Imagine entering a restaurant at lunch time and leaving during dinner, and not as an employee but as a diner!
Well I did that the other day and no, it wasn't because I finally decided to give in and keep eating until I died. It was because I was meeting an old friend after 14 odd years and we had a lot of catching up to do, or so we discovered. It was the most incredible reunion I've ever had and the best "date" ever; I swear romance just pales in comparison to genuine camaraderie and warm connections.
N and I used to be in boarding school together over 20 years ago, and even though we weren't "best friends" we got along really well. I remember spending a lot of time with her just chatting, reading, walking around campus, planning and plotting tricks to play in class... the usual school-girly stuff. N had to leave school just before the final year as her family was moving to London. It was sad to see her go at that point because we had all been through so much together as a class, and the last year of boarding school is always so much fun. You try to pack it all in and make promises to keep in touch and stay friends forever. Luckily we have managed to keep most of those promises, we're all still close and meet as often as it's possible these days, what with everyone spread over the globe and married with kids and all that jazz.
So anyway, we all missed N a lot during that last year and after we passed out of school, we'd write sporadically. I remember she'd always send Christmas cards even if she couldn't write the rest of the year. Then, a few years later, when we'd all finished graduating from college we met again. I couldn't make it to N's place when the rest of my classmates were there but I caught up with her a little later. It was a brief meeting and I don't think we talked much as it was at her parent's house and she had a lot of visitors popping to see her. So we chatted a bit and then parted with promises to stay in touch. She was going back to London, and I was on my way to Australia. Or so I thought. I didn't get a visa eventually so I went back to Pune to fool around until I landed my first job.
All this was before emails and text messaging, which is why we didn't keep in touch as much. Snail mail took a hit when there were so many things happening in one's life - new job, career, relationships etc. I finally heard from N again last year when I rejoined Facebook after staying away for a couple of years. We exchanged a few messages about what we were up to. She had just gotten married and I'd just gotten divorced. There's irony for you! But it felt nice to reconnect and it was one of few times I felt happy that I was back on Facebook. Which is why I was very happy to receive a message from N last week saying that she was in Bombay and wanted to meet. I sent her my phone number immediately, she called and we made plans to meet on Thursday.
It turned out to be reunion week for me as I heard from two other friends who I hadn't met in years and who were also in town! N and I decided to meet for lunch and I was wondering where to go. Juggled with 3 different restaurants in my mind and finally settled for the one with best food AND service AND ambience. So I picked her up from her parent's house and we headed out to lunch. We start chatting right from the moment she got into the cab and didn't stop until I said bye to her before rushing off to meet another friend 6 or 7 hours later!
Turned out to be a fabulous lunch, we had a bottle of Chenin Blanc, a Caesar salad, grilled fish (she had my favourite Rawas and I had John Dory) with a smooth, creamy mash and some lemon butter sauce. It was long and languorous and we didn't notice the hours slip by. For dessert we shared a Ganache torte with Kahlua whipped cream. The torte was not bad, at least it was moist unlike most store bought pastries.Though I wish restaurants and pastry shops here would use better quality chocolate (with a higher percent of cocoa) for the ganache. Most of the time, it tastes so synthetic. The Kahlua cream was a joke and I felt like slapping the pastry chef's wrist! I guess my friends and clients are right, I do make the best chocolate liqeuer cakes!
N told me she started baking at home pretty recently and asked for some pointers. So in the middle of our heart-to-heart talks, I would tell her how to make a crusty French loaf or how simple it is to make a dark chocolate ganache infused with liqeuer or a Nutella buttercream. As I was talking to her about my preferences for European desserts as opposed to the American ones, I realised that I'm now definitely upto my elbows in flour :-)
We talked about life in London, life in Bombay, gossiped about classmates, exchanged stories about each other's lives. She asked me what my plans were from now on. I told her the truth - I have no plans! I explained how I now prefer to live just for the moment, my priority is my family especially my Dad. I'd like to travel a bit and generally keep trying new things because I don't want to get bored ever again. A few years back, I'd wake up and think, "Oh god, this is my life!" And even though I was happy in a relationship, I was too scared to admit the ennui and boredom that had set in. Stagnant waters can snuff out life like nothing else. Then I told her about my current relationships, complicated as they are! We had a good laugh over my adventures and misadventures; single life is unpredictable but fun whichever way you may look at it.
Very soon the staff at the restaurant started switching on the lights and we realised it was getting dark outside! Finally when the dinner crowd started walking in we decided it was time to move. By then K, the other friend I was supposed to meet, also called so I had to go. N and I said our goodbyes and this time, I'm sure we will keep in touch. Besides, she's coming back in April.
Then I met K and within minutes, after I yelled at some auto rickshaw driver who almost knocked us down as we were standing in a narrow lane in Bandra, he turned to me and said, "You are exactly the same G!!! I'm so bloody happy you haven't changed at all." We were meeting after 5 odd years and it was so easy to pick up where we'd left off. We went to Bandstand and walked along the promenade, then he stopped to buy some smokes and asked me if I needed some. I smiled triumphantly and said, "No dude, I've quit and this time for good!" There was so much to talk about even though we had less time, but we managed to pack it all in the 90 odd minutes that we were together.
After walking a bit we sat on one of the benches facing the sea. We laughed so hard about the old days and it felt so good. At one point we started talking about social networking sites and we discussed FB and blogs and then we both said, at the exact same time, what the hell do you do with this twitter??? He doesn't get it either, thank god for that! Then we joked about how if we were on twitter, we would now be telling random strangers on the internet "It's so lovely sitting by the sea with K!" or "I'm in front of Barista with G and it's so nice to be here."!!!
We were like, if people are so happy with what they are doing then why don't they continue doing it instead of tweeting while doing it! I don't get it. Granted it's quite useful and can be extremely witty and fun, but this random updating of every boring inane detail of your life I just cannot understand. I would rather watch paint dry then do it. I read some tweets (yeah I'm a stalker like that!) and I notice a distinctive pattern in most of them. Anyway, whatever rocks your boat. People probably wonder why I do half the things I do, and believe me the things I do are worse!
K and I parted ways a little later and we're definitely going to meet again before he leaves town. We have plans to get wasted on Valentine's Day or the next day (depending on his schedule) because no matter who is in your life or not it is seriously such a lame, lame day.
And now again, I'm off to meet another bunch of fun folk. One of whom I haven't met in a year, another in two weeks, and the others for the first time.
Roll out the barrel...
Well I did that the other day and no, it wasn't because I finally decided to give in and keep eating until I died. It was because I was meeting an old friend after 14 odd years and we had a lot of catching up to do, or so we discovered. It was the most incredible reunion I've ever had and the best "date" ever; I swear romance just pales in comparison to genuine camaraderie and warm connections.
N and I used to be in boarding school together over 20 years ago, and even though we weren't "best friends" we got along really well. I remember spending a lot of time with her just chatting, reading, walking around campus, planning and plotting tricks to play in class... the usual school-girly stuff. N had to leave school just before the final year as her family was moving to London. It was sad to see her go at that point because we had all been through so much together as a class, and the last year of boarding school is always so much fun. You try to pack it all in and make promises to keep in touch and stay friends forever. Luckily we have managed to keep most of those promises, we're all still close and meet as often as it's possible these days, what with everyone spread over the globe and married with kids and all that jazz.
So anyway, we all missed N a lot during that last year and after we passed out of school, we'd write sporadically. I remember she'd always send Christmas cards even if she couldn't write the rest of the year. Then, a few years later, when we'd all finished graduating from college we met again. I couldn't make it to N's place when the rest of my classmates were there but I caught up with her a little later. It was a brief meeting and I don't think we talked much as it was at her parent's house and she had a lot of visitors popping to see her. So we chatted a bit and then parted with promises to stay in touch. She was going back to London, and I was on my way to Australia. Or so I thought. I didn't get a visa eventually so I went back to Pune to fool around until I landed my first job.
All this was before emails and text messaging, which is why we didn't keep in touch as much. Snail mail took a hit when there were so many things happening in one's life - new job, career, relationships etc. I finally heard from N again last year when I rejoined Facebook after staying away for a couple of years. We exchanged a few messages about what we were up to. She had just gotten married and I'd just gotten divorced. There's irony for you! But it felt nice to reconnect and it was one of few times I felt happy that I was back on Facebook. Which is why I was very happy to receive a message from N last week saying that she was in Bombay and wanted to meet. I sent her my phone number immediately, she called and we made plans to meet on Thursday.
It turned out to be reunion week for me as I heard from two other friends who I hadn't met in years and who were also in town! N and I decided to meet for lunch and I was wondering where to go. Juggled with 3 different restaurants in my mind and finally settled for the one with best food AND service AND ambience. So I picked her up from her parent's house and we headed out to lunch. We start chatting right from the moment she got into the cab and didn't stop until I said bye to her before rushing off to meet another friend 6 or 7 hours later!
Turned out to be a fabulous lunch, we had a bottle of Chenin Blanc, a Caesar salad, grilled fish (she had my favourite Rawas and I had John Dory) with a smooth, creamy mash and some lemon butter sauce. It was long and languorous and we didn't notice the hours slip by. For dessert we shared a Ganache torte with Kahlua whipped cream. The torte was not bad, at least it was moist unlike most store bought pastries.Though I wish restaurants and pastry shops here would use better quality chocolate (with a higher percent of cocoa) for the ganache. Most of the time, it tastes so synthetic. The Kahlua cream was a joke and I felt like slapping the pastry chef's wrist! I guess my friends and clients are right, I do make the best chocolate liqeuer cakes!
N told me she started baking at home pretty recently and asked for some pointers. So in the middle of our heart-to-heart talks, I would tell her how to make a crusty French loaf or how simple it is to make a dark chocolate ganache infused with liqeuer or a Nutella buttercream. As I was talking to her about my preferences for European desserts as opposed to the American ones, I realised that I'm now definitely upto my elbows in flour :-)
We talked about life in London, life in Bombay, gossiped about classmates, exchanged stories about each other's lives. She asked me what my plans were from now on. I told her the truth - I have no plans! I explained how I now prefer to live just for the moment, my priority is my family especially my Dad. I'd like to travel a bit and generally keep trying new things because I don't want to get bored ever again. A few years back, I'd wake up and think, "Oh god, this is my life!" And even though I was happy in a relationship, I was too scared to admit the ennui and boredom that had set in. Stagnant waters can snuff out life like nothing else. Then I told her about my current relationships, complicated as they are! We had a good laugh over my adventures and misadventures; single life is unpredictable but fun whichever way you may look at it.
Very soon the staff at the restaurant started switching on the lights and we realised it was getting dark outside! Finally when the dinner crowd started walking in we decided it was time to move. By then K, the other friend I was supposed to meet, also called so I had to go. N and I said our goodbyes and this time, I'm sure we will keep in touch. Besides, she's coming back in April.
Then I met K and within minutes, after I yelled at some auto rickshaw driver who almost knocked us down as we were standing in a narrow lane in Bandra, he turned to me and said, "You are exactly the same G!!! I'm so bloody happy you haven't changed at all." We were meeting after 5 odd years and it was so easy to pick up where we'd left off. We went to Bandstand and walked along the promenade, then he stopped to buy some smokes and asked me if I needed some. I smiled triumphantly and said, "No dude, I've quit and this time for good!" There was so much to talk about even though we had less time, but we managed to pack it all in the 90 odd minutes that we were together.
After walking a bit we sat on one of the benches facing the sea. We laughed so hard about the old days and it felt so good. At one point we started talking about social networking sites and we discussed FB and blogs and then we both said, at the exact same time, what the hell do you do with this twitter??? He doesn't get it either, thank god for that! Then we joked about how if we were on twitter, we would now be telling random strangers on the internet "It's so lovely sitting by the sea with K!" or "I'm in front of Barista with G and it's so nice to be here."!!!
We were like, if people are so happy with what they are doing then why don't they continue doing it instead of tweeting while doing it! I don't get it. Granted it's quite useful and can be extremely witty and fun, but this random updating of every boring inane detail of your life I just cannot understand. I would rather watch paint dry then do it. I read some tweets (yeah I'm a stalker like that!) and I notice a distinctive pattern in most of them. Anyway, whatever rocks your boat. People probably wonder why I do half the things I do, and believe me the things I do are worse!
K and I parted ways a little later and we're definitely going to meet again before he leaves town. We have plans to get wasted on Valentine's Day or the next day (depending on his schedule) because no matter who is in your life or not it is seriously such a lame, lame day.
And now again, I'm off to meet another bunch of fun folk. One of whom I haven't met in a year, another in two weeks, and the others for the first time.
Roll out the barrel...
4 comments:
I just ducked out of two reunions in two weeks...guess it is whom you are re-connecting with that matters...even I often want to whack chefs for the food they dole out after charging me money
You'd be lucky to find a restaurant here that would happily accommodate you for hours. Lovely to have such a relaxed ambience.
What energy you must have - and staying power. I'm glad both reunions were good - sometimes they start well and then deteriorate but you obviously chose your friends well.
@Knife - Yes it does matter who you reconnect with.. and I make it a point only to meet those who matter :-)
@Pat - Luckily the restaurant is also an all day cafe, so they are open from breakfast upto dinner. Yet, it's not a noisy fast-food joint. They serve some fine food and spirits, so I like that about it.
Even I was surprised at our staying power, but that's point we just did't realise how long we were sitting there. It really matters who you are meeting and I have some of the best friends in the world, so I consider myself extremely lucky :-)
Recently, I heard from my high-school best friend...we'd lost touch forever. And I'm nervous about meeting [via Skype]. She's not in Guyana.
Whenever you write about the places you've been to, I get a taste of India, which I enjoy :-)
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