a swati moment or two...
Back in very hot Delhi, I feel lethargic, lazy and loutish. I have to be lured out by various means - well only one means works really and that's decadence. So I readily agree when Swati suggests we meet for boozy long drawn out lunch at Mainland China, despite my suspicion that she has chosen Mainland because it is owned by Bengaalees. When I get there I see that Imperial Garden which once stood next door has shut down because their lease expired - now just an inscrutable Chinese sign over a bricked up entrance of a building being re-organised. I felt sort of sad looking at it. I always hate it when the old gives way to the new and all that other zen stuff... We are the first to arrive and more or less the last to go at Mainland China so it's a good thing we were paying customers. After her first capiroshka Swati felt despondent (or maybe drunk) and also like going to the loo. She returned with a shawl much to my amazement. Swati has been known to do several outlandish things