(Part Seven)
Whew! The entertainment lasted until 10 pm or so ... four and a half hours of music, dance, comedy and sheer fun ... and then it was dinner ... YUP ... Dinner at 10pm ... I've posted before about how late everyone eats here.
It was a glorious buffet set up in the back of the lawn area, with servers from the banquet hall company manning the hot dishes.
The buffet table was essentially divided in half ... vegetarian only on the right side and non-veggie food on the left.
And, boy! was it delicious. I took my very oversized plate ... it was much more the size of a platter - at least 20" diameter ... and tried just about everything they had available on the non-veggie side.
Sitting at a table, everyone looked at me a bit quizzically and each asked if I am able to eat the spicy food. "I am doing just fine with the food, thank you, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit."
And spicy was an understatement ... whether it was the rice, chicken, or hot and cold salads my taste buds were brought to life with curry, chilis, pepper, coriander, and I'm sure a whole handful of spices I'm not familiar with ... and I relished each and every bite. YUMMMMMMMMM ... even went for a second round.
During dinner I had the opportunity to meet others from the Pune team who work with other clients besides my firm. So, we did "talk shop" a bit ... but I really wanted to learn as much as possible about Pune from their point of view as well as life in general here in India. And - as always - everyone was gracious ... willing to teach me about this area, its history and what it's like to live here.
After dinner the hall opened up to dancing ... the party was just getting started at 11:30pm ... but I was so tired, that I came back to the hotel ... arriving here slightly after midnight.
A night that was very special ...
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