Tuesday, January 5, 2016

How They Do It in America - A Lesson

So I found this new establishment - Shah Ghouse restaurant on the Mehdipatnam-Gachibowli road. This Shah Ghouse restaurant is apparently one of the hot shot biryani joints in Hyderabad (it's number one now!) and I learned about it from an outsider. Anyway I heard that the restaurant was selling so many biryanis at their Charminar place that it now expanded to Toli Chowki (near Four Seasons). I was zooming on to try this biryani with Satish when suddenly Satish pointed out - Shah Ghouse.

This was a new place they opened up.

We were early. It was 11. One shutter was open for chai. It was nice. How do they make it so?

The biryani parts opened later. They were cleaning up the place. I went and stood at the counter - being the first there. After a while another gentleman landed up. All this while Mr. Cashier and Token Giver sat counting his notes. And then he looked at us apathetically.

Satish and I wondered what the original owner who began this venture would think of such apathy. He would surely remember days when he would dream of customers standing in queues for his biryani. He would have been so grateful. And then we have this gentleman at the counter uncaring about the queues waiting for his biryani.

I proferred the note in my hand to the cashier. In a flash an old man with a loud voice rushed past me and said - two jumbo biryani - or something and shoved his money ahead. The cashier took his money and gave him the tokens. I let him, though visibly irritated.

At the counter where we have to collect our parcels, we were all struggling to find a place. A bit like a darshan in a temple. Into that small hole, on the delivery side, came another apathetic gent. He started to write on a small piece of paper a code - ICB (I Chicken biryani). Why he was behaving like he was writing some complicated code I did not understand. Anyway, he was an irritable chap who gave us complex codes and even more complicated methods to collect our biryanis. For example my MB would come separately from the CB but I should raise my hand whenever he says MB along with all other MBs. Else he will get mad. Must have worked in the government sometime.

Anyway, next to me was the old gent who had pushed past me at the counter. He was not having he same success here.

'In America they will not stand like this,' he told me looking at all the people crowding us. 'They are very particular about queues and will even miss a flight but won't break the line.' He genuinely felt he was in the right. I did not have the heart to remind him of how he broke the queue a while ago.

For some reason, he told me all about himself, his family, his mother, deceased father, 4000 sq yard plot in Jubilee Hills, sons in America, friends abroad, house in Manikonda, Shah Ghouse in Toli Chowki, Americans and delivery systems, drive ins at McDonalds, quality of biryani - all within 10 minutes. Except for his name, bank balance and blood group, I have a lot of information about him

Why do such people pick on me?

3 comments:

Rajendra said...

ha, ha,..appetiser?

Rajendra said...

and how was the biryani?

Harimohan said...

Raja, missed the biryani review. Chicken biryani (CB1) was normal. Mutton biryani (MB1) was different - good meat, lots of masala. Overall nothing to stand in line for.