I step inside.......... I'm greeted by an ever smiling fellow as if we were knowing each other for years (even when I was a first timer there!)..........My nostrils get filled with unmistakable smell which originates from thousands of things & yet is so unique........I select a corner place among neatly organised, small yet comfortable tables. Summer heat, ever honking traffic doesn't bother me anymore...........Because this place belongs to different world......No it's a world in itself......It's an Irani restaurant!
The ambiance is no match to anything else in this world.On one of the walls hangs frame displaying a New-York Times copy dating back to 16th April, 1912- a day after Titanic sank.There is one more showing classic movie scene which belongs to glorious Harley-Davidson era......Man! The place simply rocks! As I'm engrossed in these thoughts, the previous guy appears in front of me for order. There are too may things I would have had anyday, but owing to constraints on my financial resources I settle for a tea.......
It's not a rush hour...... The place is quiet.....Occasional visitors......who knows how old this thing is. May be it's here since the British Raj....at least 6 decades. Every small thing in the place has a time tag on it. Everything is age old, and nothing is willing to change even when everything outside is dynamic. A watch bearing name of New-York Times ltd. draws my attention......... This watch must have struck at midnight as Mr. Nehru was uttering words "a tryst with destiny........"! I don't belong to that era. But this place makes me feel I should have belonged there. The place is enchanting......
My thoughts are again interrupted by the same fellow, this time with tea & same acknowledging smile. I wonder from where this person gets so much of enthusiasm....May be he likes it here too!The tea....nothing special about it. A lot of sugar & milk....not how I like it. But who cares as long I can sit around & observe the proceedings. With each sip of tea I'm connected to place in different ways.I reluctantly take the last sip, pay & stand-up to leave. As I'm making exit the old fellow waves to me & thanks me for visiting.Sure it must be an old trick in trade of his, but effective.I'm going to visit the place again & again & again...... I leave the place & become part of existing world again.....The heat is killing me....why do people honk so much?
PS: I apologize to friends who accompanied & introduced me to the place. I was too engrossed in
to notice them.
