Debojyoti: - How are you, Venky? We are back again in your Kerala Restaurant. Now it is 7.15 PM. Can we order any food item for dinner now?
Venki: - Well, it’s too early. My cooks are still cooking foods in the kitchen. You can order your dishes, but, you have to wait for another half an hour. All the food items will be cooked by 8 PM.
Debojyoti: - Ok, ok, not a problem at all. Just send someone to take the order from the respective tables. Hey, Venky, is there any cultural event in your restaurant tonight? I can see a guy ready to sing on a song while standing on a dais. Even two other persons are ready with their musical instruments.
Venky: - Oh! That is a daily affair in this restaurant. Local people of Mettupalayam will start flocking inside this restaurant after 9 PM. Some comes for dinner. Some comes for drink. Even there are couples who come here to dine, drink and dance also. That guy is Ravikant. He is the lead singer in our restaurant. The two other persons who are ready with their musical instruments are Shekharan and D’Costa. Sometimes, they also sing some good songs. Our customers give them money, if they feel satisfied with their songs. Every night, this restaurant earns at least 1000 bucks from the customers as ‘appreciation money’ for the songs. 5 months ago, Ravikant’s father expired due to cardiac arrest. After that incident, Ravikant was looking for work here and there to earn money. I knew that he has a good singing voice. I requested him to sing in my restaurant. Now, he is earning around 6000 bucks per month by singing here. It is more than enough for him to take care of his mother and younger sister. Ravikant is studying in a college. This is his final year.
Debojyoti: - Hmm…you have done a great job, Venky. You have given the right job to a right person. Ravikant has a good singing voice. He is singing the songs of Kishore Kumar very well.
Venky: - This is not his original voice. He is just customizing his voice to copy Kishore Kumar. He sings with his original voice, when he sings the Tamil songs or the Konkani folk songs. His mother is a Konkani and his father is a Keralite. So, he knows many Konkani as well as Malayalam songs.
Debojyoti: - What is there in his hand? I can see him singing while looking at a notebook.
Venky: - Sir, for a South Indian, it is very difficult to remember the lyrics of Hindi songs. That’s why; he wrote all the lyrics of Golden Hindi songs in a notebook in English language. When he sings, he just refers to that notebook only.
Debojyoti: - Wow! That’s great! Can I sing some songs while seeing that notebook?
Venky: - Yeah, yeah, why not! The stage is all yours, Sir.
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Vartika: - My goodness! Hey guys, there is a breaking news. Look there! Our Debojyoti Sir is about to sing a song while standing on that dais. Let us give him a good round of applause.
Debojyoti: - ‘Phoolon ke rang se…dil ki kalam se…andhi ne toka…duniya ne mujhko pukaara…itna madhur tera mera pyar…lena hoga janam humein kai kai baar…’
Koustav: - Wow! You are going great, Sir. Hey, our Debojyoti Sir also has a good singing voice.
Arindam: - I have heard that song for many times in the radio. Is it the song of the film ‘Prem Pujari’ ?
Vartika: - I don’t know the name of the film. Only thing I know that the evergreen actor, Dev Anand was giving lips in that Kishore Kumar’s song.
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Debojyoti: - Ok, Venky! See you again if we visit Ooty next time. The food items were nice. Goodbye for now.
Venky: - Yeah, yeah…you are always welcome Sir. Goodbye, Sir.
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Debojyoti: - Hey, what happened?
Bus Conductor: - It’s a tyre puncture, Sir. Don’t worry; we will change it within 10 minutes.
Debojyoti: - Oho! Already, we are running late. We have to reach the Coimbatore station within 25 minutes.
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Debojyoti: - Everyone listen to me. We just have 5 minutes in our hand. Our bus has reached Coimbatore station. The train is at platform No. 2. Our coach number is S-4. The bus conductor is at the roof top of this bus. He will bring down the entire luggage from that roof top. Just take your respective luggage and start running towards Platform No.2. If we miss the train, then we have to stay in any lodge in Coimbatore tonight at our own cost.
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Sumanta: - Uff, baapre, baap….It was like a military training. We were just running with our luggage in the platform. Anyway, luckily, we have boarded the train.
Angshuman: - Hmm…I am also sweating now. Anyway, let us now go to sleep. Everyone is looking tired in our group. All are planning to go to sleep. When will this train reach Chennai?
Sumanta: - It will reach Chennai tomorrow morning. Now go to sleep. Goodnight.
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Murthy: - Good morning, Sir. So, how was your Ooty trip?
Debojyoti: - Oh! It was just great. Accha, allot 7 rooms to us for 1 day.
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Kedia: - We will board Coromandel Express tomorrow morning. Today, we have to spend the entire day in Chennai. So, what’s our plan today?
Sunny: - Today, we will go to T Nagar market. John was saying that in that market, the prices of all the items are very cheap. It is just like our Esplanade Super market area. After shopping in T Nagar, we will come back to our lodge. We will keep all our shopping items in our respective room. Then, we will have our lunch. After the lunch, we will spend the entire afternoon and evening in Marina Beach.
Pandey: - Baah! That’s a nice plan. Now, it is 9.30 AM. You people will be ready by what time?
Koustav: - Don’t worry! We will have our lunch at around 11 AM. Then we will head towards T Nagar. Why? Do you need to go somewhere else?
Pandey: - Yeah, actually, there is a Ganesh temple just in the opposite lane of Apollo Hospital. I have to visit that temple.
Sunny: - Yeah, yeah, you take your time. But, just make sure that you are in the reception hall of this lodge before 11 AM. We will go for lunch together.
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Agarwal: - We are going to Ganesh temple to perform a puja. Is anyone interested to go to the Ganesh temple, they can come with us?
Arnab: - Yeah, yeah, I want to go. Hey, Debraj and Sain daa…come on, let’s go to that temple. What will you do by sitting idle inside the lodge?
Arindam: - Hmm…you are right. But, I will not perform any puja. I always visit temple to see the statues and architecture of the temple, he he he…Come on; let’s go.
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Agarwal: - We have to open our shoes and keep it outside the temple. There is a shoe keeper who will take 10 bucks to keep our shoes in a secure place. When we will come out of the temple, we have to collect our shoes by showing this small token to this shoe keeper.
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Debraj: - Baah…this Ganesh temple is not bad at all. It is not just a Ganesh temple. I can see at least 5 different statues of South Indian Gods inside this temple. Sain, you are not at all praying pranaam to any of these Gods and Goddesses. Are you an atheist?
Arindam: - I am neither an atheist nor a worshipper of God but I believe in God. That’s more than enough for me. Hey, look there! I can see a statue of goddess Durga totally in black color. I have never seen such an idol of Goddess Durga in my life.
Pandey: - Goddess Durga has many appearances. The dacoits of South India never used to worship Goddess Kali but Goddess Durga only.
Arnab: - Ha ha ha…for your kind information, Goddess Kali is the Goddess Durga only.
Agarwal: - See there! All the South Indian middle –aged women are singing the hymns with so much enthusiasm. That’s really great. Let us also sit inside this temple and listen to them. I can see an old man sitting quietly in that corner of the temple and meditating. Why people meditate? It is so boring.
Arindam: - It looks boring, but it increases your concentration power. We don’t do that. That’s a different issue. But the people who meditate regularly become peaceful people and their brain doesn’t get distracted so easily. Perseverance quality also increases. Anyway, let us go from here now. I am already feeling hungry.
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Debojyoti: - Today, you people don’t have to eat Tamil meals. You people can order for any food item. We have ample time. Just relax and eat whatever you want to eat. This restaurant is a good one. It has North Indian, South Indian, Chinese and Mughlai dishes.
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Chawla: - We are all eating either Dhoshas or Idli or Bada. But, Sain is eating a very awkward dish. I don’t know what is he actually eating?
Arindam: - Ha ha ha…I am eating Mixed Paneer Utthapam. The plate costs only 35 bucks, which is just 5 bucks more than your Dhosha, Idli and Bada plates. The taste is just awesome. I don’t know how this Utthapam is prepared. But, it is like a bread of rice which contains onions, tomatoes and paneers inside it. It really tastes awesome with sambhar and white colored coconut paste. I don’t think that I will feel hungry for next 6 hours after eating this. Also, I have ordered for a Mango Milk Shake after this.
Agarwal:- Ha ha ha…Arindam, make sure that you don’t feel any internal pressure in your large intestine after eating these things, because we have to walk a lot at T Nagar market.
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Debojyoti: - All of you have taken your lunch. OK! Now, we will walk towards the local railway platform. Just opposite to the Chennai Central Station, there are several travel agencies. We have to walk through the pavement beside those travel agencies. After walking for 5 minutes on that pavement, we will get a crossing. We will cross that crossing and walk for another 2 minutes. Then there will be a lane on our left hand side where several fruit sellers are selling fruits. We will take that lane and walk for another 3 minutes to reach the local railway platform.
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