The ICH

Ok..I got a day off from work today after slogging continuously for 3 weeks at a stretch, Today was election day in Banglore. So me and my roommate decided to exercise our right to treat ourselves to some fun and good food .We headed to the Indian Coffee House in MGRoad . Spending 200 Rs on auto for masala dosa and coffee from ICH should get you the idea of the ICH fanatics we are . I always take credit for introducing her to the glorious ICH.ICH in MG road is a dingy smoky room in the middle of an array of other shops.we occasionally go there , when we need a change from the usual fancy restaurants . we reached there to see the place locked .Upon some enquiries found out that the place is closed down forever!!! My roomie ( disappointment has already clouded up her face ) wondered aloud " Why the hell did they do that??" . Well , now i found out from certain forums that they got a notice form the high court to close down the place and yeah , the usual hue and cry to save the place . I hope it stands the test of time.

ICH is an institution in itself , a modest place run by modest people serving modest food to modest and not so modest people, for modest prices! The waiters in ICH dressed in ill fitting once whitish uniforms with an elaborate tall hairpiece or sometimes with the Maharaja kind , spotting red belts gives you the first impression of the menu in store. The menu ranges from dosa items to cutlets to bread toast .ICH is a place where decor takes a backseat , its a place where people does not turn nasty if the orders are placed a second late and where nobody cares about the cheap wooden tables , wobbly chairs and stained tablecloths. The waiters do no look down on you if you just order a coffee and hang around for hours , and they would not judge you by the tip you leave.

As Tom Hanks says in You Got Mail “the whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self.” This is exactly what ICH is not . You only get coffee there , no frills nothing fancy.Only Coffee , NO confusion! . Its a place reputed to have cultured intellectuals , where people met up to discuss politics, thoughts and where idealisms brewed . As they say a lot did happen over a cup of coffee but not in ac rooms and on heavily cushioned couches.

Back home. theres two ICHs. One in the town and one close to home . We always frequented the one in town though . Its a dilapidated building , a house converted . A very faded green paint adores the walls . One foto of Indira Gandhi and under that a mammoth wooden table welcomes you . From the time i visited the place , theres two plastic containers on the table in front of the cashier who sits on a tall chair . One container has milk sweets and other has Cadburys. If ICHs has a frequent visitor award like airlines have for frequent flier , theres a fair chance that me and my brother would grab it . On usual days our order includes a masala dosa , a veg cutlet and coffee , which i think by now the waiters there know. On lavish days we would order another mutton omelet or a fruit salad . Fruits in the salad has more of bananas which have turned black by being in the cold storage and the cream is full of ice. The real fun is when all of us go there after a temple visit or just an outing . Mindless chatter and Masaladosa!

Its a place trapped in time where all the cigarettes people smoked all these years have clogged up the ceiling and sometimes that time happens it has to make way for the newbies, and we are left only with void if we happen to travel back in time.

lov u, grandmom :(

A terrible terrible week passed by. An unexpected unwanted visitor at home took my grandmother away from all of us... the pivot that kept everyone together has fallen apart.One of the major influences of my life, the most righteous person I would ever have known has disappeared behind the curtain leaving the stage. I always thot of her as Omnipotent thereby making it difficult for me to comprehend the fact that a terrible thing like death cud touch her . She was never scared of death , but leaving her dear ones behind always petrified her. I have never seen her cribbing about anything or anyone and even in extreme difficluties she always placed her discomfort last. She looked forward to all the festivals and holidays since thats when her grandkids visit, and when we do her face lites up like the sky on a starry nite. Shes gone is known to me as a fact but at the back of my mind I still think if I go to her room she mite still be there , still laughing teasing my brother about his girlfriend...but suddenly in the middle of other things it strikes me that shes gone forever . I wouldnot be able to see her toothless smile anymore , cannot hug or kiss her , cannot listen to her stories from the past and a million other things ...thats when I feel the pain of a thousand needles piercing ..

Life wudnt be the same anymore for any of us...

The simple life

My place back home is a sleepy little town.Theres nothing metro or fab about it.Everything and by everything I mean the restaurants, temples, all gov offices, skools , railway/bus stations,movie theaters even the beach is a max 20 min walk from my home.No malls or shopping complexes mushrooming in the city , no trace of international brands or foodchains, where the local community know eachother by name, and when u make a visit home they sure know how to make you feel special.The people also adds that extra personal touch by unwinding their knowledge base filling you up with stories about u and ur family.It ofcourse is a welcome change from where you come from ..where you are just a face in the crowd.

At home when on a vacation , you are taken seriously too. My timetable is quite royal also. I wake up with coffee served at bed , a stroll in the backyard amongst tall mango trees with my doggie, come back n then breakfast like a king.Watch some TV, lunch , a nap after that or make movie or outing plans with cousins . A perfect example of how simple the life here occurred to me when our doggie ran away with his lease yesterday evening. After an anxious one and half hour later and a two people search party, we found him half a kilometer away .The person who tied him to a tree in his garden expected sum one will turn up for the dog.I even jumped the wall to my neighbors house as part of the dog search :D and today I answered more than a dozen enquiries about my dog while on my evening walk..

You may travel to the end of the world, but theres not many places where you feel at home...and right now i am home :)