The Scribbler

Good food and good conversation

Aug 18

AdityaMumbai, People 1 Comment

Now doesn’t that sound like the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon? Interestingly, I was only involved in the food part. The conversation was happening elsewhere. Let me explain…

It so happened that when in Mumbai, the wife and I headed over to one of our old haunts, Crepe Station off Carter Road for lunch. Excellent food, I tell you. We chose to sit indoors what with the heat and all no longer agreeing with us Bangalore/Pune people (we’re still sort of settling down!). For anyone who has been to Crepe Station would know that there are four tables in close proximity inside. For those who haven’t been there yet, well, now you know! So we took the one closest to the door and started taking in the surroundings. This place has some fine photographs that you can look at while the food arrives. It was about this time I noticed a group of three boisterous collegians. Two girls and a boy. Lucky boy, eh? Heh!

So them being loud is not the problem. The guy (incidentally a Maharashtrian; revealed thanks to some persistent eavesdropping by Yours Truly!) had braided hair and was somewhat proud of the fact that he looked more African than Indian. The girls were typically 18-20-year-olds and were giggling away at just about everything he said or did. No problem and for the record, no painful memories of "what if" either! The jokes were as mature as one would expect in such a group and tended to lean rather towards the profane. He did have an audience in his friends, I must add.

Seated at a table next to them was a pair of middle-aged ladies having a quiet Saturday lunch. Well-dressed, soft-spoken (therefore I cannot recreate much of their conversation) and successful at ignoring the motley bunch next to them. I have neither their capacity to ignore nor patience to overlook. I am, after all, a mere mortal. So as things progressed, I couldn’t help but notice the gentleman (sic) in question (not me) make a couple of random calls to friends telling him about a friend of his (female) who was "just right" for him. He also took the trouble of explaining her looks and emphasized that she was "just right" in "all the right areas". Whether this was a prank or a joke that they would have at my expense and laugh later, I cannot confirm. The conversation, however, was intriguing and as mindless as someone saying "yada yada Yada" to you for about 60 minutes. (Notice the variety in the Yadas. They can be interesting.)

Much of the mindless chatter amounted to nothing as one would expect when a bunch of college kids get together. It was, nonetheless, interesting to note how the choices of these kids have changed in just the last eight years. They know what kind of pepper would go on their dish. It still took me a couple of minutes to remember the two types of pepper I know: black and white! They seem to know what they are wearing and make a statement with that. I just hope I don’t look funny!

Amid all this, let us not forget the two ladies at the neighbouring table. They were enjoying a nice conversation about shoes, parties, auras at peoples homes and how their dessert crepes were going to become "one big lump of sweet". Hm. I decided to skip the dessert there in favour of a gelato (Chocolate and Cookies; excellent, I tell you) at Amore.

This enter event took place in about an hour and a half and I must say that I was not disappointed at choosing this venue over Lemon Grass off Turner Road. Quite a "crepe-y" afternoon!