Eating Out

Story by Maggie
Pushkar
Tuesday, November 8


Pushkar is a holy town and a destination for pilgrims. It has also been a draw for western travellers for decades – Anne and Dave first came here in the 70s. The result is that there are lots of restaurants aimed at western tastes. Menus I’ve seen offer crepes for breakfast, and pizza for dinner, among other things. We’ve been eating Indian mostly, delicious and cheap. (A very nice dinner might cost the equivalent of $5.00.) Last night we went for pizza at a rooftop place called Om Shiva – this after arranging to meet there…or was it at Om Baba? or Om Hotel? the other Om Shiva?…eventually we all ended up at the same place, anyhow. We ordered two Margherita pizzas, just cheese and tomato sauce, but one of them came with a few leaves of fresh basil. Of course we went for that first. It was delicious, the best pizza I’ve had outside of Italy, crunchy and spicy, with lots of cheese. We watched the waiter carry a huge bowl of greens* to tourists at the next table. “Oooo, that’s not smart,” we commented from our high horse.

A few minutes later, Anne said, “Guess we shouldn’t have eaten the basil, huh?” We cracked up. S-m-r-t.


*it is not advisable to eat any raw veg or unpeeled fruit in India, as it is likely to be contaminated