The Case of the Missing Block

It was early parts of my tenure in Shanghai – perhaps April last week of 2008. The exact date eludes my consciousness.

After tiring days of work, luncheons filled with pizzas and burgers and dinners packed with a curious hotchpotch of vegetables conjured by ‘Yours Truly’; Sharath, Kripa and myself embarked on a mission to satiate the long forgotten yet distinctly vivid taste of culinary delicacies from India. And we made a curious pick indeed. We decided to head for Karma(restaurant). The reason for this choice was simply because this place shared the same road as our hotel – Huaihai Road or the internet claimed so,

This,despite warnings from Kripa – ‘Guys, this looks shady!!’ In retrospect and on a closer dissection, based on the information we had, viz. name of the restaurant, Kripa seemed to have a point. Apart from the hard core Subash Ghai fans – who would want to name his/her restaurant Karma? And who would want to dine in a restaurant which would perhaps plays ‘ My Name is Lakhan..Sajnon ka Sajan.’ ? Apparently hunger had numbed all reasoning.

Anyways, our minds, despite interlacing doubts that lingered on the probability of success of the mission, were made up. Conviction ran so deep that we decided to walk it down. Starting from Block 282(Our Base Camp) and ending our mission at Block 1111(Karma), at a rate of approximately 16 Blocks per minute, we estimated a total walk time of 45 minutes.

The peregrination towards the end of all gastronomic distresses began with exuberance and long strides, but as minutes wore on, the rate of ascension in the block numbers began waning threatening to jeopardize our estimated time to target.

Series of ‘Hitachi’ arches and bevies of ‘Brands’ later, we were at Block 1010. Our stomachs did convulse in agony when 1110 was followed by 1112. Our dreams, of hot tandoori roti that shall waft steam as you break, began to blur. But, hold on Ladies and Gentlemen, Yours Truly just had a brain wave.’Hey, we didn’t see any odd-numbered blocks on this side. Guess we are on the wrong side.’

Hope is a funny thing! So began a renewed hunt and exuberance. Quick steps across the other side and Block 1041 smirked at us. We smirked back. We walked past an open area – perhaps an area under construction. Our minds had already pictured Block 1111 greeting us on the other side with arms wide open. Much to our consternation, the block that grinned was 1131! We pottered around, looked in all directions geographically and topographically feasible, within the constraints of the movements allowed by our necks. Block 1111 was not there!!!

So we decided to retrace, perhaps we missed it. Block 1041 smirked. We scowled.

With drooping shoulders we decided to head back to our nest. Dejection soon gave way to hope and the spirit of worldly camaraderie lit in our souls as we vowed to make the evening worthwhile. We decided to switch loyalties and head for a Thai restaurant which we had descried on our way.

Doubt, they say is a root cause of all worldly bothers. But under circumstances which warrant a closer introspection and a careful tread, to be in doubt is not a bad way to go. Anyways, we decided to head straight in to the Thai restaurant and grinned ear-to-ear,at the waitress who approached us, in expectation of a sumptuous dinner. As we perused through the menu our grin transmogrified in to despair. We turned to the waitress who was now inflicted by the grin we had donned a few minutes ago. We conveyed ‘Vegetarian? No Meat?’ She conveyed ‘ Pork?’

The three of us looked at each other at the same time, a feat unachievable under normal circumstances. We scampered out, with shoulders drooping more than ever.

Hope reappeared soon, like a fairy awaiting clouds of despair. We decided to cook it up!!Ah yes! A movie as well. Ah the movie, well that requires another blog altogether...