Monday, April 7, 2008

saturday

I'm going to be bad and start at Saturday here, since the last week was honestly pretty profoundly boring. The only interesting thing we did was visit the Fusion Lounge and watch drunken Thai college students shake their money makers to hip hop, which was admittedly kind of amusing, but only to a degree.

On Friday, we went back to the Oasis since Aneesa loves the place and I do too. Wherein we had delicious fish pollichathu (a whole pomfret fried in spicy sauce and grilled in a banana leaf....awesome Kerela speciality, that), Kerela fish curry, delicious butter and chili prawns, chili squid, some sort of awesome Afghan chicken dish and probably some other crack-like substances. Then we went to the English Pub (the Old Tavern?), which was full of Westerners and Indians slamming pints and listening to rock music. I liked that place very much.

So Saturday. I had decided to go to Mysore on Sunday since I've been looking forward to visiting for a long time. This did mean that it would be my last day with Aneesa and Adam until I....see them again in Mumbai and Delhi, so I guess it isn't that big a deal after all. They'll probably get sick of me and change their phone numbers anyway!

I jest.

I had been a bad seed and declined to go to work on Friday, primarily because I was running on a fairly vicious sleep deficit and was afraid I would pitch face-forward onto the keyboard and ruin some sort of computer apparatus. (It's all TERRIBLY EXPENSIVE AND MODERN HERE after all.)

So I decided to come into work on Saturday to finish off the Downloads page and do some events and then go to Konark for delicious, delicious vegetarian food. Which is exactly what I did. Work was deeply uneventful, although we did engage in some harmless joking around about throwing dysfunctional computers out of office windows and nailing people on the street below. I think that's illegal.

I went down to Konark and had an excellent lunch of mutter gobi ( a dry stir-fry like curry of cauliflower and peas....delicious) and fruit salad, then crossed the street to buy a Diet Pepsi and watch the world go by. It's nice to sit down and regard Indians instead of having them regard me, though this never lasts as long as I might like it to. That's why I love to spend so much time up on the roof of the Katary Villa. I can see the teenage boys down below who hang out by Coffee Day and confer evilly but they can't see me. I am rarely anonymous and it makes a nice change. (I never got the hang of blending into the background. Not that the attention is positive. Usually of the GOOD GOD WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU flavor.)

I hung out a while longer then came on back home. Carli and Aneesa had decided to wear their saris out to the Ice Bar that night, so I watched them wrestle with them for a while. Draping saris is a complex procedure and I salute them for managing it. I think Indian clothes are incredibly beautiful but I've balked on purchasing a sari, mainly because I have issues getting into normal clothes with zippers and buttons, and I believe a sari would just break me.

In any case Carli and Aneesa looked gorgeous, and we all took many pictures. I could in no way compete but I did put on a neat black 50's style evening dress I ganked from my mom. (Thanks for your good fashion sense, mom! )

Unfortunately Adam and I had yet another convoluted rickshaw experience. The guy wasn't entirely sure where he was going then decided he needed gas although we were already late. So we got out and tried to walk, except it began to rain. Then a bunch of rickshaw drivers attempted to charge us 100 rupees for a five minute rickshaw ride. (I have been eagerly awaiting the day when Adam flips out and attacks one of those malignant assholes but unfortunately he is less violent then me.) (I just haven't done it because Indian jail scares me. A lot.)

But we finally got there. The Ice Bar was in the Taj Hotel and very glam indeed. They didn't want to let us in but we called in our favor with Bob (one of our Indian contacts) and got in. The place was absolutely packed, with an interesting mix of Westernized Indians, young ex-pat Europeans, and leering elderly businessmen of the Indian and English varieties. The bar area was fairly small but opened out on the pool, which was lit up attractively at night. There were also drinks and yakitori snacks being dispensed by the pool, but when I asked to see a menu, the bartender gave me a profoundly disgusted look and shooed me away, and I can take a hint. I hung out at the table for a while but decided to go dance (damn the torpedos).

The music wasn't half-bad, and I enjoyed dancing, although it was absolutely packed and I kept on getting maneuvered into the sweaty and thrilled chests of various tie-wearing businessmen. (This did translate into free drinks.)

One particularly smooth guy noted, "I feel like I'm in heaven here!" I asked why, and he said, "Ah, yes, when I see the blonde dancing here, I feel like I am in heaven!" Then he gave me his business card. I think that's almost as good as the "Are those space pants? Cause' your ass is outta this world" pickup line, though admittedly no one has ever used that one on me.

I wandered over and talked to Bob and his friend for a while, who also were kind enough to share their alcohol. We discussed the relative merits of various women and men around us (Classy, I know), then I went back to dance some more. The night was getting on and, not surprisingly, a few people managed to jump into the pool and flail around a bit. I was tempted but didn't want to ruin my dress, although I made a heroic effort at finding someone who would let ME shove them into the pool. (One guy had his entire group of friends begging me to throw him in, and I did manage to drag the sucker a few feet, but was in the end unsuccessful.)


We hung out in the overpriced coffee shop for a bit and watched drunk people filter out, which I've always found curiously amusing. Except most of them were getting into luxury cars and driving back in air conditioned splendor, whereas we were going to have to get yet another rickshaw (and the wind will blow into the cab, which is almost cold at night, and everything will be ruined.)

So we did. I said goodbye to Aneesa and Adam (who I will miss although SSH DON'T TELL THEM), then went to sleep. Which I would not get much of since I had to wake up at 5:00 to go to Mysore anyway.

No comments: