The last Monday of my trip found me in a new place in Delhi. I went over to meet friends for lunch in an arts complex called Triveni. I was meeting my friend Mustafa and one of his friends from business school. Mustafa is a friend of mine from Singapore--we met in the Underground Cooking Club MeetUp. We ended up going through several galleries before sitting down at a cafe for tea and paratha. I wasn't expecting to see any galleries, so I was really excited to be seeing the work. One of the galleries was focused on the history of film in India. It was really interesting to see the different styles of dress throughout all of the posters displayed. And they had several film strips in light boxes, which gave me another idea for the dance pose project. The second show we saw was a painting and drawing show. I really enjoyed the drawings that were on display. The whole Triveni complex was buzzing with creative energy. There was a ceramic shop and an outdoor theatre space. And there were four or five floors devoted to classes, workshops, and practice space. While we were there I heard people dancing, drumming, and--somewhere off in the distance--a flute. After our lunch, Mustafa decided that we should go to Rodeo. Of course, I heard the word rodeo and was like, What? Where are we going? We hopped in the cab and headed over, and when we got there I couldn't believe it. All of the waiters were dressed like cowboys--or as close to cowboys as they perhaps thought--and the barstools were Western saddles. It was the most hilarious place on the planet that I have ever been to . . . EVER. There were cowboy posters and random Western sayings on the wall, sheriff badges and rainbow colored Mexican fabrics. On one wall--across from where we were sitting--in giant letters it read, Warning: Coyotes, Rattlers, and Texans. (Damn straight, I thought.) They were having some sort of taco lunch buffet, but we all agreed that there didn't seem to be very many people eating. And the tacos looked vaguely like Indian food. So it was questionable Tex-Mex at best. But we were there for the drinks and the drink menu was quite enjoyable, both in drink names and combinations of liquors. I had a shot called "Cowgirl's Prayer" that I chased with a KingFisher beer. My shot was a combination of Creme de menthe, grenandine, and Tequila. It still makes me cringe a little bit just thinking about it. But it was beautiful! It was red, green, and yellow: perfect stripes of liquor! I kept thinking that it was too bad that it was 2pm in the afternoon because this place would be just OTT at night when it was really crowded. And they were playing like early 2000's music. When we sat down--no joke--they were playing Backstreet Boys. Mustafa said that they used to get there every Saturday at 3pm and stay until the wee hours of the night. I was in heaven, and quite honestly felt a little bit closer to home . . . Go, go Rodeo! The train ride home ended up being magical, too. I was in the Women Only cabin, just standing there because it's always so crowded that there is never anywhere to sit, and all of the women around me started singing. Thankfully I had my phone out because I immediately started recording them. It went on and on until they got off of the train. And it was a call-and-response type singing: with an older lady calling out and the women all around her answering. It was completely fascinating, and I still have no idea what they were saying. I've attached my sound clip below. It was then that I thought, Wow! This Women Only thing is fantastic! How fun! Everyone was smiling and singing! What a fabulous--and unexpected--way to travel home!
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