‘Sir, for cocktails, I’d recommend Kothamalli Mary,’ the waiter said.
‘Kotha-what?’ I asked.
‘It is like a Bloody Mary, sir, tomato juice and vodka, but with Chettinad
spices.’
I looked at uncle. He looked reluctant to nod for alcohol in front of his wife.
‘I want one,’ Ananya said.
Ananya’s mother gave her a sharp look.
‘C’mon, just one cocktail,’ Ananya said.
I opened the menu. I couldn’t pronounce the tongue-twister names of the
dishes. Specials included kuruvapillai year and kozhi melagu Chettinad. I didn’t
bother reading the rest.
‘You know this food better, please order,’ I said.
Ananya’s parents looked at the menu several times.
‘It’s too expensive,’ Ananya’s mother said.
‘It’s fine,’ I said. ‘Ananya, please.’
Ananya took the menu and ordered for everyone. We ordered kozhakattai,
masala paniyaram, adikoozh, kandharappam, seeyam and athirasam. Of course, I
had no clue what went into those dishes; I figured at least one of them would be
edible. The waiter also suggested we order idiyappam, rice noodles bunched up
like a bird’s nest.
‘How is the IIT preparation, Manju?’ I asked after the waiter left.
‘Good, I came tenth in the Mylapore mock IIT test,’ Manju said.
I nodded. ‘So, any more singing offers?’ I said to aunty.
Aunty smiled. ‘Don’t embarrass me. But I did find another Guruji who has a
modern approach to Carnatic music.’
I turned to Ananya’s dad. ‘How’s the bank, uncle?’
‘Good, your presentation is still being talked about.’
The food arrived; spicy, tangy and delicious.
nora
(Nora)
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