Tea at Balaji

Having skipped ‘TEA’ in order to make it on time to attend a christening and later mass at St. Peter’s, we decided to visit Balaji’s for a cuppa. This drink was good though ten percent watered down I thought, the rava dosa, crisp with minimum oil, just as we had ordered, but…
We were seated next to the counter and ‘My Old Man’ drew the attention to the cashier whilst spooning the orange liquid (yes, I know you know what it is) from a height back into the bowl. “This is not sambaaaaaar,” he moaned. “This is waaaaaaaaterrr. Sambar comes with drumsticks, brinjal and daal… recession, what?”
“Do you eat such stuff at home?” he went on “If you were served this, maybe you’d divorce your wife.”
Such a bold statement from ‘My Old Man’? Given, I’m a good cook… forgiven, that now I hardly cook. And yes, I have created disasters. How could he say this? Was it a hint? And then it dawned on me that you don’t fire your BOSS so…
I let my mental argument drop at this stage and continued to smile through my embarrassment. The cashier also continued to resemble a South Indian Mona Lisa. To our surprise, a large bowl of said orange liquid appeared at our table, this time, with chunks of red pumpkin in it. ‘My Old Man’ had to smile and lump it. He detests red pumpkin.
Then he began reminiscing how Balaji’s was Hindu Hotel in days gone by and after the five a.m. mass (a thing of the past now) they would go there for hot tea and sheera. Or a little further, somewhere where Mohan Raj Jewellers is for brun-maska and tea at the Irani there.
Then I remembered, when we were students of St. Joseph’s, we got puri-bhaji for rupee one. A rare treat reserved for lunch during exams to save time for revision which usually ended up in chatting. Cheap Jack has expanded and even back then we got most of our stationery there. The shop was an elevated platform with glass cases in front and its attendants squatting knees bent behind. Yes, that was a long, long, long time ago.
There has been change but my Bandra still stands. The Convent, the bus stop outside and Balaji’s across the road.