Today, the family went for the Vishu sadya at Kerala House in Vashi. The idea was to give the better half a break and to taste the variety of Kerala's cuisines. On turning up we find a milling crowd clad in their best Kerala "settu" sarees and bhasmam on their foreheads. We were number sixty-nine on the waiting list and the man in-charge warned me that it would take half-an-hour.
It turned out to be a long wait, one, no, two hours. We started wondering, among squealing of children, feeding of hand-held one-year-olds, noisy college youths, and fully-immersed-texting geeks with their fancy mobile devices if it was worth it. "Let's go somewhere else," wifey said getting restless. I said, "hold on," patience is a virtue of the brave, and, so on. Wifey agreed and I kept up a meaningless chatter to keep her interested about how Kerala House was the abode of the Malayali ministers and superstars alike. There was a large Vishu Keni at the entrance which I and all the assemblage photographed. There was a shop selling curios like huge brass lamps, Kathakali dancers sculpted in wood, brass in-laid furniture which I soon got tired of. Then there was this huge adornment of an elephant, displayed in the seating area, which also I photographed.
Time wouldn't pass. Just as we were feeling very hungry and looking mournfully at the satiated people exiting the restaurant our number - sixty-nine - was called.
It was worth the wait. There were: Avial, kootan, inchi curry, sharkara puratti, sambhar, rasam, pappadam, rice (of course), mango pickle, lemon pickle, and couple of other dishes I couldn't identify. It was topped by, what else, aripayasam. Natch.
I felt a bit bloated by the entire repast and had to rest a while at the waiting area before we started back. People were still milling around looking jealously at us.
A good Vishu sadya was had by the family.
John is @johnwriter on Twitter and John.Matthew on Facebook. He blogs here. His Youtube Channel Page. His novel Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard.
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