AneStory

Now that Duds was accompanying Hera on bike, Hera was not alone, but still lonely, for the girl behind was not the one he wanted, not the one who was going to approach him, was neither the one who was junior, not Monsoon either. But Hera was not kind of a guy, who would treat any girl with short-handedness or poorly. Chivalry was his middle name, unless he was lost in thoughts, which was often.

Hence, to make Duds comfortable and enjoy the trip, he paid attention to her words, looked at things that she showed, stopped at places where she wanted too, pluck a flower, take a picture, and also speed up to next destination to be on time.

Duds was having time of her life, sharp turns, high speed, narrow escapes, frequent stopovers, a guy treating her as if she is Queen, so drastically different than Teep, who was just restricting her, like her parents over the years

"Beta don’t do that, don’t do this!" Ufff! Why have I come here, if I cannot enjoy my freedom?"

And now, a drastic change! Hera, was just charming to her, he was the way she wanted a man to be to her.

They had to stop at a temple, where Duds realised she had sprained her ankle and it had become difficult for her to walk. Hera helped her walk, but was uneasy at it. Smoky understood the situation and joined in, latter on returning back Smoky also helped Duds put on shoes.

And now Duds was in pain, but was happy for being taken care of, back on bike and it was time to have some food. And all decided to stop at first Dhaba that came up the road. Ad they did. The Veg-Non-Veg ratio in group was about same, and hence one dish of each was decided upon. Non-Veg people decided to have butter chicken, while Veg decided to have Rice and Pulses.

Dhaba(Drive in) was not much off a place, 1 hut was for kitchen and a cloth shed with wooden tables and chairs formed the place, source of milk was smelling distance away, and some other animals made up for the ambience. Hera and his friends being only customer, service was expected to be quick.

Waiter brought Veg dish out in just 20 minutes while Non-Veg people and Hera included was left waiting for another hour! When asked why it’s taking so long.

Waiter:"Chef has gone to catch the Chicken."

Hera:"What?"

Monk:"Where?"

Waiter:"Well, Sir Most of the things are caught or bought after we get order, so butter was bought just now."

All:"Ok! That makes one thing clear, everything will be fresh!"

And order was tabled. As everyone started eating, something did not taste right. Monk was first to order more pulses, which he added to butter chicken, Hera followed suit, and it tasted perfect, perfect Butter Dal! When it was clear, that the much clear looking Gravy was not potable by anyone, chicken was drained out and consumed with Dal (Pulses cooked in water and spice).

Once, consumption was over, it was time to pay bill, and for 1 pot of chicken, the charge levied was lewd. 450INR. Waiter was called in for explanation......

Taklya:"Why is Butter Chicken so costly?"

Waiter:"Sir! Its ingredients are costly!"

Monk:"Yes, they are but you have doubled the price, even for a 3 star restaurant"

And he started explaining the recipe.

Waiter:"First, we catch a chicken, kill it and clean it, feathers and all, sometimes blood gets sprayed, so have to wash off it."

Half of the group was already nauseating.

"Then we go to market and buy one slab of Amul butter, which we put in pan, add onion, tomatoes, spices..... "

Hera: "What! You added whole slab of butter, how many grams pack did you use?"

As Hera was speaking, he was moving towards the left over Gravy....

Waiter:"Yes, whole Slab, 1/2 Kg one!"

Hera:"He is telling truth; they did not add any water to gravy, only butter, look it has solidified like ghee now!"

Chef was called in, and taught how to make Butter Chicken by the Group, but still had to pay up the amount, well just got a discount, so 300INR was paid for the Chicken Dish. Hera made a note for self, whenever he will step into a place to eat and finds it not to be normal one, would only order normal dish.