Goodbye Flora

Over the years I have seen many restaurants close shop and I do miss some of them from time to time. Komla's in High Street Phoenix for example. They used to have such nice South Indian thali. When they closed down, I was hoping to run across an outlet in some mall or other but then a friend informed me that they had winded their operations across India. That was sad. Mah Jong in Khar was another of my favorites. They used to make a mean crispy threaded chicken. Spaghetti Kitchen closed down at Phoenix and so did Copper Chimney. The silver lining is that there is one outlet of Copper Chimney at Kala Ghoda. Just love their Biryani, Kebabs and Mint Chutney. I also miss an outlet serving Maharashtrian Thali at Shivaji Park.

And then there was Flora. It was this restaurant that gave me my first taste of Chinese food during my childhood years. The chef back then used to dish out utterly delectable fare such as dry chilli chicken, chicken fried rice, whit prawns and crab corn soup. A couple of years ago we had trouped back to Flora but the menu had changed completely over the years. Whatever we ordered didn't quite have the same quality as the food dished out there in the 80s. I know it is foolish to expect the same taste after a gap of about 20 or so years. But I have been searching for the same taste ever since. Whenever I see Chilli Chicken (Dry) on any menu, I order it - only to get disappointed every single time. Only the chilli chicken served at China Bistro buffet came anywhere close to the one that used to be served at Flora. I also tried my hand at making crab corn soup at home but obviously couldn't get the same taste. I can't remember what the prawn dish was called but still vividly remember the big white prawns - perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. I am not a big fan of seafood - except for pomfrets. So the fact that I am still drooling over their prawn dish after decades is a testimony to the cooking prowess of their chef from the 80s.

I sometimes wonder if I would see Time Machine being invented in my lifetime. If I do and it becomes affordable enough for common man's use (a long shot!), I have a list of places and periods to go to. Most of them are moments in India's and world's history. But a trip to my maternal grandparents' house sits almost at the top. Now a visit to the Flora of the 80s has got added to it.

Thank You Flora!

Most of the ads these days make you wonder what in the world was the person who conceived of them thinking at that time. But once in a while you come across some ad that makes you want to applaud its creator. That's especially true if you appreciate the ad despite knowing that what is being shown isn't going to happen in real life.

I watched one such ad last weekend - it was about organ donation. The first shot is of a mother-son duo celebrating the mother's birthday. Happy Moments! Then the narrative moves forward by a whole year. It's the same date but now the mother is alone. The son has passed away. As the mother is looking on at his photo forlornly the doorbell rings. When she opens the door, there is no one outside. Just when she is about to close it she notices a box on the threshold. She brings the box inside and on opening finds a huge cake inside with the words 'Happy Birthday Mother' written on it. She is puzzled. The cake is delivered the next year and the year after that but on both occasions the sad mother is unable to discover who has sent it.

The year following that, the cake isn't delivered though it is pretty late in the day. And then we see the camera approaching the house. Someone places the cake outside and rings the bell. As the woman turns to go, she sees the mother in front of her. The woman is unable to hide her emotions and explains to the mother that if her son were alive he would have done the same for her. The mother places her hand where the woman's heart - which quite obviously was donated by her diseased son - is. The background song expresses the son's feelings that the body, the face is different but the heart has managed to come back to his mother.

Now we all know that the organ donor's and receiver's identities aren't supposed to be revealed to each other so what is shown in the ad cannot happen in real life. But in this country where people die waiting for a matching organ, it drives home the importance of organ donation beautifully. Knowing the Indians' soft spot for moms and anything to do with them, it perfectly draws at their heart-strings to make the point that your loved ones go on living when their organs give life to someone else.

Panch Pulla & Satdhara, Dalhousie

To put it bluntly, if you have seen any waterfalls (and you must have unless this is your very first trip!) and are pressed for time, do give this place a miss by all means. You will avoid getting accosted by dubious people trying to sell Saffron (if you are a female) or Shilajeet (if you are a male). Where is gender equality when you need some, I say? :-) Then there are quite a few steps to climb- which can be quite daunting for senior citizens in your group, and a few unfit members. If you brave all this to reach the fall, it isn't gigantic.

Of course, if you want to try your hand at some adventure sport, it's a different matter altogether. We did see a brave soul zipping by on an overhead rope every couple of minutes - but I suspect he was one of the men operating the equipment rather than any tourist. There are a couple of rope bridges, if you want to experience the thrill of walking dangerously. I didn't - because I come from Mumbai where BMC provides that thrill for free every day with potholes in the roads, closed pavements owing to metro work and traffic that obeys no rules. When the nearby shopkeepers asked me to take a look at their shawls, I really had to suppress the urge to tell them not to waste their time on me because unless there is a severe climate change (as in Mother Earth thumbing her nose at the US Prez!) I am unlikely to need shawls or any other winter gear in the hotter-than-hell city of Mumbai!

On a positive note, the tea vendor sells a good enough cuppa, if you are missing your daily fix.

As far as Satdhara goes, I am still wondering about its name. There is irony there somewhere, I am sure. It was just a trickle and our driver mumbled something about some mineral deposits as he stopped the car in front of it for all of 2 minutes. Even Maggi would take longer to get ready!

So do yourself a favor and drop this from place your program, if you are short on time.

P.S. This place also has a monument in memory of Sardar Ajit Singh. Nothing more than a statue and a plaque, as you can see in the photo above. Nothing is mentioned about his life. I don't know about you, but I don't remember reading about him in history books. Sad, but true. The government should provide some details of his life rather than expecting us to Google about him!

गुजर जाते है खूबसूरत लम्हे यूही मुसाफिरों की तरह
यादें वही खड़ी रह जाती है रुके रास्तों की तरह

(Forwarded)

Breathtaking sights from the hotel room @ Dalhousie. I just couldn't tear myself away from the balcony.....even if it meant catching cold :-)

Observed this board @ Dharamshala airport. Amazing to see how people manage to misspell even when it is a matter of just a couple of words :-)