Tuesday Tale No 1
Have you ever been extended an invitation on Sunday evening for a Tuesday Dinner by Close Friends?…and you land up at their Residence on Tuesday and find the Hosts had simply forgotten about their Invite ! ?
It happened to us yesterday…My Wife and I were invited by really close friends for Dinner…just the four of us at their Residence…..we were told to come by 9.30 pm…Social Etiquette meant we reach by 9.45 pm…we did with our small Gift..a Box of Chocolate Cookies …only to find the Hostess in her Night Gown and simply no trace of the Host….she was so embarrased….we could either have got mad or laugh it off……we chose to do the latter…we gave the Cookies and quickly exited !…The Hostess told us that she had told her Husband Host to remind her in the Morning for the Dinner and he had forgotten and so had she !
Normally we don’t accept weekday dinner invites as Work Days could be tiring….and as it gets late into the Night,the next day begins with yawns!…and and especially with these friends the night would have gone past 1 am…probably 2 am as Dinner too is served at Midnight! !…they had invited for the weekend but as this was not possible we confirmed for Tuesday night….we had accepted as we had not met them for quite a while and either they or us were travelling or had other commitments and they were insisting that we meet and we are close friends!
…Their Forgetting turned out to be a blessing in two ways……..The First was that we completed in the morning itself our Tuesday Religious Ritual of visiting the SiddhiVinayak Temple and St Anthony and Infant Jesus Shrine…in recent past our tight day schedule has meant doing this routine tired and sleepy past 11 pm in the night
……The second is that we yet had to have Dinner,so we rushed to catch the last order at 10.30 pm for Dinner at the Club and it turned out to be heavenly…and as usual great value for Money…I’ve been telling Wife to shut our Kitchen and just eat at the Club!…Rs 26 for the Soup of the Day…a wholesome Spinach and Corn Thick Soup served with hot crosissants with Butter chiplets on the side…Rs 57 for half portion of one of the Main Choices for the day and that can be shared easily by two….A Tasty Subz Hyderabadi that was Paneer,peas,corn,beans and carrots etc in a Green Gravy served with Rice (you could opt for Naan instead),Pickles,Salad and Roasted Papad…Wife preferred a Continental Choice for Rs 135 that she swooned over…Herbed Rice with a Fabulous Stew cooked in a rich brown non spicy gravy with Fresh Thyme and other herbs served with Boiled Vegetables as an accompaniment….washed down by her with a Coke with Ice,rather Ice with Coke (as she fills up the Glass with over Ten Ice Cubes and then pours the Coke !) for Rs 20 and by me with a Draught Beer for Rs 35….there were just a few tables occupied in the Dining Room on a Tuesday Night…so the service was very attentive….we skipped Dessert of the Day…a Blueberry Cheesecake or Fresh Orange IceCream…both below Rs 50….wonder how the Club,with all it’s Overheads, can afford such lovely low Pricing !…Good for us !
…….and we got home by 11.30 pm !….before midnight !….so had a Good Nights’ Sleep
Tuesday Tale No 2
India’s ‘Aam Aadmi’ is truly Honest..Diwakar Patel,a middle aged portly and bespectacled Bus Conductor on a Short Circular Route 155 from Grant Road Station through Tardeo,Haji Ali,Mahalakshmi,Peddar Road,Kemps Corner,Gowalia Tank and Nana Chowk…… I got a confirmed sense of this ‘Honesty’ yesterday….It has to be a Coincidence that my Quote for the Day in Office for July 20 from the Daily Calender read ” You Must not lose faith in Humanity.Humanity is an Ocean;if a few drops of the Ocean are Dirty,the Ocean does not become Dirty.”
Wife had the Car and I had to rush for the above dinner…was in office at Tardeo till late past 8.30 pm and had to get home first at Peddar Road…Taxis often refuse to ply short distances…saw a Bus No 155…hopped into it to alight just a few minutes and stops away…saw this Bus Conductor counting a Big Bundle of Small Denomination Notes of Rs 10,Rs 20 and Rs 50….asked him if he could give me change for Rs 100 or Rs 200…said he can for Rs 900 !…so I gave him Nine Notes of Rs 100 notes for the Change…From what he gave me I reflexively offered him Rs 10 for this favour…..He outright and quite firmly refused and in one motion rubbed his hand over his forehead,indicating his ‘Naseeb’ and Destiny and Fate is written on his forehead while proudly asserting that in his 17 years of service with BEST he has lived honestly and with dignity and with a loyal sense of duty and would not take any money that was not his by right !…What a Guy !
Reminded me of a Bus Conductor and Saint story ” I nearly sold my Conscience for Rs 1!” that was send out by email by my father- in- law a week ago…he sends out daily such messages to over 500 people and has also got a Small White Board put up in the Building where he religiously and daily pens an inspiring Thought for all….The Story goes like this….A Saintly Person’s reputation precedes him when he shifts towns…he gets into a Bus and the Conductor gives him Rs 1 more than Due back in Change….He deliberates whether to return this Rs 1 to the Conductor…he finally does this on alighting from the Bus….it is then that the Bus Conductor tells him that he had deliberately given an additional Rs 1 back in Change as he was aware of the Saintly reputation of his and was simply testing it !…Wow !
Tuesday Tale No 3
This is about my daughter,who’ll turn 15 later this year…she’s an India Probable…the only girl from Maharashtra…. and away at a 40 day ongoing Football Camp to select the Women u 16 Football Team for India…..we speak to her everyday….but she had called us yesterday morning to tell us that a girl from another State in another room had started screaming inexplicably and uncontrollably on Monday late night and had to be physically constrained and hospitalised…my daughter wanted to know how this could have happened…she said that there were rumours that she was possessed!….I told her it could have been an epileptic fit…was important to know the girl’s past medical history……told her not to be unduly disturbed……then she called again late in the evening to tell us that this Girl has returned from the Hospital and has been send to their Room !…my daughter shares her room with three other girls from three different states…now with this fifth girl too they all were a bit scared…naturally !….this morning she called at 7 am!…asked her why she was not at the morning 6 am to 7.30 am Practice…seems none of the four girls slept last night ! and the kindly Coach sensed this and send them back to rest this morning !…Phew!…told her to pen her experiences,funny or scary, at the Camp for later submit it for the Prestigious Annual School Magazine…told her to have a sunny and positive outlook and attitude on all experiences…it will help her in her game too…..firm up her mental toughness too and negate negative influence of mindgames and make her a better and kinder and more tolerant Human Being….Competition is tough among 40 Girls from over 15 States vying for a place in a 22 Member India Team…told her to keep working hard and not to find success and that it would assuredly find her
Tuesday Tale No 4
…and for those who vist my blog just for Stock Ideas….IFCI has crossed Rs 60 and GATI has surged past Rs 75 today from levels of Rs 58 just a few weeks ago….we have exposure in both and my targets are yet some way ahead
I just Love Tuesdays !….just like I love all Other Days of the Week too!
Cheers !