Had a quiet Saturday dinner with my teetotaler room mate, who decided to go and check out the Carter Road crowd and then decided for a sumptuous dinner at Out of the Blue. He had a visitor from his hometown, Jodhpur. Out of the Blue is located in the quiet and tidy bylanes of Bandra. A huge place lit up with candles and there’s minimal use of lights. It provides a nice cosying atmosphere with dim lights. Out of the Blue has chic ambience with low tables which making eating a little pleasurable experience. The only problem in Mumbai restaurants is tables are stuck together so close to each other that there’s hardly any place to move around. It has both the options of air-conditioned and a big place for open air restaurant. Nevertheless the open space was covered with the tarpaulin sheets due to rainy season.
The good thing about swish restaurants is that they can serve anything and make good money. I had Jodhpuris along with me so only could only order vegetarian food. I personally feel it does not make sense to go for a vegetarian dinner outside your home. Yes, vegetarians can raise there point and prove it, but will discuss it some other day. Out of the Blue had a thick menu with dishes from different continents, but still it lacked the depth.
The vegetarian soup was just a bush of some vegetable dropped in hot water. At least they could have added some cornflour in the water to make it seem or appear like a soup. Maybe I don’t have taste for all these global and continental dishes because of my Punjabi upbringing where we eat earthly food and spicy and thick gravy dishes which ribtickles your senses from inside.
He said why not we try Fondue? Fondue, what the fuck is that? Try it, you will like it, my friend suggested. We ordered Desi Fondue, wherein Fondue is made as per the Indian’s tastebuds. They had given us a nice two spiked fork to eat Fondue. O man, this seems to be something different. My friend blinked his eyes, “it is dude”.
Then the dish came.
.
.
.
.
It was thick gravy served in porcelain serve bowl with charcoal fire beneath it and a basket of bread crumbs with a small plate of vegetable. Stick the break to the unique fork and then dip the same in the gravy. There I was cursing my friend over dinner. You fucker, you always come up with bull shit. He tries to calm me. I know it is very own Pav Bhaji served in continental style. I told him, “I always insist on food for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you made me eat this bull shit”. He was fast this time, “you cannot have proper food at all such places and just fillers. Why the hell do people come to such places for dinner time?” There are number of boring reasons to justify the same. We had one, he had one of his fiance’s friends visiting him for the first time, so he wanted to take him to a different kind of place, one he has not seen. I suggested, “Dance bar is better”.
Out we came in an hour’s time, normally people come to lounge for two-three hours to such place and eating is the last thing on their to-do list. We crossed the whole street on foot to enjoy the evening hullaboo of Carter Road at the main crossing. Then we spotted in a shady building Hakin Aalim’s Hair & Tattoo Lounge. Of course, now he has a chain of his hair and tattoo lounges across major cities with client list who’s-who of India from Bollywood celebrities to political stars to cricketers.
The good thing about swish restaurants is that they can serve anything and make good money. I had Jodhpuris along with me so only could only order vegetarian food. I personally feel it does not make sense to go for a vegetarian dinner outside your home. Yes, vegetarians can raise there point and prove it, but will discuss it some other day. Out of the Blue had a thick menu with dishes from different continents, but still it lacked the depth.
The vegetarian soup was just a bush of some vegetable dropped in hot water. At least they could have added some cornflour in the water to make it seem or appear like a soup. Maybe I don’t have taste for all these global and continental dishes because of my Punjabi upbringing where we eat earthly food and spicy and thick gravy dishes which ribtickles your senses from inside.
He said why not we try Fondue? Fondue, what the fuck is that? Try it, you will like it, my friend suggested. We ordered Desi Fondue, wherein Fondue is made as per the Indian’s tastebuds. They had given us a nice two spiked fork to eat Fondue. O man, this seems to be something different. My friend blinked his eyes, “it is dude”.
Then the dish came.
.
.
.
.
It was thick gravy served in porcelain serve bowl with charcoal fire beneath it and a basket of bread crumbs with a small plate of vegetable. Stick the break to the unique fork and then dip the same in the gravy. There I was cursing my friend over dinner. You fucker, you always come up with bull shit. He tries to calm me. I know it is very own Pav Bhaji served in continental style. I told him, “I always insist on food for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you made me eat this bull shit”. He was fast this time, “you cannot have proper food at all such places and just fillers. Why the hell do people come to such places for dinner time?” There are number of boring reasons to justify the same. We had one, he had one of his fiance’s friends visiting him for the first time, so he wanted to take him to a different kind of place, one he has not seen. I suggested, “Dance bar is better”.
Out we came in an hour’s time, normally people come to lounge for two-three hours to such place and eating is the last thing on their to-do list. We crossed the whole street on foot to enjoy the evening hullaboo of Carter Road at the main crossing. Then we spotted in a shady building Hakin Aalim’s Hair & Tattoo Lounge. Of course, now he has a chain of his hair and tattoo lounges across major cities with client list who’s-who of India from Bollywood celebrities to political stars to cricketers.
We told my friends’ in-laws friend about Hakim Aalim. He said, “what’s the big deal, rahenga to voh barber hee na”. You all thought the barber’s trade became fancy after Billu Barber, phew. The typical middle class mentality of a small town guy. I don’t blame him, some years ago I also felt the same.
I said, “No man, its not about barber. Its not about the fact that you are show cobbler, tailor or whatsoever. Look at the way he is minting money by just being a barber, as you like to term it.” Then he replied, “is it all about money”.
I calmly replied, “its not about money either. It is about the respect you command for the activity you are undertaking. You may do whatsoever. He is charging Rs. 5000 for a haircut and you get your hair cut for Rs. 50 only. It is this authority by which you can charge 100 times money from your client without their blinking the eye. Its difficult to achieve what he has achieved in his field.”
He again replied to my horror, “yaar, whats the big deal? Kainchi le kar, cut cut hee karta hai, there are lots of fool in this world to pay him 5 grands”.
I was exasperated and threw my head in dismay. He was pushing me to the corner, so I told him, what is the great thing that you do, just making tick marks in the book to tell that this entry has been doubled checked, knowing that he was a Chartered Accountant. Few years down the line, “you’ll be suggesting your clients on how to convert black money into white money or keep black money under covers”. I know that is also creative but then that is also wrong.
He has some sense of knowledge about what his doing? There must be something going in his head when he takes those pair of scissors in his hands. You need to understand that. He makes you look confident, handsome and sexy with the black mask you are carrying on your head. Every job is creative, every profession requires certain level of art and science that we need to understand and feel from deep within.
My friend told me to stop arguing. I told him, “its not an argument man, its just a point of view. Believe me, I rarely say it, ‘Mine is more acceptable’. Not because it caters to the masses but because it is right in its spirit.”
I said, “No man, its not about barber. Its not about the fact that you are show cobbler, tailor or whatsoever. Look at the way he is minting money by just being a barber, as you like to term it.” Then he replied, “is it all about money”.
I calmly replied, “its not about money either. It is about the respect you command for the activity you are undertaking. You may do whatsoever. He is charging Rs. 5000 for a haircut and you get your hair cut for Rs. 50 only. It is this authority by which you can charge 100 times money from your client without their blinking the eye. Its difficult to achieve what he has achieved in his field.”
He again replied to my horror, “yaar, whats the big deal? Kainchi le kar, cut cut hee karta hai, there are lots of fool in this world to pay him 5 grands”.
I was exasperated and threw my head in dismay. He was pushing me to the corner, so I told him, what is the great thing that you do, just making tick marks in the book to tell that this entry has been doubled checked, knowing that he was a Chartered Accountant. Few years down the line, “you’ll be suggesting your clients on how to convert black money into white money or keep black money under covers”. I know that is also creative but then that is also wrong.
He has some sense of knowledge about what his doing? There must be something going in his head when he takes those pair of scissors in his hands. You need to understand that. He makes you look confident, handsome and sexy with the black mask you are carrying on your head. Every job is creative, every profession requires certain level of art and science that we need to understand and feel from deep within.
My friend told me to stop arguing. I told him, “its not an argument man, its just a point of view. Believe me, I rarely say it, ‘Mine is more acceptable’. Not because it caters to the masses but because it is right in its spirit.”
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