Lunch at Pushker’s Home

Pushker had invited me and a Belgian couple, Tiffanie and Simon, who had also attended the wedding, to lunch at his home. Pushker’s family rents several rooms in old Udaipur where some of the streets were so narrow that the tuk tuk couldn’t drive us all the way there. We followed him on foot for several blocks.

We rounded a corner and came upon an open area that looked like a miniature city square. There were eight or nine cows in the area and a row of motorcycles parked on the right. A couple of bulls took issue with each other and started jabbing each other with their long horns, knocking over several motorcycles in the process and threatening to knock down the rest like a group of dominoes. A man nearby shouted at the two bulls and distracted them. Cows may be sacred to Indians, but that doesn’t mean they’re never annoyed with them. The cows can be a nuisance at times.

The kitchen door.

Pushker’s family is large, and they share several rented rooms. There was no living room or dining room, so we were seated in the tiny, narrow kitchen. Actually, Tiffanie and Simon sat on the floor, and I was given the only chair.

Both the kitchen door and the floor had colorful religious decals affixed to them.

We watched as Pushker’s sister-in-law finished preparing the meal. We were served egg curry and gulab jamun, the best I’ve ever had.

We were introduced to Pushker’s sister-in-law, but he didn’t actually tell us her name. Hmm, there seems to be a pattern here… She didn’t speak much English, so unfortunately we were unable to get to know her.

There was a Muslim festival going on this day (November 26) with a major procession taking place in the evening. After thanking Pushker’s sister-in-law for the delicious lunch, we headed to the Lal Ghat area where the Mewar Haveli Hotel is. We intended to watch the procession from a rooftop restaurant nearby, and we needed to get there early to stake out a table.

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