"All you can EAT"

I have to pose this question: has anyone ever been to an "All you can Eat" Joint?

Well I had the good fortune of going to 2 such places recently, one with MArwadi cuisine, and the other with Rajdhani cuisine.

For those brave souls who intend to ever go to one of these restaurants, kindly take note:

When they say " All you can eat" they actually mean " All you MUST eat". Seriously, I wise someone had provided a lathi along with my thali (lol hope you guys noticed that lathi and thali use the same letters) to beat away all the waiters coming to my table to offer me food i dnt want.

It was the same story at both places- there is no concept of enjoying food slowly, before you can say "table for 4" they have plonked you down on the chair and 3 different types of dhokla (all suspiciously tasting the same) are dumped on your plate. Before you can choke and cry out for some water 3 waiters assault you from all directions lomping (is that a real word) food on every empty space on your plate.

As the entire restaurant is in a drunken dhokla eating frenzy, you find yourself whipping up the enthusiasm to chomp down everything on your plate. everything tastes the same of course :)

Your bad times will start when you have finished 40% of the food on your plate. The Maitre d notices that there is 2 sq cms of free space on your thali (national disaster)
and signals excitedly to the waiters to bring MORE food.

The new waiters don;t know your preferences, so they will try and feed you all the things you don't like (all over again). Since there are 3 waiters carrying rotis in your section of the restaurant, all three will try and put 2 rotis each on your plate ( i think their compensation structure has that as a KRA).No use explaining to them that you are feeling full.

Things really started to go downhill when the captain asked me if I wanted Khichi/ Pulao/ Rice. Now the same thing happened at both restaurants, oddly enough. I refused the Khichi saying I was feeling too full/ don;t like khichdi. The Manager looked like he couldn't believe his ears. I think he took the refusal quite personally and gesticulated wildly to 3 passing waiters to put some khichdi on my plate. Thankfully for me, the 3 waiters were closing in on some other hapless customer (victim) at the other table (phew!).

Thank God for Indian sweets especially Rasmalai, they can make you forget anything, even "All you can Eat"!

**burrp**

:)

Sorry Seems to be the hardest word...

Hey anyone out there who is actually reading my stuff!
Im currently in the process of discovering that Sorry indeed is not the hardest word... it is in fact another popular word called goodbye...
It has been a long time since my last post, and since I've not proved myself to be a marathon blogger even before that, Excuse me if I am a little rusty:)
Now that apologies are out of the way... It has been a pretty slow day at work and I thought I should put my thoughts up on a blog(where else!)

Before I started rambling, was actually talking about the word Goodbye...

Well I came to this great city to do my MBA and it has been a wonderful experience... I've met so many wonderful people and some are friends for life:)... Trust me, this is a huge turn around from my first opinion of the city.. When the aeroplane was cruising to land and I got my first glimpse of Mumabi, I HATED it! There was absolutely no greenery and all i saw was a couple of dusty buildings. Coming from one of the greenest states of India, I was not excited at all.:)
I've stayed on to join a company which most would consider an unusual career choice, but I've learnt so much and gotten to meet some more awesome ppl, and yes, the learning has been awesome.
Yea, there are many people who choose to turn up their noses at the maximum city (My mom and dad included), its noise, pollution, dirt, grime, and hopelessness. But if you look at this city with kinder eyes, it is easy to see the beauty that lies beneath all the despair.
When I first came to the city, I remember seeing a poster calling people to enroll in an acting/ dancing school. It was an instant reminder that this city is where dreams are made and crushed every single day.
The greatest quality of this city (atleast for me) was annonymity. Back home, ppl are orthodox and that can make life pretty difficult. Here there is no aunty/ uncle who is ur Dads's/ Mom's nth cousin waiting to 'report' you lest you should , God forbid, be seen hanging out with your friends(only boys are a problem).:)
I think what makes Mumbai is its people... take that away, and the city fades to nothingness.
Enough of the eulogy, point is in one month, I will be saying good bye to this great city for some period of time. I have to say I have loved every moment of my time here.
When I went home this time, my aunt told me to become self reliant, all you have to do is spend one month in Mumbai.

I think she had a point.

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Despite my falling attendance level at college, i depart for my home state the day after tomorrow.I will be taking the train to Calicut, which lies at the northern tip of Kerala, then down to Kochi, and (thankfully) will be taking the flight back to Mumbai.I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt anger towards the airline industry, for having spoilt Indians like me with low airfares. There was a time in the recent past when i could make a 2 way trip home, all for the princely sum of Rs 5000, right now i would have to dish out about Rs 10,500 for the same privileges.In my first year at Mumbai, I had made so many trips home, that I had almost acquired the air of those bored, rich travelers that one sees at the airport, who hardly lift their heads while the plane is taking off, to take a look at the scene outside.

Needless to say, thanks to the recent fuel price hikes, it has been a long time since I've been in a plane, and in all probability, i will probably shove aside anyone who dares interrupt my view as the plane takes off. Its sad what poverty( and high prices) can do to you.:)

Which brings me back to why I'm going to Calicut in the first place. A very good friend of mine, again from my engineering days, is getting married on the 23rd of this month, and I am going in person to express my heartfelt condolences. ;P

Jokes apart, I'm sure everyone would agree, that a friend's wedding is the last thing that you would want to miss.Its also a great excuse to wear a Sari and dress up.

I think Orkut is a great invention.Its the only thing that keeps people who are as lazy as I am, in touch with everyone, and more importantly their relationship status. I am a firm believer in not getting married too soon, but i have to admit, I have spent too much time tracking down friends who have settled down and taking a look at their spouses through their albums.(Do I sound like a total Stalker?).

I don't know if this is a unique phenomenon of my state, but we have a culture of getting people married off very early in life. A girl's life can normally be summed up by the following formula: Education till 12th +Engg/Medical graduate+ put in your 2 years in a software firm( waiting for Mr. Right*)

*Mr.Right= can be best defined as a guy who has the perfect salary, education, job, family; only problem is that your parents decide that he is Mr. Right; and then you have about 5 minutes of 'interaction' with him to concur with your parents views .:P

Don't you guys think we are probably a more conformist generation than that of our parents'?

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I, me, myself

Since I've taken all the trouble to start a blog and all, I think its only fair for me to introduce myself.I'm a Mallu, been around quite a lot; right now I'm doing my MBA at NMIMS in Mumbai.Around this time, I should be telling you that I feel intellectually superior after a year of being a student of management, and maybe I would want to say yes, but the answer is mostly no. :)
Right now I'm sitting on my bed, wondering how to make myself sound witty, intelligent and awesome all at the same time. Its not working, so I think I'm going to stop trying.lol
One thing i did manage to learn after coming to Mumbai is a little bit of Hindi.Now every self respecting Indian should know a bit of Hindi, but I've always been sheltered from any need or desire to learn the language.In my first year at Mumbai, I managed to pick up essentials like 'seedha chalo bhaiya' and "right lena boss" but all this changed after my summers. I had to travel to places like Pune, Nasik in Maharastra, and down south to Bangalore, Mandya, Chenpatna, Yehlanu and Dodlabur in Karnataka, and finally to my own home state, Kerala. The 2 months that i spent travelling could be best described as a crash course on India. Since I had to talk to Mechanics, spare parts retailers and wholesalers, the hindi had to be good.So i used to deliver the following speech to them:"Bhaiya, main south India se hoon, Mera Hinda acha nahin hain, kai pe galathi ho to aap bura math manna" :) its funny how fierce looking mechanics calm down visibly after a speech like this .
By the way, if anyone reading this blog is contemplating a business visit to Kerala, or is becoming an Area sales Manager there, be warned: it is not the best place to do business. Of all the places i visited, I got the worst treatment in God's own country. I was actually shouted at, told to 'get out' of a shop. People down south are generally very suspicious; even more so if you're a girl who knows the names of their suppliers,and the discounts he is getting/giving.
Enough about my summers.
Right now I'm still awake as today is the birthday of a very good friend of mine.Her name is Lynn, and along with another madcap called Renju, are my best frds and made life livable during my engineering days. I'm one of those people who are all psyched up about my close frds' b'days , but would forget at the very last minute, and end up not wishing them at 12. this time: I'm determined to wish her:)