Shiro – A raw experience!

Shiro is a popular Chinese restaurant in U B City Bangalore. From the outside it looks like any other expensive restaurant. But the moment you enter the place it just takes your breath away. The place is adorned with two massive rock sculptures depicting two ladies holding a water vessel each and pouring water from it. The water is real and falls into a small pool. The statues are centrally placed on either side of the restaurant. The place between the statues is occupied by a hanging lord Buddha statue with orange color beads hanging from the neck. There is also a smoking area to the place which is open and hosts the catering table and a small party area.

Overall, the whole set up is a true manifestation of the experience of living life king size - in line with what the founder , Vijay Mallya , firmly believes in.

As we seated ourselves comfortably near one of the mammoth statues to the left we were welcomed by one of the attendants with a warm smile. He placed the bar menu in front of us.

Considering that we were at Bangalore’s very own Twin Tower, a.k.a. UB City, and the life style it represents with some of the most expensive brands like Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss, Kenneth Cole et al on offer, I was expecting to have a good laugh looking the prices which are usually insane at such places. To my pleasant surprise, everything was reasonably priced vis-à-vis the other counterparts in the same league like Firangi Pani at the Forum.

We placed our orders for alcohol and starters but were informed that until 7.00 there isn’t much of a choice with the starters. Seven in the evening is when most of the crowd starts coming in and kitchen is ready to serve.

Vikram wanted to try something exotic while my sister and I stuck with good old beer! By the time we finished our first round of drinks over our little chatter it was past 7 and we decided to go for another round of drinks and starters.
This time we were handed over two different menus, one for dimsums and the other one for the main course. We ordered for one serving of chicken dimsums and just when we were wrecking our brains to decide on another starter – our attendant suggested that we try something really really exotic !!

Something that we have never really tried before! Something like raw fish!!!

Well we jumped in our seats half in excitement and half in amusement. While my sister and I were still in half minds, Vikram, in a very composed manner, suggested –‘lets try tuna! It is supposed to be very healthy and rich in protein’ – pat came the trivia along with the suggestion.

We sealed our order with Chicken dimsums and tuna fish – served raw! The attendant seemed very pleased with the choice.
By the time Vikram finished telling us how one of his friends who had been to Japan was served raw fish while the fish the still moving in his plate, the attendant got us our exotic dish along with dimsums!!

Tuna was served with a host of accompaniments like plain vinegar, ginger slices soaked in vinegar, a very pungent green chutney, slices of cucumber and carrot. Amazingly enough, all these accompaniments were to be used to eat the tuna.
Our attendant demonstrated how a small ball of pungent chutney was to be mixed into the vinegar for the fish slices to be dipped in it before eating the fish. He told us the whole slice had to be consumed in one go and that finally we had to bite into the vinegar soaked ginger slice to complete the experience!

Well an experience indeed as we all took a deep breath and got ready with our chopsticks to bite into some real flesh.

One serving of raw tuna has six slices – I managed to finish my share of two slices broken into several other slices, while my sister was struggling with the first one. On the other extreme - Vikram seemed to be relishing it!! I did finish all the cucumber and carrot slices though!

Well, I dunno about the taste, but the experience was sure a memorable one – very rich and very very raw!! Quite literally :)

Crossing the Crossbreed at the Crossroads:

There was nothing unusual about the usual Sony World junction that day. I was sitting inside the car, with the engine turned off and the radio playing in the background, hoping to have a good day and staring at the hoardings.

Sony world junction is a very busy crossroad in Bangalore where traffic stays put in each direction for 5 minutes and if you manage to cross it the first time the signal goes green since the time you are in the traffic queue- you can consider yourself extremely lucky!!

The junction is also famous for roadside vendors and beggars. Every time you stop at the signal you can expect a tap or two at the car window or a tug at your arm if you are on a two wheeler. Beggars range from small children, women and old people showcasing their pitiful state to stir up your sentiments, whereas vendors can get really creative with products that can sure grab your attention.

Also there is a third category of individuals who frequent the junction who hadn’t come to my notice until this day.

As I was sitting there planning my day, there was a tap at the window as expected. I reached out for my bag without even turning to get something for the needy soul. I prefer giving away food to beggars instead of money for I believe money doesn't really go to them.

But as I turned fidgeting with my bag at the same time, my heart skipped a couple of beats and I went through a mixed bag of emotions :| :( :?  :/ :0 :# :& :) !!!!

To put it in words - I was half scared, a quarter shocked, less than a quarter startled and a wee bit amused!!!!!!

Shocked because I wasn't expecting to see the unexpected, scared because of the horror stories that I had heard from people, startled because I was caught off guard and amused by the strange Juxtaposition created by the almighty.

The person who had tapped at the window was neither the vendor nor the beggar, neither a HE nor a SHE rather a combination of both – popularly known as the Eunuch – who looked like a HE but was dressed like a SHE.

I tried not to make any eye contact and froze on my seat secretly praying to God to save me from the embarrassment of having to see or to listen to anything that I don't want to see or hear.

The person was about six feet tall dressed in a bright colored Sari and brighter than the color of the Sari was the make up smeared on the face .The face was illuminated with a 100 watt flashy smile and a physique that could give Hritik Roshan a run for his money.

The tall soul was smiling at me and was making a gesture which is supposed to be their signature style in India.

After about 30 seconds of my constant praying versus the other party’s constant tapping, clapping, smiling, shouting and more clapping my prayers were answered or so I thought, because the person on the other side of the window decided to move on.

I thanked God assuming everything was over and was about to breathe a sigh of relief. But wait, just when I was coming to terms with reality – I heard something which sounded like a tap at the window. “What???” Screamed my heart, “a tap at the window again?????”

This time around I stopped breathing and started gasping for breath because without even looking I went through the same combination of emotions of shock, horror and astonishment but minus the amusement.

I gathered all my courage to turn my eyes towards the direction of the tap. I could see a small head with salt pepper mix colored hair. As I moved closer to the window I saw a very old lady with thick glasses, barely managing to stand, begging for money.

By that time I was quite jolted from inside. So I took a deep breath and reached out for my bag again. Luckily I found a dark red colored juicy apple tucked in one corner of my bag to give away to the old lady who obviously deserved it more that anyone else in the world.

As I rolled down the window and handed the fruit to her I could see her smile through her wrinkled skin! It felt good :)

Although it may sound clichéd but there is definitely some joy attached with making someone really happy. I was quite relaxed by then and was glad that I could make her smile.

I tried to put behind all my thoughts about the series of events that happened with a smile and got myself ready to go as the signal was about to turn yellow and then eventually green.

The moment I reached for the clutch there was another tap at the window. This time I acted promptly and turned my head without much thought.

To my horror and delight I found the same person who looked like a HE but was dressed like a SHE staring back at me with a grin from the other side of the window.

The person stood there complaining about me being partial towards the old beggar lady because I gave her an apple while I refused to so much as even look at this person when the same request was placed rather aggressively a while back.

I was accused of showing kindness to only a select few, based on my judgment while completely ignoring others for no obvious fault of theirs, which was true since the accuser had experienced it first hand!

I felt embarrassed but was very impressed with the way the case was put forth. It indeed was a strong case which left me speechless. Little had I known that I had someone watching me over my deed of kindness to the old lady and getting judgmental about my actions!

I smiled awkwardly at the person and reached out for my bag again – this time seriously hoping to find something to give away.

Alas, there were no more apples but I did find a couple of cereal biscuits in a small box that I always carry – thanks to my sudden bouts of hunger (courtesy – a very high rate of metabolism).

I emptied the box to give her the biscuits. As I rolled the window down to see the person without any encumbrances for the first time- I was received by the most benevolent smile that I ever remember.

When I offered the biscuits, I was asked to put them back and was bid farewell with the same benevolent smile as I hurried to turn the ignition on and drove away. The traffic was already going crazy with constant honking because I had taken two seconds to move from the time the signal turned green.

It all happened very fast but I still remember that moment which was beautiful for it taught me something very valuable that is beyond expression!!

I drove away with a very nice feeling for that person :)

After that day I have seen that person a couple of other times at the junction from a distance but my car window was never tapped.

Deep in my heart I still wait for the tap by the same person every time I cross Sony World Junction and this time hopefully the person will not walk away empty handed :)