Harpreet's Shaadi

I came to Chandigarh because my good friend, Harpreet, was getting married. We had worked together on a project at CEPT when I came to India in 2005 on CapAsia and since I came back last year, we had kept in touch through email pretty regularly for people on opposite sides of the globe. So I was really excited that I would be here, in the country, and could come to his wedding.

I actually just attended the reception, as the actual wedding was in Jalandhar. I planned on wearing my new, blue sari for the occasion. I had been all over town before trying to find a place that sold ready-made sari petticoats. I could have had one sewn to exactly match, but didn't feel like going to that trouble! But I thought, with the number of women wearing saris, it would have been easier to find a ready made one! Finally I found a shop, and they actually sold very nice, quality ones. The women went through the stacks to find the right color and size. They helped me try them on and pulled out darts there to make it fit better and hemmed it while I waited.

As Rashmi had helped me tie my sari at home for pictures, I was pretty confident that I could do it alone. Accomplishing the feat of wrapping myself in 6 meters of fabric I think took about an hour! As soon as I got one part right, I had to re-fix another part, but finally it came out right. I added a red, jeweled stick-on bindi to my forehead, and was ready to go. As I locked the door, the hotel workers saw me dressed up, and was excited to go tell the other workers that I was wearing "Indian dress."
They obligingly took my picture before I left. When the autowala dropped me at the party plot, he told me he couldn't express how pretty I looked in Indian dress.

Even though I ended up being about an hour late because of putting on my sari, the bride and groom had not arrived yet. I was quite happy to see that the reception was inside, in a well air conditioned room as it was soo humid! Overall I was happy to notice that the Punjabis seemed to use A/C much more than the Gujaratis. As I entered the room, I was greeted right away by Harpreet's father and brother. His two younger brothers are identical twins, and I had to admit to him that I wasn't sure if he was Sunny or Hunny. He admitted that most of the relatives couldn't even tell them apart. I guessed correctly that he was Sunny and had worn matching yellow shirt and turban to make it easier, while Hunny wore pink.

Some of the other relatives had me sit with them while we waited for the couple, and servers came around with soft drinks, spring rolls, fried veggie nuggets, and hot chocolate. Finally the couple arrived and sat on a special dais to receive guests and take pictures and receive gifts. The bride, Simpreet, looked beautiful in a really lovely pink and mint sari and the traditional forearm full of red and white bangles that a bride must wear during the initial stage of being married.

Later on, some other friends from CEPT arrived, so it was nice to have some friends to sit with. There was a small dance floor in the front which mostly the children were using. They were pretty cute. I took some videos; one little girl really had some moves! Our group ate dinner there late. There was daal, rice, and other typical Indian foods with areas for veg and non-veg. I had some of the chinese food.

We stayed late, and I didn't get back to the hotel til 1 am. By this time I had had to re-adjust my sari multiple times, and I was not looking nearly so good as in the beginning. If my roommate had been there, she probably would have scolded me for pinning and unpinning the fabric over my shoulder. Hahaha, several times while wearing my salwar suit and see me holding up the corner of the tunic with one hand, she would make sure I stopped. My train for Delhi left at 6:45 am, so I didn't get much sleep at all before I had to get up.

I took the train to Delhi and met Rashmi's boyfriend at the station. She had some gifts she'd asked me to give to him. With him, I rode the Delhi Metro train for the first time. Overall, it was impressive, however to get a single token for one trip the line was a 15 minute wait, and to get through you had to put your bags through a screener like at the airport. The train and stations were clean, but as are most things in india, the cars were very crowded. Finally I took my flight back to Ahmedabad exhausted after the travel and walking around Chandigarh for the week.

Like Father Like Daughter??

I found the Ruby Tuesday in Chandigarh! And it was a GENUINE, American Ruby Tuesday, right down to all the old junk and pictures on the wall, the bar with colorful liquor bottles, and stained-glass lamp shades. It ended up being the single most expensive meal, I've had here; it was pretty ridiculous actually. It was over 1/4 of my monthly rent, but then I did order the most expensive item on the menu... At a mall in a Le Cobusier or Corbu-eque building in the suburbs of Chandigarh. They were having some kind of Indian Idol singing competition when I went in, so half of my meal I could still hear the horrible singing going on downstairs. The other half someone must have complained, because they turned the music up louder in the restaurant.

Between yesterday's restaurant experience and today, the only problem was deciding what to order with all the western choices. And yes, I know, I coming home soon. DON'T CARE! I'll have it again when I come home, but the novelty of this stuff in India is too great. Most of it was American stuff on the menu, but there were also some Indian junk thrown in, too. There were a few curries and a biriyani, I guess for that family member who just wouldn't eat that foreign stuff.

There were lots of typical appetizers, quesadillas, eggrolls, artichoke dip. Pav Bhaji for the Indians - kind of like chili with diced vegetables eaten with hawaiian rolls. I was amused by this addition. Buffalo wings and nachos. For the main courses, there were 'burgers' chicken of course. Chicken parmisean, big, real lettuce salads, new orleans fish and shrimp. So many choices.

Finally I thought Guacamole sounded too good to pass up, so ordered that as an appetizer. I almost decided on a burger, they looked so good in the pictures, but I kept reminding myself that it just wouldn't be as good with chicken. Finally I decided to go with the Ribs, Shrimp, and Buffalo Wings platter. Yes, taking after my dad, the meat-a-saurus, I decided the ribs just sounded so good.

Now, I should have known it wouldn't be as expected, but for "American" food it was decent. However I immediately knew when the brought out the guac it wasn't gonna be good. The texture looked more like lumpy, instant mashed potatoes or something. It didn't really taste like avacado, it just tasted like tomato. But the chips were good, and the tiny dish of salsa with it was good, so whatever. Then they brought out my meat extravaganza! With as much meat as this had - pork, shrimp, and chicken (in the land of veggies) and with it being the most expensive on the menu, I can't imagine it gets ordered very often.

The shrimp was breaded and fried...but not to a crunchy friedness, but a soggyness. The mix of steamed cauliflower, beans, carrots, and broccoli was nice. Nice to have some vegetables that aren't a.) cooked beyond recognition in a curry sauce or b.) raw slices of cucumber, onion, and dried up carrots. And there was a baked potato with sour cream! The buffalo wings were ok, not too great and must have come from the scrawniest chickens ever! But whatever, I'm not complaining...too much. The ribs were the best though. But I will admit, the sauce covering them at first frightened me a little. It was a very thick dark sauce. It kind of reminded me of some gloopy crude oil scum dredged off a oil spill. But it tasted good, and I made a mess of myself, but that's what ribs are for right?

So being a bit embarrassed by ordering so much for myself, I declined dessert. Even though there was Italian Wedding Cake for dessert, and this is my FAVORITE. How many times have I asked for this for my birthday? Or the one time I made it without using all-purpose flour and it was flat as a pancake. But I refrained. As I write this at 1:30 in the morning, making myself hungry, maybe I should have had it...

But maybe I'll go have a "BoxMaster" at KFC tomorrow instead...

Food, Glorious Food

So I have come to the thought that maybe it's just Gujus that don't particularly like western food. Which is surprising when so many of them have lived in the US. Now Ahmedabad has I think 6 million people, and there are restaurants that serve western food, but it is generally very disappointing. It usually tastes nothing like what it is supposed to. They always add masala. One restaurant had pad thai on the menu. I skeptically asked if it had lots of peanuts in it. He assured me that yes it did. When it got to my plate it was just a bunch of noodles with chili sauce that had none of the peanut flavor it should. Oh, and ketchup. What is WITH the ketchup? Seriously, NO KETCHUP ON PIZZA. Nooooooooo! Just No! I usually acknowledge that people should be free to eat what they want. But here I put my foot down. It is a crime, no, a sin, how much they douse their pizza in ketchup. In times of grumpiness, I have truly had to restrain myself from grabbing the ketchup bottle out of the hands some poor Guju at PizzaHut.

However already in Chandigarh I have found many good spots. Yesterday I was very happy to see a honey-mustard chicken sandwich on the menu. I suspiciously asked the waiter if there was any masala on the sandwich. He said no, but I didn't believe him. But lo, and behold, it was good and not Indian-ized. Not only that, but there was also a side salad. And by 'salad' I don't mean the usual slices of cucumber and dry-up carrots, but actual LETTUCE. Yes, it was a real salad with lettuce and dressing. oh it was good, expensive, but good.

I noticed there was a KFC not far from my hotel. Now I hadn't been to one in India, so I thought this was a good time. In Singapore everything was pretty much the same. I had some of their nice mashed potatoes. Well, in India apparently they don't have them. Actually in one place they had advertised a chicken thali meal. I slapped my forehead on this one. They had completely indianized it, and instead of mashed potates and all that, you got a rice plate with chicken.

Anyway at this place, on the menu they had a 'BoxMaster.' As I could not figure out what is was from the picture, I had to try it. Basically it was chicken strips with lettuce and dressing with an aloo (potato) spicy patty wrapped in a tortilla. Where did this idea come from?? I have no clue, but it was pretty good. And of course in India, there is always the ubiquitous veggie selection, even at KFC.

But not only that! I found a restaurant the shopping area of Sector 9 called Backpacker. There was a QUICHE! yes, quiche! Not only that but it had ham! And it tasted exactly as a quiche should! And it came with a salad of lettuce with olives. It was great! I was so excited by the menu items that I couldn't resist ordering the baked mushrooms as well. And guess what! They were stuffed mushroom caps, and they tasted like they should as well! Expensive, but sooooo good.
Ok anyway, I had to say it. I've been sick of Indian food, sorry, but the masala (spices) are getting to me. And yes, I have considered that as I am leaving soon, maybe I should be getting in some last Indian food. Well, I've had some...the spices didn't...come out well. So I'll just be excited by my findings here!

I read online that there is a Ruby Tuesday's here in Chandigarh...I'm holding my breath to see if it's the real thing... I'll let you know.