Ladies who Lunch

Yesterday I had a (bit of a) grand adventure at last! I went out for lunch.

If that sounds anticlimactic, it's because I've been an uncharacteristic layabout the past few days. My cousin is sick with some illness that requires total bedrest, so instead of eking out knowledge of the far corners of Mumbai I've been spending quality time with her.

Yesterday another one of my cousins and I went out to lunch. She works in a UK-based bank. I've noticed that some of the grandest buildings on the street are bank buildings. The branches are air-conditioned, vast, comfortably and usually, well-equipped. Ducking into this one was a little like a trip to the States. (Later, my cousin told me that most of these banks have a "Cleanliness Auditor" whose sole responsibility is to make sure the place is neat. Otherwise...well, I don't know what would happen otherwise.)

We went out to eat to a restaurant that serves Indian food, even though India has a vast variety of ethnic cuisines available. (By dint of proximity, the Thai and Chinese food here must be better than that in the States. I am curious to find out.) I ordered a thali, which is a big silver tray of various little bowls with a pile of fried bread in the center. The little bowls contain lentils, spicy tomato soup, various yogurt concoctions, etc. The highlight of the afternoon, however, was when another foreign family came in and took the booth behind me. My cousin and I began wildly speculating on their origins and reasons for being in India. I think they were speaking German, and had a totally hopeless time figuring out the menu and communicating with the waiter.

My cousin, who frequents this particular restaurant all the time, was positive the waiter was putting on the ritz solely because I was a foreigner. Somehow, I doubt this. One thing I have noticed is that people in India tend not to be quite to snobby about "foreign-ness" as people in the States sometimes are. (Also even in India this probably depends, unfortunately, on where the foreigner is from.)

After which I took a taxi home. Taxi drivers here can find an exact address, but a much better strategy is to indicate a local landmark and then direct the driver from that landmark to the exact place you want to go. This is tricky for me, since I have a horrible sense of direction and would probably wind up in the Bay of Bengal. Fortunately, my cousin has an excellent sense of direction and she was the one telling the driver where to go.