Day to Day in Bangalore

Back in Malleswaram.

I have slept so much over the past few days…its as if all the sleep I was deprived of over the last couple of months finally caught up! I go to sleep at 9PM and wake up at noon!

Didi does not disappoint. She makes the most delicious breakfasts. Its dosas one day, dodaks the next (yummy dosa like variant) or paan pallay (ground rice and ground coconut mixed with water and cooked on a tawa like a dosa eaten with jaggery syrup). And of course the eternal supply of tea =D

One afternoon, I went with didi and her cousin to a restaurant called Neels (Blue). Such a cute place. A high end restaurant that’s set up with 4-5 open bungalows, of course everything is blue. It was so pretty ‘cause the paths had coconut trees and wherever you sit you get great view of the clear Bangalore sky. It doesn’t rain here…its always pleasant! Sunny and warm in day and cool and breezy in the evening. After the buffet lunch and gulab jamuns and ice cream we headed to the aunty’s house for some tea. The aunty’s house was a sight to see! The entrance gates were made of pine wood painted bright red with flowers and greens overflowing. You enter up a short series of steps (lots of wonderful plants hovering) and enter an open architecture. It’s a 3 story house and you can see every floor from the foyer. The furniture was handmade and personally designed with dark mahogany wood. The space was uncluttered, minimalist and clean. So classic...i fell in love with it. Aunty was such a sweet women. She called me sweetie and dear the entire afternoon and we talked about her daughter who is studying at Rutgers! Of all places!! After some more pleasant conversations about best places for saris, coolest place to party for New Years and tea we headed back to Didi’s house.

That evening I went with didi for a visit with an aunt and uncle of hers. The uncle was 80 something and a darling of a man. And the aunty was a perfect host. She showed me around their modest 2 BR flat and I sat down and struck up fun conversation with uncle. We touched arts, social life and politics and by the end of the evening he had declared I was very intelligent and that he had completely fallen in love with me! So sweet – I couldn’t stop laughing! I could see the uncle in his younger days – an intelligent, flirtatious, powerful man that loved to socialize and am sure was quite the ladies man!

The beauty of Bangalore peoples is that 1- everyone (young and old) speaks perfect English and 2- everyone (young and old) is quite modern, progressive and uninhibited.

We came home and had a delicious meal of fish curry and I passed out.

The next day, I stayed in bed till noon and then just put-putted around the house. Napping, watching movies, eating and doing the soduku. I was enjoying down-time and no responsibilities.

Saturday, I woke up at a more decent hour. Navin had the day off and Nishu had nothing planned for the day. So we headed out to lunch at a place called Empire. It’s a chill joint serving roasts, kababs and parothas. Oh! The roast was soo dang good! A warm red color, perfectly charred and so juicy. The kerala paratha was fluffy and sopped it up with some lamb curry buried in coconut and curry leaves. After the meal, I needed something sweet so we headed to an ice cram parlor. I had vanilla ice creams with caramel and cashews. It wasn’t very good at all…when in India, stick to Indian food!

After the ice cream we went to pick up Navin’s fiancé and I got to meet with her parents as well. Her mother was gorgeous! A sight to behold. Fair, petite, slim, proper with a big maroon bindi on her forehead. She fed us some homemade flan—my fav dessert—it was so light! Her father was an army brigadier (dark, tall with sharp features), her mother used to teach French and she was a ranked tennis player! Navin was a ranked badminton player—what a perfect match! She was so sweet and bubbly I could have eaten her up!

Later- like 1am that night after unsuccessful attempts at trying to watch a DVD, we headed out to a pub. Bangalore has a strict curfew of 10pm and no bars open past 11 and no dancing clubs allowed. But, Navin’s friend owned a restaurant where he served liquor and food till 4am. After driving through a deserted city (during the day, the city is famous for horrendous traffic) we arrive at an unlit street. We walk through a dark alley, enter through the back into a kitchen and then enter the restaurant. It was like being at Cheers! Everyone in the place knew one another!