Day 163 - Barbe-cute

Barbequeing is not really done in India. Not done, that is, except by Indians who happen to have studied in the US and have US visitors. V and M used to have frequent barbeques when they lived together at Cornell. In honour of that tradition, and because it's just plain fun, they decided to throw a cookout party at V's house. Most of the day was spent preparing - buying huge amounts of groceries, marinating obscene amounts of meat, and perfecting the hamburger.

We also went to the high-end tailor to get M measured for a tuxedo. And to pick the fabrics. I had a grand time choosing fabrics and cut and tailoring details. The poor shop owners/tailors didn't know what hit them. And M will have a fine tuxedo.

The evening began with lighting the 'barbequtes' (pronounced barbe-cute), invented by V's father. M was insistent on not using kerosene, so there was a lot of fanning the fires to catch the coals. Cz ended up manning one of the grills, cooking up the lovely hamburgers that M prepared. Did we mention that we have not had burgers since we left? These nifty barbeques fold out to a nice grill size, but collapse down to store the size of a small suitcase. Sadly, they are only available for sale in Australia, or there would be one living on my fire escape as soon as I got home.

V's friends are all lovely, and we had a terrific time munching, chatting, and drinking. Said combination (primarily the drinking) led to a three-guitar jam session and much singing. Luckily the neighbors were having a party too, or there might have been trouble.

Fun was had until the wee-smalls of the morning. Cz, M, V, and I went to bed between 3 and 4 AM. Apparently the card games and gambling continued (with V's mom in the lead) until nearly 5AM. It's a far cry from our go to bed at 7:30 trekking routine!