LUCKY'S

 Lucky's was a popular cafe - packed out whatever the time of day.  But this innocuous sounding corner cafe had some surprises up its sleeve !  "We call it Kabaron Wali Dukan"  Jinesh explained - it means 'Shop with tombs' !  Sure enough there were as many tombs as there were tables and chairs - some of the coffins were covered with decorated cloths.  To add to this intriguing setting a giant Neem Tree grew at an angle through the cafe, exiting through the roof !

This was M.F. Husein's (India's Picasso) favourite cafe - so much so that he painted a picture especially for the place - although M.F. Husein's paintings are displayed in museums around the world, this one is unattended and hangs on a simple wall amongst the clutter....

As we drank our chai and ate our maskabun (a bun with a thick coating of white butter) and looked at the tombs around us, I couldn't help musing on whether this was possibly an ideal final resting place - in amongst the hubbub and clatter of the chai swilling crowd with an original painting by an Old Master overhead !

STREET FOOD

Another scorchingly hot day and the dust seemed inches thick, coating my flat shoes in a thin layer of grey.  The coconut stand stood in the shade of a dusty tree, the green coconuts stacked up row upon row.  To my surprise, when I asked for a coconut drink, the stall owner lifted the coconut out from a bath of water - a very clever way of cooling it.  Lopping off the top with a huge knife, he put a straw into the small hole and handed it to me.  The coconut juice was refreshingly cold - one of summer's little compensations and more thirst quenching than a coke or fanta.


Street food is a part of the urban landscape.  Carts on wheels are quickly set up at around 6 p.m., cheap artificial lights cast their bright blue-white light over the impromptu 'restaurant' and people pull-up in their cars, scooters or bikes and stand round in sociable groups, eating the quickly prepared Chaat -  crisp pancakes with various masala toppings and chutney or Bhel Puri - a puffed rice with 'sev' mixed with chopped onions, tomatoes, boiled potatoes, green chilies and coriander - Pani Poori is made of  little crisp puffs made out of flour and filled with mashed potato, onion, etc. and then filled with spicy water or Pav Bhaji - a bread roll with potato and vegetarian filling!!  All these snacks are delicious and are served on a little paper saucer which you have to support with your hand to stop it from sagging.  Some of the street food vendors on the bigger arterial roads, provide tables and chairs and crowds of people sit out late into the night in family groups enjoying the 'al fresco' food.

By day there is a kind of hierarchy amongst this street fraternity -  from young boys operating the sugar cane press, which requires them to walk round and round turning a long pole, while the attached mangles squeeze and press out the sweet juice into glasses - to old men selling bananas, in what looks like a 'retirement job' - low in stress, but providing an interest.  Cash outlay for the entire stock is probably only 500rs and any leftovers are eaten for dinner!  

MOVIES

The line up of movies at our local cinema showed the usual list of Bollywood titles, but just out was the "Men in Black 3".  The cinema is an excellent way to beat the heat of summer in Gujarat - reclining seats and air conditioning - what could be better?

Chatting later to a friend in London, on the phone, I urged her to see 'Men in Black 3' - interestingly she replied: "...it's not out here yet" !  Here in India, we get to see certain Hollywood movies long before they are viewed in the West.  Seeing ''The Avengers"  with an Indian audience was quite an experience, shouts and clapping greeted every move the super heroes made, groans and gasps with every protracted duel with the baddies and huge gasp of relief when the foe was vanquished !!

A MEASURE OF CHANGE

Change at the supermarket cash till, is still offered in a mixture of rupees and toffees....occasionally, when I have dashed in quickly to buy something, not having eaten lunch, it's a relief to know that  at least I can eat my change !

Three years ago super markets were very basic offering cleaning products, pickles and spices and then there were the bins of basic food stuffs, rice and legumes with someone on standby to measure, weigh and price.  But as a sign of the astonishing progress India has made in the years from 2009, the supermarket shelves are a very revealing indicator of what is afoot.

I looked at the shelf which normally carries a few expensive imported food items for foreign clientele such as tinned peaches, olives and tabasco sauce.....now to my astonishment, there were three rows of shelves stocked with such unheard of items like tinned tuna, Nescafe gold top, Pringles Crisps, Schweppes Tonic, Schweppes Bitter Lemon and Nutella !   On TV much advertising has been devoted to this new fandangled western social convention of coffee drinking, with well known Bollywood stars drinking coffee with obvious enjoyment and savouring the aroma of the coffee beans.  Chai is being relegated to the lower classes who drink it in little cups on the side of the road from their local chai wallah.

Wandering on to the glass and crockery section, there was further evidence of change - gone are the items of plastic tableware which we had to put up with in the past - replaced by actual breakable china !  Previously, it was practically impossible to find dinner plates in anything but melamine !

The streets are being swept and I see more and more Indian women wearing western clothes.  Soon cows will be banished and I haven't seen a camel for months.  The last elephant walked past a year ago.  India's change from an agrarian economy to an industrial nation is happening with breathtaking speed !  What would Gandhiji have made of this ?  Anyway Gujarat is still a 'dry' State - we're all stone cold sober !

PODCAST - INDIAN SUMMER

ON THE GARDEN WALL

WELL I NEVER

The smell of plastic was overpowering, as was the line up of cheap shoes.  With little choice, I selected a pair......paid for them and took them home.  But no, they really wouldn't make the cut - back into the box they went and the next day I was back in the shoe shop.  "Madam we don't give refunds, but you can have a credit note valid for a month"

A week later I was passing the same shoe shop, when one of the 3 young assistants came running after me, "madam, madam please could you come into the shop?"  I wondered what this could be about and followed him.  "Madam, we are so sorry that you didn't like the shoes, so we have discussed it and agreed that we three are going to pay you out of our salaries at the end of the month - we'll share the cost amongst the three of us and refund you" !  I looked at the young man in front of me, his earnest face full of sincerity......in complete disbelief !  I looked at his two colleagues, who nodded in agreement - this was quite the most amazing act of generosity I had ever encountered in my life - I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing......and then I shook my head.........."no of course you mustn't do that, I can't accept that but thank you...."