sunday mornings were special!

ah those sunday mornings! when the laziness of being took centre stage and nothing more demanding than a languid arm raised to bring the tea cup nearer to our face could be expected.

we dont much remember sundays in our salad days - just a day off from the humdrum of school [unlike most, we did not enjoy school and are not in touch with anyone from those dark, dickensian days]. university was a week-long holiday broken by sundays spent training for the forces. we would actually get up at 5 am to go tramping and running and marching. fun times, they were!

it was during these sunday morning excesses that we stumbled upon the idea of "sunday breakfast". our group of eager lads willing to commit all for flag and country was also a very hungry group and the 10 am break led to a storming of the nearest restaurant - a simple, 5-table south indian food outlet whose owner trembled at the sight of 30 menacing looking lads thumping up and demanding victuals.

our sunday morning experiences were considerably improved when we set foot in la belle paris. although it took us a while to get used to the laughable concept of "continental breakfasts" - two croissants and coffee - we found the idea growing on us and in our wish to emulate the natives we plunged wholeheartedly into this habit. losing about 20 pounds in gross tonnage in the process.

our forays in the wilds of africa led us to discover a little-known fact - sunday mornings, being the sabbath, tend to be busy. we discovered the "sunday lunch" - heavier cousin of the breakfast - here and we put back the 20 pounds and more over a period of three years. some of those sunday lunches especially when bivouacking in the far north of nigeria remain green in our memory to this day!

back in the native we honed our skills at the sunday morning omelette - a process where finesse, urgency and imagination brought forth a plump, steaming piece of goodness if we may say so ourselves. this skill has been maintained over the years and there is nothing better than an omelette with a plateful of toast and tea, we can assure you!

we also added a layer to the sunday morning experiences while in calcutta. the "puri-aloo-cha" combo of the stall outside the faded but memorable mona lisa guest house was our go-to in those pleasant days. and of course being in calcutta, this was followed two hours later by the famous sunday-lunch-in-calcutta consisting of fish curry and rice with some vegeterian elements trying to elbow their way in. extremely burp-worthy sundays they were.

now that we are in a heathen desert, fridays are the new sunday. the habits continue. but the charm of a "sunday" tend to be diminished when one is working. because sunday is a normal working day. and therein lies the rub.