Family Night

Neil, a lifelong Delhi resident, is the nephew of a woman who works at my parent's local bank branch.  I met his Aunt while I was giving my mom permission to access my bank account.  Apparently she'd taken an interest in my trip because she suggested I meet up with Neil while in Delhi. 

He picked me up at Sunny's a few hours after my tour of Old Delhi.  The car's air-conditioning was in full effect, and I immediately knew I was in for a rare hassle-free evening.  Neil suggested a good head massage would help to relax me, so we headed toward the salon he and his wife frequent.  We got to know each other during the ride, and I was thankful to be seeing more of the city given my limited time. 

I was due for a shave, and after 20 minutes and one painful application of after shave later, my face felt as soft as a baby's bottom.  The head massage with olive oil came next.  At one point, the guy strapped a massage machine to his hand which caused his fingers, and in turn my scalp, to vibrate like crazy.  Despite my lack of hair, I didn't protest Neil's suggestion for a shampoo given all the oil rubbed into my skull.  To my surprise, my head was left feeling just as soft as my face.

We drove back to Neil's home where I was introduced to Shivain, his new 6-month old son, and Shruti, his wife.  They had a beautiful home, and I felt lucky to be given such a warm welcome.  After more conversation, and a baby feeding, we went to dinner at Swagath, voted Delhi‘s best coastal restaurant by The Indian Times (newspaper) in 2007. 

Neil and I shared a “moderately” spicy Mangalorean fish dish (Mangalore is a city on the southwest coast of India).  His wife, being vegetarian, ordered a spicier mushroom dish which I barely tried as my tongue was lit on fire by the fish sauce.  I was easily able to drink a liter of water in addition to my Heineken.  Dessert in the form of decadent cold coffees with ice cream next door at Lavazza followed before I was dropped off back at Sunny's. 

I capped off the night with a live viewing of the Euro 2008 final from 12-2am at Regent's Blues.  The bar was filled with young Indians imbibing their share of alcohol and rooting for Spain. 

Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 66 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.