  And the day he was born same night there was earthquake in Goa. Maybe he wanted everyone to feel his arrival into this world. It was night time, so I had no idea about mom being taken into hospital. Morning I got this news and I was so happy!! I wore my favourite dress which my granny had stitched, and went to see my lil bro. I had this image in my mind about my brother, he will be fair, big black eyes, pink lips, round and chubby smiling at me all time. So I enter the room in hospital and what I see is this little reddish pink thing! I was like WTH. I shouted at ‘AAEE’(mom) , I thought it’s because she used to  have this beetroot soup all the time.  But still I went near the cradle just to see him , and this fellow who seemed to look like been sleeping , announced war against me !! He peed on me x-( And there it was the start of still unending war ! Grrrr 

But as he grew up some months older he actually started looking like what I dreamt like bro! Only I didn’t imagine he would have such a exact geometrical circular bulbous round head. :D I still make fun of him. Somehow , right from the point he gained his senses , he recognised me as his enemy and  always cried loudly whenever I was around. And I was so mad after him; I loved to kiss his chubby chicks n he hated it like anything. :D:D Maybe because he hated it I liked it more!! :O 

I just mentioned that kids are innocent. But another universal truth is ‘they are naughty’ :D and you think my bro was exception ? This empty headed fellow, when he was just learning to crawl, had fallen on his head, and pointed finger at me saying I pushed him !! I had got all shouting for just being around him. But I never stopped going after him, because he was weak, slow in crawling, had difficulties in balancing because of his bulbous head. 

Once I and my cousin were riding cycle and we were excited because we had learnt balancing in that summer vacation.  My brother was around playing, and we told him we will give him a ride on the slope and he got scared , and was not ready but we made this poor fellow sit forcefully :D We went up properly holding the cycle. But while coming down, the speed increased and we couldn’t control the cycle and he fell. OMG and he started crying with volume set to maximum. We both were so tensed that he will tell everyone at home. Finally we washed his wound, and ahem... bribed him with two erasers, one apple and one banana, one eraser come sharpener and one tattoo. But he was so corrupt that he blackmailed me for a long period with this.

So many years have passed by and still this relationship has not lost its innocence. It’s like we both have grown, but we still fight for silly reasons. I still feel protective towards him although I tie Rakhi to him, telling him to protect me! I feel nice every year, that he buys small gift for me from his pocket money and all that anger dies away. (BTW I do start reminding him about gift 2 weeks in advance :o)

I wrote this as we all celebrated ‘Rakshabandhan’ just recently and I wanted you’ll to just recollect all silly, naughty things we did , and we still do with our brothers/sisters. J May this bond last forever!  

Namz goes to Shimla , Manali , Chandigarh

!!   Shimla  -  Manali  - Chandigarh  !!

There  are  times  when  you  just  want  to go  somewhere away. Away from work , from the place u stay , away from normal routine . And then  u know where u  want to go . On Tour !!

We  had covered most of the places in South of India , so decided  to go  Himachal Pradesh. We went hunting thru the iterneries of diff Tour organisers. Mind you .. they lie a lot ! They will tell u , they have cost saver packages, which will turn out to be your most expensive  tour :D We finally heard of Yatrik travels from one of our family friends and found it much sensible and  .  http://www.yatriktravels.com/  you can go thru their site ! 

Gokhle kaka, Kirtany and KAKA !! The 3 organisers :)

 

So we took this Shimla – Manali – Chandigarh  total 10 days package.  You can find more information about  all these 3 places on wiki :D .  I will just try to give you’ll view from my perspective. 

PART 1 

SHIMLA 

So  the tour started from Delhi that day very early , with 5 familliles , 1 sardarji driver , 1 cleaner , and three coordinators from Yatrik travels.  What i believe is we were very lucky to  have such nice quick bonding people with us . It took us no time to introduce each other and within few hours we were all seated in seats which were not allotted to us  , playing antakshari , some word games etc.  

Please allow me to describe just this one breakfast which was my favourite. We had stopped at a typical Dhaba  , with trucks parked at the entrance, some wooden furniture around , and THE CHEFS outdoor making parathas , tandoor stuff , jalebis  , lasssi etc. So  we had this beautiful  lasssi.. ya ya it was deliciously  beautiful . It was then followed by  potato , onion , cabbage parathas  which were accompanied with pickle , dahi  and   ‘makhan’.. not butter :P :D Makhan is desi butter and it tastes  way better then amul butter ! The satisfactory feeling u get after having this Punjabi breakfast is unimaginable. :D

OOO LA LA !!! :D

The best parathas accompanied with dahi , pickle and makkhan !! yum

 

As you  are a few km from Shimla , the city is all ready to welcome you with pleasant cool weather , awesome sceneries  , beautiful vegetation and people . Weather was not only breezy  but  it was drizzling too ! We were all tired and closed ourselves in warm blankets in rooms . The room we got  had a terrace view , but the temperature had dropped down drastically. Next day the  weather was super cold  when we went to see the Valley. Although the view of valley was pleasing , we were not pleased enough to open our eyes against the blowing winds.  We clicks some pics and then went to see the famous Church and Lakkad bazaar. By afternoon the climate was pretty pleasant.  

 

Evening  we went for Horse riding on hills. I wanted a white horse , but the horse guide  was arguing with me as if that horse which I was suppose to ride is the best in world L I had to go uphill on that  very excited horse.  I was last when I started  and when we reached top of the hill , I was second . I must have yelled so many times at the  horse guide   , to control his horse , but he was laughing at me saying that you have paid me for a walking ride and I m giving you running horse at the same rate x-(. Thankfully they change the horses when we come downhill, and I got white horse !!! And he was very sweet and maintained  his speed thru ought ! I liked it J

Torture at Project Lunch Party

Food !  Well that’s how my day starts and ends too ! Those who  are my friends know very well about my cravings for food(actually non veg to be more specific), and those who don’t know me so well , can make out it from my size ! :P

After coming into PSL my weight has increased  at least by 5-6kgs (maybe more L). That’s because of the veg food the caterer provides . So? So people who like non veg have to go out to eat, which increases the weight.  Although  now we can see some change .. Maybe because the weighing machine in cafeteria no longer supports and shows weight for people like me :D (I m just kidding .. im not that fat now ) .  Anyways I just wanted to share a recent torture that I faced for our project party , but before that a  chop for all those people who don’t support non veg food .

There is a reason why I eat non veg . I love fish  but I love nature also  ..  Oh yes !   The reason why I eat fish is to maintain balance in ecosystem . Let me elaborate . Just imagine if everyone was veg. Now think what’s the aim of a fish in life ? Do they have one ? NO. That’s the answer . So they come to life , live for some time , n die !  Or maybe who live longer will simply increase life in sea making it overpopulated . Ahaaa now come into picture , people like me .. I mean fish lovers .  We provide fish with a aim in life. We  eat them , make them realize that they are special ( only thing is they are not alive to live with that realization :D)  and thus maintain balance in ecosystem. Ok ? :P Actually non veg items are costly also , but we think of our ecosystem , nature  and unlike veg people don’t run after money .

So  you know by now how much crazy I am about fish . I see to it actually every time we go out for birthday parties ,  lunch outs , or team lunch that I  can eat non-veg that day .  And I succeed every time. J But this one fine day , there was Vinayki (this day I can’t eat non veg , onion , garlic L) . And our team mates decided to go for project party in Soul Souffle ( :D ha ha discount ka mail aya nahi , ki nikal pade khaane). I was  sad because I wont be able to go . Mom had  given me veg pulav in tiffin.  But then everyone started forcing to come . Some nice people ( who later became my enemies ) started telling me that they will order some salad , and some gravy without onion , garlic. I was touched ! So sweet people , how I could say no . I said ok.  Still I was sad that I won’t be able to eat non veg. 

Anyways we reached Soul Souffle . I loved the ambience. It had an open cottage like structure . There was a huge Christmas tree , rite in the middle . There were light and dark green hanging lamps on ceiling.  The entire cottage was bordered with  diwans with lovely cushions made out of silk in different colors !! A senior waiter , a very thin character ( soul souffle doesn’t provide food to waiters I thought ), came to greet us on the door.  We went and dumped our lazy bumps (spelling altered to maintain sanctity ;) ) on the inviting diwans .  This senior waiter was arranging tables, suddenly came to us and said “ Get up , get up , sit here “ . I felt like I was in primary school , we are on picnic , n I have gone n sat on some wrong place , n of course Mr. waiter sounded like a principal. I am very obedient like that you know . So we all got up from diwans and landed on the chairs reserved for us.

The orders were already placed so we were relaxed talking , pulling each others’ leg, laughing  . Waiter took drink orders from us and he was gone. Cold drinks were served and we went into waiting period.  I was very hungry. Then I saw the waiter coming…  he got the starters and kept it right in front of me . I smiled at him and I looked into the plate, n then I gave him THE “WTH” look. I said “This side we all are veg  (mann hi mann I was repenting  .. but .. I continued …  ) , take it to the other side” . But maybe my nose was not following vinayaki and hence the fish aroma filled my nostrils . But the dish was gone on the other side of the table (No use repenting over spilt milk .. or a non veg dish that’s gone away I say) .  Again he came and performed the same ritual , as if someone had told him that there is a girl sitting  with veg people who usually loves non veg ,  so just  take every non veg dish there first and then get it to non veg table. X-( 

And there I was sitting slurping the sour fresh lime soda, . (I had mentioned sweet actually , but by now u can make out that waiters there do exactly opposite ). Looking at people eating chicken starters , fish fingers etc …. Just Imagine ….  Poor me.

Finally veg starters came , they were some small heart shape mini cutlets , which were ok.  I ate two, I felt like I ate two channas or something.  Suddenly  I look at the table where non veg food was getting served (actually all time I was looking there .. by now but obvious eh !!  ) and I see  that they have got main course also .. rice , fish curry , chicken gravy n what not !!!! x-(  I checked the time , it was 2 . And we were licking  starter plates here  and were gazing at the empty plates on our tables .. hoping for a miracle to take place .. for them to just refill. I can’t wait like this . I called the waiter , and gave him a gentle reminder.  The result was that he only placed EMPTY main course plates on our table. And got French fries. We finished it in no time and again went into waiting period. It was 2.45.

Finally the chef himself came with this special without onion-garlic gravy and placed it on the table. Haaa I thought .. finally. But there were no rotis. Non veg people had finished their share already. Some people started tasting gravy.  Our plates were empty, the hot gravy had turned into cold dessert.  We reminded the waiter.But turns out , that waiter was “besharam”. Reason. With the stares I was giving him , if anyone else was there , he would have sat right there and made rotis and served us.  Suddenly he comes and asks “ANYTHING ELSE ??  “ I felt like telling him, get me iron rod with which I can break your head into pieces. What did he mean by ANYTHING ELSE ? Our plates were empty , maybe he thought he had served some Soul souffle  ke invisible soul dishes into our plates.  I thought it would have been much better , if I had got my small tiffin , atleast I would have eaten veg pulav, I would have shared also with others  (1 spoon per person, soul souffle ka prasad ) , I m not that bad. Finally the food came, at 3.30pm . By then, the Non veggies were eating badishep and laughing at us.

Why did I write all of this ..

So that all those wonderful non veggie people know in the future that if you are a veggie and most importantly if you like non veg …  avoid going to such parties .. will help avoid SOUL UNREST !!