Someone told me that there are over 120 holidays celebrated in India each year or a number close to that. Today was Brothers and Sisters Appreciation Day when the brothers vow to protect their sisters. I had forgotten about the significance of the day after class when I had decided to go to the restaurant at Ambience Hotel for some bhindi masala (okra in a spicy tomato-onion sauce), butter nan bread and a sweet lime soda for dinner. I crowded into the elevator with a group of six or seven and we rode to the fifth floor where the rooftop restaurant is located. I have been to Ambience a handful of times since I have been here but I have never seen it so packed! There was a party of ten, a party of eight and a party of twenty-five or thirty which occupied most of the tables. I found a table off to the side that faced the large party and provided enough light to read my book. What amazed me was that the staff was amazingly efficient with the big parties. Other times I have had to wait ten or fifteen minutes before a server visited the table and often the servers stand in the corner near the cash register waiting for something to happen. At one point all the women in the large party stood up and passed out gifts – little cube-shaped boxes wrapped in blue cellophane. Then everyone started to clap and sing “Happy Birthday to You!” Several people at the large table were sung to but also in the other parties around the restaurant. I ended the evening with a little mango ice cream and returned home satisfied.
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