Post and Pasta (winner, Cramp!)

... and that, dear reader, is how Dad got his favourite spaghetti with white sauce, completely unexpectedly, as a tea-time snack.

There had been no talk of spaghetti, or of any type of pasta. There hadn't even been talk of bringing food home for Dad. But then, we went to 'Take A Break' for a late lunch, and I ordered pasta, and their portions are huge and Ekta couldn't share with me because she's allergic to cheese.

Take A Break is a lovely cafe. It's small, and outdoorsy, and one looks at greenery as one enjoys the food. Prices are economical and the wait staff is really friendly. So it was a good thing the museum closed half-day on Tuesdays, or we would've gone round that and eaten again at the cafe there, and then Dad wouldn't have got that amazing Take A Break pasta.

There had been no plan of visiting the museum either. But it's so beautifully done, and was along our route, and it's not something one would plan on otherwise, but since we were passing it ... Ekta hasn't seen it ever, we thought we'd stop by. We hadn't expected to be done that early and had time on our hands, you see, but then, it was closed half-day.

We'd even stopped for a bit just to enjoy the scenery. Ah, the luxury of time! Of a job completed well in advance! It was a heady feeling.

The lady at the post office had remembered me. I'd visited two years previously, on the same errand - to collect post marks. This little village, just outside my city of Bangalore, is the home of wild pelicans and painted storks who nest alongside the huts of the villagers, and are treated like family members. Nobody disturbs them, nobody hurts them. The belief is that they are the daughters, come to their parental home to have their babies in their nests. The post-mark is of a flying pelican. I'd obtained it two years ago for one lot of friends, now I'd come to get it for another, additional lot. The lady didn't have any other urgent work on hand and attended to us immediately so we were done. We'd kept a couple of hours aside for this task. The post offices don't have telephones. Manpower is limited. So if they're busy, it may take a while. But it hadn't taken a while, and we'd had some glorious free time on hour hands.

We'd stopped at the museum in the early morning for breakfast, but then we had just gone to the cafe, not to the exhibits at all. They have great South Indian food there, I'd hogged on my favourite Maddur Vada and idli, but there was no pasta with white sauce there to cater to Dad's favourite thing.

That Maddur Vada and idli breakfast is always on the agenda when going to collect post marks from that side of the state! And who knows, maybe one day, we'll actually plan and Ekta will see the exhibits as well!