Hey You !

 These earthen pots take me back to a time when we used to travel sleeper class.  It was almost summer and I was traveling from New Delhi to my ' sasural' in Bhagalpur.  B got 2 upper berth tickets, made me perch up on one, bought a matka filled with water and strictly told me not to come down. Especially as the train crossed UP and Bihar hinterlands.  Being young meant, more resilience, strong bladder and a lot of uncertainty about places unknown.  I don't remember if  at all I came down or not. But I remember watching passengers pulling the chain as their houses approached and the train halting every 5 minutes throughout Bihar.  And my hanky fell on the head of a sardarji and trying to retrieve it from his turban was as good as playing a game of Super Mario, and Bhaskar watched in exasperation mouthing Reshmi Rumaal is a signal!!! What will he think?  The matka was the saviour, providing cool water to douse my face with and to drink from.  This time I saw them in Benaras

After days of having vegetarian food, our Bangali palate wanted something non vegetarian.  We heard the name as Le Meridian, but discovered that it's Le Meridan!!!  The place seemed upscale and nice till we ordered Chicken Hawaii!  We waited and watched as the chefs struggled with the chicken and the sauce. One of us was wise to order Achari murg and kaali daal, which arrived on time.  Ours was a case of Hawa Hawai!  And we noticed the chefs sporting a 'tiki' under the 'topi'!  Finally Ms Hawai appeared with a pineapple ring. Wasn't bad! But we decided to be less Adventurous and stuck to ice cream for dessert!   I wonder if we looked like these fish as we came out!  Our driver asked: Khana theek tha?  Me uncertainly : Ha.. Theek thak!  Another one: Nehi.. Bohot kharap!  Our driver sermonised: Khana Annapurna hain, kharap mat boliye!  We forgot we were in Kashi!   Godliness in every morsel you take.