Faisal is still concerned about my eating habits. While I\u2019ve managed to switch my sleeping schedule to reflect the work shifts in India time, I am still eating to North American hours. That means I\u2019m usually eating a decent meal very late in the evening. After I described my normal eating habits, he\u2019s even more confused. My normal breakfast of yogurt and V8 obtained the descriptive appellation of \u2018pauper\u2019, while my standard lunch of a sandwhich didn\u2019t fare much better. I don\u2019t think he was satisfied with any of my normal meals until I described dinner \u2013 which is usually a much larger meal (or \u2018rich man\u2019s meal\u2019 in Faisals\u2019 description to others). If you haven\u2019t guessed, Faisal is obsessed with food and eats as often and as much as Drew. They\u2019re two birds of a feather, Faisal and Drew \u2013 eating constantly, always wanting to know when the next meal is coming, and as skinny as rakes. <\/p>\n
I did have breakfast at the center today \u2013 even though it didn\u2019t match my normal eating schedule. Now I am full and can\u2019t imaging shoving any more food down my throat. Faisal is sure to ask me in an hour if I want more food to eat! <\/p>\n
The cafeteria at work only serves vegetarian food. Many Hindu\u2019s will eat chicken and fish, but beef is obviously not on their meal plan. Goat is a popular meat in India as well. <\/p>\n
Manish\u2019s driver has not yet appeared at work and it is time to go home. I offer him a ride with me, and he suggests going to a restaurant he knows for an after dinner beer. The restaurant is in the Barton Centre on M.G. Road and is located on the 13th floor of the building. In North America, superstition prevents many buildings from listing a 13th floor. Instead, we tend to jump from 12 to 14 \u2013 as if the 13th floor doesn\u2019t exist. <\/p>\n
The highlight of the restaurant is its\u2019 outdoor patio which overlooks the city and has a magnificent view. From there, you can see the government buildings, cricket stadium (which would put most CFL stadiums to shame), the Parade common, and a number of other buildings of interest. From our perch high above, we can see the cars parked hap hazzardly in the roads, and a large stretch of M.G Road. <\/p>\n
M.G. Road is Mahatma Ghandi Road, and was renamed from South Parade Road after India gained its\u2019 independence. On the right side of the road, there is a massive military parade field, and in the past the English used to parade up and down the road with regularity. October 2nd is Mahatma Ghandi\u2019s birthday and a holiday in India. The festival is named Ghandi-ji (I hope I spelled that correctly) and as it approaches, everyone becomes more and more excited. <\/p>\n
The restaurant is packed and we have to wait for a decent table. Manish states this is unusual for a Tuesday evening. Once again, I am treated to more culinary delights. I barely remember what things are called, but I\u2019ve yet to have a single Indian dish that I haven\u2019t thoroughly enjoyed. I think I\u2019m in danger of being compared to Faisal or Drew, with my new fixation on food! <\/p>\n
I tell Manish about the Persian silk on silk carpet I saw while shopping on Sunday. I\u2019m certain Faranak would have loved it. The carpet was amazing, but at 42,000 Rupees was well above my budget. Manish has offered to take me shopping for a carpet tomorrow between work commitments. I hope my budget can afford this, since almost everything I have selected has been designated as someone\u2019s Christmas present to date. I think a small India rug would make a perfect Christmas present for our house. <\/p>\n
As we are leaving the 13th floor, I pointed out the cute little Hyandai Santo hatchback parked next to our taxi. Unlike North American hatchbacks, this one barely has any trunk space at all. When I asked where they put all their things, Manish advised that Indians don\u2019t carry as many things around in a car as Canadians would. If you purchase something that is too large to fit into your car \u2013 a TV or furniture, for example \u2013 the store will have it delivered to your home for free. <\/p>\n
Every few hours, the power will flicker and turn off for a few seconds. In the beginning, I was quiet worried, but it\u2019s become normal for me. When I\u2019m working on my journal, my laptop switches from power to battery and I type by the glow of my screen. Back home, it would be a mad scramble for flashlights \u2013 since when the power goes out, it\u2019s usually out for hours \u2013 but here it\u2019s just become another quirk that I\u2019ve quickly adjusted to. <\/p>\n
India is a country of extremes – from abject poverty to supremely rich. I think I shocked my driver tonight. As we were waiting at a light, a beggar came to the car window. He had a small child strapped to his body, and was knocking on the windows of cars. I have noticed this behaviour before, but they have never approached our car window in the past. Tonight, I asked him to roll down the window so I could give him some money. In North America, I\u2019ve always prided myself on being willing and able to provide assistance to those in need. However, I normally wouldn\u2019t give anyone cash in Canada or the US. In the past, if I was asked for money for a meal, I\u2019d take the person to a restaurant for dinner and pay for any meal they wanted. However, as my driver was motioning him away, I couldn\u2019t not look him in the eye and recognize his need. I have never understood how people could walk by someone else in need without acknowledging them. I would never survive in the big city. I do not want to ever be someone who can\u2019t look another human being in the eye and offer assistance if needed. <\/p>\n
My mother always chastises me on being generous to a fault. I blame it on my upbringing. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m up way past my bedtime, since it\u2019s another 5am wake up call for me tomorrow. I\u2019ll have to pick up my journal in the morning and continue with my adventures then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Faisal is still concerned about my eating habits. While I\u2019ve managed to switch my sleeping schedule to reflect the work shifts in India time, I am still eating to North American hours. That means I\u2019m usually eating a decent meal very late in the evening. After I described my normal eating habits, he\u2019s even more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-where-no-flan-has-gone-before"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/screamingpages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}