I nipped into New Delhi this morning for a bit of shopping and a visit to a legendary South Indian restaurant, Saravana Bhavan (see menu at the link). To get into the place (there’s almost always a line), I ate at noon—early by Indian standards. South Indian restaurants are reliable, as they’re almost always clean, offer good vegetarian food, strong glasses of postprandial coffee, and it’s hard to mess up a dosa or an uttapam. However, I opted for their famous thali, which cost all of 200 rupees, about three bucks. For that I got this:
There’s a bowl of rice, the breads (three hot pooris and a papad) and 9 katoris, not including mango pickle and green coconut chutney (in the middle). Starting at noon: dal, sambar (spicy soup), a what seemed to be a thick sambar with hunks of vegetable, firm curd, watery curd with crunch additions, the sweet (vermicelli and cashews in sweetened and flavored milk syrup), unidentified vegetable, another identified vegetable dish (yum!), and third unidentified vegetable dish. It’s all served on the thali (the big tray) which has a real banana leaf cut round to fit it.
Not shown is a fantastic sweet lime soda, a safe drink everywhere in India since it’s made with bottled soda that’s opened before you. It’s then mixed with a sugar syrup and flavored with a hefty amount of juice squeezed from fresh limes. Some Indians prefer theirs with salt instead of sugar.
I bought presents for friends, but I won’t mention those in case anyone’s reading, but here’s something I bought for myself: a lovely Ganesha, the elephant-headed God of good luck and son of Shiva and Parvati. I have a collection of Ganeshas at home to which I’ll add this one. Ganesha’s “vehicle,” the animal on which he traditionally rides, is a rat or mouse, but this heavy bronze piece is humorous, for the roles of god and vehicle are reversed:
A few more snaps from my short perambulation downtown. One penalizes the bane of Indian sanitation (there are 65 rupees to the dollar, so the fine is about $1.50):
And the typical yellow Indian pi dog, but with a twist: this one, which appears to be in good condition (I won’t describe the feral dogs, which are sad), is wearing a sweater! It clearly has an owner, but, perhaps embarrassed at the garb, it barked when I took the photo:
Finally, from Sunday’s Hindustan Times, the “matrimonials”: personal ads placed by both women (“grooms wanted”) and men (“brides wanted”) seeking marriage. It’s fascinating to read what people are looking for. Both sexes, for instance, often specify “fair” (light skin), and men often seek women who are “homely” (in Indian-English argot that means “submissive and domestic”, not “ugly”). Note that this first page of the ad divides up who is being sought by their caste, still a very important marker of social status in India. (Click to enlarge if you want to peruse them).
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So much superstition there.
Saravana Bhavan just opened in Houston. Same plate served here. Great food!
If it’s in your town (and it is in several places in the US and UK) by all means GO!
I’ve been twice now. The curries and yogurt dishes vary every time. Good stuff.
winged pigs and flying sheep have been observed; Hell has frozen over; the gods are gathering for Ragnarök; cows are returning home evangelical Christians are vanishing; an asteroid is headed for Earth; the seventh seal has been opened and my calendar has a month of Sundays.
What happened?
Professor Ceiling Cat wrote “dog” instead of “d*g”.
I, for one, welcome our new Canine overlords
Could the ‘dog’ be a symptom of a contagious ‘Cyrussian’ flu? 😛
From the shape of this dog it appears to be true that pi are square.
(I’m guessing Ant must be asleep.)
Of course – only cake are round.
That was a mistake. It will be back to d*g immediately.
w**f!
Proof of free will.
Those matrimonial ads were fascinating. They all say “alliance” and their mostly concerned with family status and education. Missed out all the important stuff like an interest in Battlestar Galactica or Firefly. There was even one ad bordered with swastikas, probably the meaning of auspiciousness, which is appropriate for an ad like these. I’m not sure what requests for “biodata” mean. Maybe I should start sending cheek swabs to people I find a romantic interest in.
OMG the BSG & Firefly reference made me LOL!
I never got into those. I would be seeking a fan of Star Trek (any series), and Star Wars (episodes IV, V and VI only).
Even *gasp* ST:Enterprise?
Oh well then you must watch the Firefly series. I got into it after it was cancelled and I’m glad I did. Just beware – it’s Josh Whedon so he’ll kill everyone you love.
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Jerry — My favorite shopping site in large Indian cities (including New Delhi) is Central Cottage Industries Emporium (Web site: http://www.cottageemporium.in/ )
I particularly recommend it because it is a government-run store; as a result the prices are fixed, but more importantly you are guaranteed that the items are genuine. It is a wonderful place featuring many different crafts; my favorites are the inlaid-marble items in the style of the inlay work on the Taj Mahal, paintings on silk and carved cedar objects.
Actually, I bought my Ganesh at CCI, but I much prefer shopping at the state emporia on Baba Karak Singh Marg off Connaught Place as they have a lot more stuff in toto AND they’re willing to bargain, even though they’re supposed to be fixed-priced items (and no tourist ever bargains).
I got two of those lovely inlaid marble boxes in the Uttar Pradesh Emporium for 40% off, all because I noted that the prices seem rather high. I actually enjoy bargaining.
Thanks for sharing the terrific posts on your travels, PCC!
Not surprised there is a “Christian” section, but I am somewhat surprised it takes up about 3.5 columns out of the total 10.
Apart from the Hindustan Times, there are other papers available that Christians are much less likely to advertise in, and it all balances out.
I agree the dog barked because he is wearing an embarrassing sweater & didn’t want his/her picture taken as the expression isn’t aggressive and just looks like he/she is telling you off. My dog looks like that when she has had enough of me teasing her by doing things like telling her I’m going to “get on” meaning I’m going to ride her. She gets angry & barks with that same expression on her face.
I have an Indian friend who tells me stories about men in her family going back to India to get brides hoping they will be “traditional” and will cook and clean but being disappointed when they select a high caste woman only to find out she is used to servants cooking and cleaning so has no desire to do so. This makes me smile. I can only imagine how unappealing a woman like me would be – adored for the pale skin but everything else would be so annoying. 🙂
I must respectfully disagree. Judging by the dog’s body language, primarily the angle of the tail-wag, the pup is clearly saying, “You smell like katoris! Can I have some?”
For your amusement:
Indian mothers-in-law: Curse of the mummyji
Link: http://econ.st/1c2RLtD
I’ve heard so many of these complaints from my Indian friends. I’ll have to pass it on!
I speak from experience – never live with someone who was brought up with servants; and if you absolutely can’t avoid it never have his/her mother come live with you.
Accurate Predictions, Perfect Remedies, Know Your Future, Plan Your Life.
Sounds like my kind of woman.
I was curious about the description of brides to be as “manglik” or “non-manglik”. Turns out to be some astrological nonsense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mangal_Dosha
For the people who believe that, there’s actually a remedy. They’ll marry the girl to a tree and chop it down, thus fulfilling the prophecy 😛 Then she can marry her “second” husband free from fear.
I love how this is on the Wikipedia page:
“This is a belief with absolutely no scientific data to back the claim and is believed to be unfavourable for marriages”
hmm…just found out I’m manglik with the use of an online Mangal Dosha calculator—thanks!
And—oh, no!—my wife is “non manglik”. Damn it, I knew I should have married and divorced a marijuana plant first! But, do they recognize plant/human marriages in California?
Phew, neither my husband nor I are Manglik, so all is well.
The calculator told me that I am slightly manglik, and when I used the link to calculate marriage potential, I found out that even though my late wife was non-manglik, we still had prospects for a good marriage. It was.
How soon before Craigslist does to the Hindustan Times matrimonial ads what it has done to classified ads here – obsolesence.
I love travelling vicariously with PCC!