A rustic look, take you back to your roots
The flyer said, a sign in wood printed on it
The name “Nani-ghar” plastered proudly.
The cost was high, a plate of panipuri
For Rs. 300, a piece
But it was the cost of the ambience, the nostalgic feel,
You would be paying for an experience,
Returning to the glory days of being a child, being carefree.
And so we went, my sister and I,
To Nani-ghar café,
Only to stand and see,
The waste of money
We had just incurred,
For inside the door were mats on clay floors,
Utensils made of wet sand clobbered together,
Rustic they called it,
And the room was lined with the smoke,
Of what they hinted was a chulah,
But we knew was simply effects.
The food tasted like any other café,
And the ambiance we paid for?
Was just that…a reminder that many grandmothers grew up
Not in the lap of comfort like we did,
But in simplicity,
Perhaps we paid for the lesson.
Or perhaps we were robbed,
By the promise of a false ambiance.
-Anjali Roongta
