On Sunday we decided to go for the build a bear workshop at the juhu shoppers stop. This is the local franchisee of the global build a bear network. Its quite a cute place to take your four year old. Here Jispa would get to customize her own teddy. First she chosses the basic type of bear and the ‘skin’. She had to choose from bears, dogs, lambs, leopards and different colors. She quite went bonkers. Then she chooses the sound that goes inside – she choose ‘I love you’. How typical a girlie. Then she has to name it, and push the pedal through which the stuffing is filled in the bear. She named the bear chocolate brownie. She even got to put inside a small heart. Then she chooses the clothes, the accessories, the cute chappals and finally prints the birth certificate. Pretty cool. Almost a version of the all American Quasi Spiritual Experience. Very cool I say. The price tag – like the bear , completely customizable. Every thing that goes in has a tag attached that decides the cost of the bear. And the bear is a small teddy size not a jumbo size. So with the bear, one pair clothes, one pair chapels cost around 1500 and then a carry bag like the baby sling bag adds another 500. Making it 2000 odd bucks. Not cheap but then that cost of making your kid feel like a mother. I don’t think Jispa enjoyed it as much as I did. I thought the whole experience was just great. At least she will remember the entire buying, oops, ‘birthing’ process of her chocolate brownie. Hopefully! I loved it for sure.
Here’s a pic of her with the skin she choose.
Here’s a pic of her with the skin she choose.
Post this we were hungry and therefore we decided to try out Govindas at ISKON (part of the ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ movement. Govindas has built a reputation for offering ‘spiritual’ food. I assumed it would be like something like pure ghee and ‘satvik’ kind of food. Jasmine also told me that it should be nice and less oily. We enter the place and board outside proclaims – Govindas – “the cuisine with a philosophy” and “spiritualise your eating”. Wah wah! What a stylo! It was a thali buffet system that day. Possibly due to Sunday. Quite a crowd. Hmm I assume this is good. Jasmine says – thali!! I am not sure. I ask for two thalis in any case at the billing counter. You need to pay first and then get in the restaurant. Spirituality comes only with cash down. Fair enough. He asks for 500 bucks. At 250 a head, philosophy especially about food is not cheap. Theek hai. Must be expensive to make good food with the purest of ingredients. We settle in with a welcome drink. Option of juice, jaljeera or chaas. Cool. We get to the buffet counter. I see the salad counter an almost die in shock. The fucking place resembles a marriage set up. The salad counter has green salad, Chinese salad, dhai vada, dahi bundi, fried ticklies, fried wadas, fried everything. The main course has veg clear soup with the Chinese optionals like soya, vinegar and chilly sauce. At the main course I just froze and died and went to heaven. There was paneer makhanwala, bhendi fry, some other stuff, schezwan rice, manchurian and a some thing else, actually much more something else. Full shaadi mandap it was. The ISKON guys seem to have got this right. Get the food oily, greasy and unhealthy, the gujjus will come in and then spirituality will spontaneously occur. Well, its not like the food was really bad but it definitely was not ‘spritual’ or with a philosophy. It was your plain old marriage pandal food. I am sure the gujjus enjoyed it. But also it must have brought them a little closer to their cardiovascular bliss. I had regard for them when a good friend of mine went over and dedicated his life to the movement. Today after this I have no respect or regard. They must be doing a lot of good but one such experience is enough for me to be on guard. See what’s at the entry of the restaurant. Such blatant spin doctor stuff. How can one trust spirituality to them?
