By Sam Susanin
Professor Moledina: “I ate too much man…”
Sarah: “I would come back just for the brownie…”
Erika & Sam: (silent at the end of the table with an utter feeling of contentment)
Kipaya: (with a big smile on his face)…”that was a meal to end all meals…”
Let’s just say the Global SE screenplay did not start out its day in the above fashion.
Dream Team and Dream Staff at Sunfeast Bangalore 10K
I feel a tap on my shoulder (thanks to Kipaya), look over at my watch, realize that it is 7:41 and that I need to be outside on Millers Road flagging down an auto to UB City in the next four minutes so the GSE team can get to the 5K walk/run that benefits NGOs in Karnataka (see ET’s blog post). I rush to slide my contact lenses in, pull a shirt over my head, throw the nearest pair of shorts on, and slide into my birks. I am out the door in two minutes where I meet Kipaya, Sarah, and Erika outside where Professor Moledina is sitting in an auto waiting for Kipaya, who happened to be the only one of the GSE team officially signed up for the run. Kipaya hopped in the auto with Professor and Erika, Sarah, and I flagged down an auto of our own, off to UV city. What would have normally been a 40 INR auto ride turned into a 80 INR ordeal which involved our rickshaw driver taking us through ally after ally trying to get us to UB city as many of the roads were closed due to the 5K run/walk. We finally arrived and found the Dream-a-Dream team, whom Sarah and Kipaya happen to work for. After socializing with the Dream-a-Dream folks for a bit, Erika, Professor Moledina, and myself left Kipaya and Sarah, to find a cup of coffee and a place to watch the runners and walkers. We succeeded in our mission of finding our caffeine boost, and then went and stood by the finish line of the race (again see ET’s blog post). The Dream-a-Dream crossed the finish line and we followed them over to a stage where many of the participants of the 5K walk/run were singing and dancing to songs a DJ was playing on the stage. Later, Professor Moledina would say, “I think I just witnessed my first NGO rave.” Erika and I ran into the EnAble India team, the social enterprise that we happen to work for. We all snapped some photographs with our respective teams and some other people involved in the race. Then it hit me…Sarah had not said much in the last 10 minutes or so and let’s just say she did not look like the happiest camper (which not typical of Sarah). She looked at me and said, “I have not eaten anything all day, just walked 5 kilometers, and I turn into a crab when I get hungry, I need food!” Chuckling at her comment, but then realizing that I hadn’t eaten much at all either, we rounded up the GSE off to find some fuel.
Salad and Dahi Vada
We walked for about ten more minutes, adding to Sarah and Kipaya’s walking total and settled on a fancy looking place called Tattv. It looked a bit pricy but we were all hungry and decided that we would go for it. We walked inside and went all the up to the top level to the Cloud Bar, the bar portion of Tattv. The manager came over and handed us a menu and explained to us that there was a Sunday brunch buffet that would begin at noon. It was about 11:30am at that point and decided that we had already waited this long for food, we could handle another 30 minutes for the buffet. At noon we went downstairs to the main dining room of Tattv. We saw the buffet about 50 yards away and goggled at how much selection it looked to have. We began our Sunday afternoon with a couple of soups, a chicken broth and a tomato. Next, there were these gourmet looking salads, however the GSE team minus Professor Moeldina had kept our consumption of cold food items to a minimum since arriving in India for fear of getting sick. But deciding that the salads looked too good to pass up and that we were at a “swank,” restaurant, we all decided to go for it. They had a salad with bits of chicken and black olives in it, a sprout salad, an all veggie salad, and a few others. Then it was on to what we thought to be our main course. Tattv had a selection of chicken tandori, mutton, vegetable korma, and countless others. After finishing our plates of that we thought that we would go for dessert, but then our waiter came over and informed us that a selection of curries, biryianies, and naan would be on their way out shortly.
Curries and Biryani (under cover)
In disbelief and excitement, the waiter brought out a tray of three different curries, two types of biryani, and naan. I proceeded to have chicken curry, a dal curry, korma curry, chicken biryani, and 3 pieces of piping hot naan. I can safely say it was some of the best food I have eaten in my 20 year life.
After the curries were hauled away, all five of us delved into the dessert trays. I tried a traditional Indian dessert, a carrot puree of sorts that I did not much care for. Then I had a delectable brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, something the rest of the group would proceed to do. After dessert we all sat in silence for a moment thinking how we had spent our last two and a half hours eating like kings and queens. And then…
Professor Moledina: “I ate too much man…”
Sarah: “I would come back just for the brownie…”
Erika & Sam: (silent at the end of the table with an utter feeling of contentment)
Kipaya: (with a big smile on his face)…”that was a meal to end all meals…”
After Kipaya coined the clever expression, we all smiled at one another, realizing that we had turned what started out to be a hectic morning into a wonderful afternoon filled with great conversation and even better food.
Global SE 2011 Team at Tattv, Bangalore
I would like the thanks the GSE team for putting my obsession with taking pictures of food and that up to this point I have had an excellent time with all of them.
