Pizza & Party

Sandeep returned from work at 5pm to a very rested and well read Jeffrey family. We spent the first part of our day in Hyderabad upstairs in our rooms of the Jain International School while business as usual was continuing downstairs in the offices.  By 5pm we were really getting cabin fever, as we had run our of sleeps to be had and pages to plough.

Sandeep was also exited to be back, and we soon headed off for a bite to eat, to a food joint he had been waiting a long time to take Freya… Dominos pizza. Last time were spent time with him in India we were at an academy in the country side a long way from civilization and no food choice beyond Indian vegetarian food, so Sandeep was dying to show Freya that Secunderabad, the twin city to Hyderabad, is not a foodie’s desert. So he ordered for us especially a “100% pork” pepperoni pizza, for 405 rupees ($11.50), while his margarita was only 60 rupees ($1.70). The cheesy garlic bread was a hit and the pizza was better than what we get from Dominos at home.

We then headed towards the outskirts of Secunderabad for, as we soon found out, another dinner party! Sandeep was demonstrating to us the art of driving a car in India, where it is very rude to leave too much space between you and the car in front, as it is a waste of road space. It is also extremely rude to not blow the horn almost continuously, as it is common courtesy to let your fellow travellers know that you are coming. Guy, who was seated in the front with Sandeep, pressed his imaginary brake hard to the floor! Caspar and Freya were in fits of laughter in the back, at the numerous near misses with endless brave pedestrians. The general idea: If you don’t make your move, somebody else will, so just do it!

 

We arrived at the lovely home of Babita, whose son was celebrating his 13th birthday that evening. All his cousins were there, and they were all exited to meet our kids and question them very intelligently about their school life in Australia.  Sandeep’s assistant Surrender and the house helper, a sweet young boy of about 8 or 9 years with the most glowing and charming face brought us endless helpings of a lovely light corn soup. Babita is from Rajasthan, and a great cook too, and she then served us a Rajastani feast at the kitchen table sitting as guests of honour with the birthday boy, while all the other kids ate together from a single large silver plate in the sitting room. We wished we had had just a small pizza at Dominos!  They kept bringing more and more puris and dished up more curry with delicious gravy, and it was quite a trail to get through it all. Then Happy Birthday was sung, and after cutting the cake the birthday boy fed us slices of cake directly into our mouths. Sandeep “missed” Freya’s mouth in order to get her face covered in cream…There was not another thought about food that evening.

We returned home at 10pm, and went to bed, while our stomach started their jobs of digestion. At 5am Guy and Sandeep went to the railway station to pick up his sister, mother and father who had taken a 4 hour train journey in the middle of the night in order to come and spend their Sunday day with us.  When they arrived I sleepily got out of bed and it was lovely to see them again. We exchanged presents, and Sandeep’s mother showed me the amazing embroidery she is currently doing on saris and punjabi suits. Endless hours of work, and the most delightful stitching and subtle use of sequins.

Sandeep had bought both a traditional handwoven Sari and punjabi suit for me on his recent trip to Kerala, in the softest cream cotton with gold thread. We presented his parents with a gold frame of photos of all the family members, and they were clearly thrilled with it. Caspar and Freya were hauled out of bed, as Sandeep could not wait to show his parents how much they had both grown. We made tea and sat around for quite some time, before we finally got away for a spot of lunch at Paradise – a dining house specializing in Hyderabadi Byriani. Caspar was clearly delighted at the glamorous interior of the restaurant, and the air conditioning was nice too – quite a hot day for what is termed as winter. The bill of $40 covered a massive byriani with lamb and tandoori chicken including many trimmings, cauliflower Manchurian style, and many other dishes, lime sodas, lassis, ice cream and chai for 8 persons – not bad at all. It seems that South India is cheaper than other parts. On the way home we went to a sweet shop which was just incredible. Beautiful Indian sweets made of milk, figs, almond and cashews shaped as flowers, oranges, pizzas and in endless amazing decorative patterns.

The owner of the shop made up a silver plate of the most artistic examples for me to take a photo for this blog, so enjoy! We bought a couple of boxes of sweets, but we have to wait a while before we again can eat anything at all. Tonight Sandeep is taking us to the lake that separates Hyderabad and Secunderabad, where you can go rowing and also find many fabulous snack food stalls… a snack is probably all that I can fit in tonight. I could do with a long walk though, and I am sure Guy will be dreaming of finding a gym soon. We may also go and check out a furnished flat to rent, which to Freya and Caspar’s excitement is just around the corner from KFC.