Penelope Potty Snooper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every once in a while comes an unusual book that manages to grab your interest from start to finish. Considering the slew of books written by Indian authors, Bapsy Jain's book  " The Blind Pilgrim " runs the risk of being dismissed as yet another book by yet another Indian author. Especially looking at the strange cover.  But , as the old adage goes, be not quick to judge a book by its cover :  go beyond the first page and you will not be disappointed.

 

Lucky Boyce, a successful ,young chartered accountant working  in New York,  is decidedly flattered by the interest shown in her by Viki Singh, a spoilt rich brat and scion of an Industrial house. Ignoring the gentle and subtle advances of the familiar Amay Merchant, a friend from her childhood  she follows Viki to India to settle down to the life of a Mumbai socialite. However, much to her surprise, once the novelty of being married wears off, Lucky feels an emptiness in her life. Going against his wishes,  she decides to resurrect a defunct company in her husband's industrial empire. Predictably, she makes a success of her business while her marriage nose dives into divorce.  Lucky  then finds herself back in New York trying to get back on her feet.  While  staying at the home of an old family friend, makes a visit to the State penitentiary and somehow finds herself volunteering to teach Yoga to the inmates.

 

Shuttling between the past and the present, Bapsy Jain introduces us to diverse characters  like Steve, the gruff prisoner, Mike her new business manager, Shanti the voice of reason and comfort who straddles both her past and present . With a skilfull twist at each turn, "The Blind Pilgrim "manages to avoid the trap of the tried and tested formula of a romantic thriller . But what really lifts this book to a new level is the beautiful and powerful message on how to cope with life. Going  beyond the romance and mystery, one can find the essence of  the novel -   Shanti's teachings which Lucky draws on  in her present situation. 

 

While the Blind Pilgrim explains how "You do not choose this kind of  life  : this kind of life chooses you" it does this in a way far different from the typical books spouting Oriental philosophy. Written in an easy contemporary style and set in a contemporary situation, this book will appeal to one and all.  I would advise you to go for it !

 

 

 

 

The scene outside the Bandra Registrar's office is pretty much like this. Observe the man on the mobile. He is in all likelihood a broker who is trying to get his party together or some other person in this Registration process who is attending to his mobile call. Even though it is not very crowded there are a few benches like thisNow this bench remains unused because it is in the sun. I realised this when I was sitting on one of the benches at the side which were away from the sun.

 

Kirti bhai my broker arrived a few minutes after I did. We sat on a bench and waited for our tenant to arrive. While the place began filling up slowly, I conducted my business with Kirti bhai ( signing documents and settling bills) the place began getting crowded. From time to time  I observed a happy reunion with between the broker and his party. Suddenly I noticed a young man standing to Kirti bhai's side. Kirti bhai just ignored him and continued telling me stories about his children. Behind the man was an old man and older lady. I knew then that more was coming. Our bench was marked. The broker had decided not to go for the empty bench in the sun, but to sit on our's which was strategically placed outside the registrar's office. Kirti bhai continued ignoring him while the party insiduously began coming closer and closer to us.

 

Finally, I couldn't bear it any longer. I just got up and the broker told the old couple to sit without so much as thanking me for my courtesy and kindness!

 

Two hours later when the work was done and I was waiting for my scanned copy, I noticed another occupied bench and tried the bench mark trick.

 

I went closer and closer trying to force the people on the bench to get up.

 

They didn't.

 

I failed to make the bench mark.

Moshe's at the best of times is passable but last evening it was down right bad.

Ambience : Minimalism is a poor excuse to spend nothing on decor or interiors or perhaps in this case exteriors. Small tables, tacky chairs, poor lighting and an untidy, dishevelled, appearance.
With free mosquitos bombarding the place, you can be sure to take back some with you in the car to continue your biting experience ( we did!)

Experience : Well after 8 p.m., the three of us ladies went into Moshe's. We clambered up the steps and found it better to dine al fresco. Turning around, a friend almost tripped and fell thanks to the mood lighting which translates as poor visibility.

The waiters took an age to come and didn't advise us correctly on the menu. We ordered a wine for starters ( perhaps the best thing we did since it wasn't made by Moshe's) and a cheese fondu. Hours after the wine, came the fondu with one glass of chopped bread . We dipped the bread into a very salty fondu. Halfway through, another glass of bread was put in front of us. We wondered why because by this time the fondu sauce was already over! We asked for plain hummus and lavash and were told that this was not exactly their combination but they allowed us this freedom if we bought a whole packet of lavash. I have noticed from my previous experience at Moshe's when it was at the Bombay Gym, they are particularly obdurate and have the most ridiculous comibinations which they are reluctant to modify until you agree to pay more.

We went on to the main courses which were suggested by the waiter - a Penne with some red sauce and Spanish Vegetables which was some undercooked yet un crunchy vegetables served in almond sauce and served with rice.

While the Penne was distinctly undistinguished, the Spanish Vegetables is totally avoidable.

Food : Overpriced and tasteless. On the grounds of having fusion food or whatever - he passes of rubbish as good food and gets away with it!

Service : Slow and bordering on indifferent. A table next to our's asked for mosquito coils and it took a lot of convincing for the waiter to oblige.

Verdict : Moshe's should be avoided especially in the night when you cannot see what you are eating and even more dangerous - you cannot see what you have been billed for.

P.s. We went to Moshe's at Cuffe Parade only because we didn't want to spend hours in the traffic and wanted to actually meet rather than eat.But at Rs.700 per head it was an expensive meeting

After a long tiring day out at Navi Mumbai we were looking forward to a great spread at home. Alas! No such luck. So we decided to walk down to Wafflles and found that despite the wrong spelling it didn't have what it takes to stay on the radar and had actually vanished from the face of the earth. So we decided to walk up to Pizza Hut since we knew that their pizzas at least always live up to expectation.

So we went in.

The narrow tables had a distinctly " don't sit" look about them. The only two couples sitting there had very disgruntled women opposite equally sullen men. That should have alerted us that something was not quite right but we sat down next to less crabby couple near the window.

After two minutes or may be more, we realised that Waiter No. 1 was transfixed to his monitor screen ( I was dying to check out his wall paper!) while the other waiters were trying their best not to be seen. So we clapped and shouted and finally Crooked Grin came up to us with two menus. One was regular and laminated while the other was round with a hole. Both announced " Ring o' garlic". When we asked Crooked Grin what the difference was, he just grinned and said " One is Ring O' Garlic and the other is Ring O' Garlic". Wow! That was a revelation!

He quickly dumped the menus and rushed off before we could ask him any more.

Two minutes later, after drawing attention to ourselves once again, Glued to the Monitor somehow got disconnected from his screen and came up to us. Realising that the easiest would be to ask for a regular cheese tomato with a non-spicy chicken extra topping, we went ahead with this simple request. We also asked for a Coke/Pepsi to be shared between the two of us.

Glued to the Monitor rushed back relieved.

As we waited, Grouchy couple no. 1 left in a huff and Grouchy Couple no 2. began grumbling at the adjoining table. Crooked Grin was called and the wrong order was pointed out to him. By this time of course only crumbs of the wrong order were left so Glued to the Monitor came along to see what the matter was. He left with an explanation but the couple continued to grumble and crib. It developed into a huge fight with the man challenging the lady to leave. She did!

By this time Crooked Grin got us two glasses of water and one Pepsi. We asked him to split it into two but he looked glassy eyed and left. So we waited for the Pizza to arrive.

By this time we realised that the air conditioning had been turned off and World Space was blaring the most awful music into our ears. The man on the next table moved himself and his fight to the cash counter where Mr. Glued to the Monitor was forced to interact with the customer. He left completely disatisfied.

Our Pizza came and we asked for another glass. Mr. Glued to the Monitor glared and reminded us that we had asked for one Pepsi. So we backed off and asked for the second. He scurried back quickly to his screen.

Ten minutes later, when most of the Pizza was eaten, we realised that Pepsi no.2 was not coming. So I personally walked to the counter and Mr. Monitor glared at me and said it was coming darting furtively at the soda fountain. I saw a half filled glass and realised that somewhere along the way they had forgotten about it. Two minutes later, another sleepy waiter emerged and got the glass to the table. Incidentally he refused to let me take it myself to the table.

Just as we were about to finish, we noticed another couple sitting at another table. Suddenly the space behind the counter also seemed more populated with waiters. Where did they pop out from? Anyways, the new diners had better luck because their order came faster than our bill. But............... the waiter serving them managed to knock off the glass of water and spill a generous amount on the lady's saree. Perhaps they were the franchisees of the joint or just plain good natured, because they cooly got up and sat on the next table!

By this time I noticed that all the waiters had a distinctly glazed look and when the bill came ( which was the speediest delivery in this joint), I told Mr. Glued to the Monitor that this was the worst service I had ever had. I even went on to tell him that they were so used to "Takeaways" that they just didn't know how to deal with a seated customer.

I needn't have bothered. He just stared back, picked up the folder and went back to his screen.

I realised that Takeaways are truly take aways. Never make the mistake of going to the place. The menus are different, the service is different and the whole experience is very disappointing.

So Pizza Hut Take away!!!!