Holiday Blues & Getting Drunk on Sambar

The Perks

One of the perks of working for the government, one that I really like, is that there seem to be more holidays than we deserve. Last week there was one of those spells of continuous holidays lasting three days due to the weekend holidays- Second Saturday, Sunday and the Independence Day on Monday.

I would have enjoyed these three days of holidays more if I had company at home. The family wasn’t at home so I was all alone with nothing much to do. I cannot sit before the television for more than an hour. Of course, I had a lot of books to read and I managed to finish Robert B. Parker’s ‘Playmates’ in a couple of hours. Rest of the time I was on the road. Another perk (not quite a perk, actually) is getting past security checks. Normally I am not stopped on the roads by cops. But sometimes, if for some reason I get stopped, I’m let go after they take a look at me. How the cops know behind the full face helmet through which only my eyes are visible is a distinguished face is a mystery, but I’m waved through. Of course, there are times when the cops want to see the bike’s papers- RC, Licence, Insurance papers and so on. I show them nothing. I tell what I am (a government servant in case you did not know) and leave. Sometimes I have to take out my ID but that’s very rare.

On account of the security precautions for the Independence Day, there were cops checking all motorists on the roads. There are some cops who are cocky when performing such duties which makes them think they can talk flippantly with anyone. The cop who stopped me on Sunday was one such. He said,’ Licence, RC dikhao sarkaar.’ So he got to see I was actually the ‘sarkaar’ when I took out my Secretariat ID card. When I showed it to him he acted like I had shot him in the chest. In his confusion he almost gave me a salute when I drove away, jauntily.

Drunk on Sambar

During those three days when the family wasn’t at home there was plenty of food for the mind but nothing for the body which meant I had to eat out. I got a chance to check out two places I had been planning to visit since long.

On Saturday morning I had breakfast with a cop friend I had not met for a long time. We met at Chutneys at Begumpet. First we had idlis which were large, soft but rather thin which isn’t what idlis are supposed to be. But I couldn’t complain much because it was followed by a ’70 mm Dosa’ which was large enough to cover the table. Though the idlis and the 70 mm dosa weren’t anything to write about I cannot say the same about the sambar. It was simply out of the world, quite unlike anything I had tasted before. It was spicy and so good I actually drank some of it straight from the bowl. If felt really good. So I had another bowl. Next time I go to Chutneys I’ll go only for the sambar.

On Monday, my kid had to attend the Independence Day function at his school so I brought him home on Sunday night. Early on Monday after the function we went to a place called Nandini at Nallakunta for breakfast. We had dosas, special ones, which were quite okay. They came with a triangular cut on one side that was folded over the other half. The stuffing was on the flap that was cut and was spread out. Frankly, I haven’t seen it done anywhere and I wondered at the creativity. While the food wasn’t anything worth writing about, the service was too good. I asked for very hot coffee and it came piping hot. The waiter actually had a smile on his face while taking the order and also while serving us. One doesn’t see smiling waiters in small hotels anywhere in Hyderabad. Of course, the people at the big ones like Grand Kakatiya and Novotel are always smiling at you, sometimes for no reason.

Since I liked the Nandini waiter’s attitude treating us like we were special I left a huge tip. It is something I do when I come across people who appear to enjoy their work even if it is waiting on tables.