The perils of lobster

Mid-week during our time in Chennai, Linda suggested we all head out to the beach.

Just because all we’d been doing til that point was KYM/lunch/dinner in roughly the same geography. That, and some of the group weren’t at all convinced that Chennai even had beaches.

So with something of an agenda in mind, off we went!

Our first stop was the Murugan Temple in Besant Nagar, right on the ocean.

Murugan is one of Lord Ganesha’s brothers (all sons of Shiva). He is not as well known as his elephant-headed brother, and is worshiped in South India more than in the north.

He’s all about war and victory and yet somehow the way I encountered his energy at the temple left me feeling… cleansed. Freed. As though I’d just taken the best bath of my life.

Unfortunately it was dark by the time we arrived and my camera only does so-so night shots when there’s little to no light. So unfortunately, all I’ve got to offer are these…

Wandering the grounds of the Murugan temple

A young bhakta singing his heart out – it was ethereal and beautiful

Local beliefs say that if you come to the temple and build a structure, you will soon build your own home

Not sure who these deities are, but I loved this wall carving

But it was gorgeous and warming and welcoming.

Oh Murugan! A new favourite for me. 🙂

Red or white lobster?

Then it was onwards to eat at a somewhat fancy Italian place called Bella Ciao, recommended by one of Linda’s friends.

Fancy it was, almost like a resort in layout. After a few days of intensive studies, everyone seemed to be ready to cut loose a little!

So we ordered some wine. I was surprised to see a South Australian red landing on the table but it was so good we ordered some more, and I enjoyed boasting to my companions about the quality of Aussie vino.

The gang at dinner, with our “lobster”

The evening was hilarious and the food excellent. But things got even more amusing when we called for the bill.

Ummm, this isn’t our bill, insisted one of our group. We didn’t have any lobster.

With a few quick words from the waiter and a decent enough understanding of the local alcohol laws… it was clear: we’d consumed two red and one white lobster.

Liquid lobster!

Technically, the restaurant couldn’t bill us for our wine. So through the alchemical magic of beachside Chennai, our wine turned into lobster.

Then we noticed the *cough cough* cost of said lobsters!

I hate to admit it, but we’d all grown so blase about the cost of food in India, we didn’t give a second thought to ordering three lobsters! I probably should’ve twigged when I saw and tasted the very nice Australian red…

The upshot is that between us, we didn’t have enough rupees on us to cover the bill.

One of our number – John – came up with a solution: he’d put the whole dinner on his card and we could all donate our rupees to him. Which is why this photo exists… 🙂

Others in our group then started using this tactic whenever they were short on rupees themselves. We began to call this “winning at Monopoly”.

So just beware y’all… lobster doesn’t always come in crustacean form in India!

~ Amanda