At the end of a grueling day of work, everything hurts, the back, the shoulders, the eyes, the fingers, the brain. And all you can think of is falling flat into bed, shoes still on, bra unhooked, sweet sleep taking that dreadful pain in your back away…
And then your friend proclaims that she’s hungry. You are so tired that for once the thought of food does not excite you, but you know you will take her out to eat anyway. You cannot let a hungry friend remain hungry when there’s something you can do about it. Rule number one of friendship.
There isn’t much thats open at this time of the night. We want something cheap, fast and on the long way home. We settle on Sion Lunch home (in Sion, Mumbai, open till well after midnight, so nothing ‘lunchy’ about it), a place most overdue on our ‘to-do’ list.
It is on the side of the road, open on all sides, basic wooden tables and benches rooted to the floor. There are only men, on every table, only men. Not one of them looks up at us. This gets me excited, the food must be that good!
It is. We don’t have to wait long for our order - Fried Surmai Thaali, comprising of, (you guessed it!) a heartwarmingly large portion of Surmai fried to perfection, an unidentifiable but interesting bhaaji, fish curry, poppadam, pickled onions, sticky rice and yummy to my tummy raw mango soaked in chilli and vinegar. And all for 85 bucks!! Feeling adventurous we also ordered the deep fried sardines, though I now feel that this particular fish tastes best out of a can.
Having stuffed myself beyond belief and dreaming of the two drags I was going to steal from my friends post dinner smoke, I make one last stop at the tiny basin in the corner of the room. Then I step into the muggy Mumbai night, smiling. “What happened?”, my friend asked. “The soap smells like Ruhafza.” And there you have it; the soap, smells like Ruhafza.
My darling friend, who could possibly understand the magic in this pink, sickly sweet smelling soap, but you...
And then your friend proclaims that she’s hungry. You are so tired that for once the thought of food does not excite you, but you know you will take her out to eat anyway. You cannot let a hungry friend remain hungry when there’s something you can do about it. Rule number one of friendship.
There isn’t much thats open at this time of the night. We want something cheap, fast and on the long way home. We settle on Sion Lunch home (in Sion, Mumbai, open till well after midnight, so nothing ‘lunchy’ about it), a place most overdue on our ‘to-do’ list.
It is on the side of the road, open on all sides, basic wooden tables and benches rooted to the floor. There are only men, on every table, only men. Not one of them looks up at us. This gets me excited, the food must be that good!
It is. We don’t have to wait long for our order - Fried Surmai Thaali, comprising of, (you guessed it!) a heartwarmingly large portion of Surmai fried to perfection, an unidentifiable but interesting bhaaji, fish curry, poppadam, pickled onions, sticky rice and yummy to my tummy raw mango soaked in chilli and vinegar. And all for 85 bucks!! Feeling adventurous we also ordered the deep fried sardines, though I now feel that this particular fish tastes best out of a can.
Having stuffed myself beyond belief and dreaming of the two drags I was going to steal from my friends post dinner smoke, I make one last stop at the tiny basin in the corner of the room. Then I step into the muggy Mumbai night, smiling. “What happened?”, my friend asked. “The soap smells like Ruhafza.” And there you have it; the soap, smells like Ruhafza.
My darling friend, who could possibly understand the magic in this pink, sickly sweet smelling soap, but you...
If you can write about the magic in pink, sickly sweet smelling soap and compare it to Ruhafza, you are a writer cowasji! Seeeee!!!
ReplyDelete