It was in the first week of March while coming from Puri that I last went to Express Food Plaza, a nice restaurant near Kolaghat.It was in the first week of March while coming from Puri that I last went to Express Food Plaza, a nice restaurant near Kolaghat.
For the first time after Covid-19, I went out once again yesterday to have lunch and guess what the place was once again Express Food Plaza.
Mukesh and Asif picked me up from my place at around 1 PM. The traffic was normal but thankfully no traffic congestion because Andul Road has a nasty history of traffic jams. On the way to Kolaghat, you have to pass through one toll plaza at Dhulagarh. The government of India last year mandated FasTag for all cars to stop congestion at the toll plazas but it’s not 100% implemented yet. The funny thing is that the technology used and the people who are managing the system are making the FasTag lanes slow-moving and this resulted in us losing 15 minutes at the toll plaza.
In between Dhulagarh and Kolaghat there are 2 big vegetable markets and it was quite surprising to see that not even 10% of the people wearing masks. Masks have become like helmets and seat belts in India – the rule is there but most don’t follow. The bigger problem is that without masks you are not fined too hence nobody cares. Just proves how badly we implement anything in India.
The plan was actually to have food at Sher – e – Punjab Hotel but when we reached there, the place was filled with people with a one KM line to get a seat. It didn’t sound a good idea to stand in line and that too under the hot sun standing in a queue and so the next best idea was to have food at the Express Food Plaza.
People who have gone to this place will know that the area is so huge that there is never a waiting time to get a table. But I thought I will see some difference this time since with social distancing and all it was expected for the tables to be spaced out.
How wrong was I!
There was no one at the gate who will sanitize you. This goes against the basic protocol that the Government has issued. The sitting arrangement had no change. It was exactly as it was in the first week of March. Quite understandably the place was not filled but the distance between tables was way too less. As soon as we came in, no one bothered to clean the table in front of us. Same case with the plates. I think it should be a basic protocol to clean the table and the plates with proper sanitised papers in front of the customers. I am not sure why that’s not being followed.
This just shows that people just don’t listen to government advice and this country will only change when we the people try and understand that following the rules is the duty of all citizens of the country.
The waiters were all wearing masks and gloves and caps but no one was sanitising the hands in front of us while bringing the food to us. What’s happening inside the kitchen can be well understood.
My question is why doesn’t the government get more strict in these matters? We need proactiveness from the authorities to make these businesses responsible. We are fighting against a dreaded virus so we better get more strict in these matters.
Today India reported more than 87,000 new cases and if people don’t follow any protocol the entire health system might crack. When are we going to realise that?
Anyways, enough of gyaan, now let’s talk about food.
I have known Asif for more than 25 years. If his name was not Asif – we could easily call him SOSI (SO from Soup and SI from Pepsi). And true to his name he ordered Soup. We also ordered Tandoori Chicken – didn’t have this dish for more than 6 months.
The food at Express Food Plaza is good. For the main course Asif ordered Fried Rice & Chilly Chicken, Mukesh ordered Masala Kulcha & Butter Chicken and I went for Alu Paratha with Ommellete. Once again went for Alu Paratha because didn’t have this for more than 6 months. We followed this up with Pepsi and true to His name, Asif (SOSI) had twice the amount of Pepsi that I and Mukesh had.
Anyways it was good fun having food at a restaurant after so long though the issue of not following the protocols by the restaurant left a bad feeling. It was equally good to drive through 60 kilometres each way.
The car back on the roads and I guess we are not far off from our next long journey. Where will it be? We don’t know yet.
I was finally dropped off at my place around 5.30 PM.
So have you been to a restaurant recently? What has been your experience?
From 2013 onwards, every year, the 3 musketeers – as some of my friends call us (Asif, Mukesh & myself) have always gone on one road trip at the bare minimum. 2017 was a unique year when we had 3 trips. It was I guess a signal of things to come because quite strangely we didn’t go on any road trip in 2018. Other than unwinding ourselves, one of the major reasons why we take these trips is to reflect on our business with an uncluttered mind and come up with ideas for the future. With just a couple of months left to sign off the calendar year, we decided to at least go on a short trip the last weekend.
The trip was planned suddenly so the best place to go for 2 nights was Mandarmani. Mandarmani is a beach destination in West Bengal which lies about 180 KMs from Kolkata. In fact, its the same place where we went in 2013. We did like the resort where we stayed in 2013 (Anutri Beach Resort) and hence booked the same place this time as well. So it was decided to leave on 13th October 2018 and return on 15th October 2018.
Generally, when we go on long-distance trips, we leave very early in the morning. But here the distance was only 180 KMs, so we decided to leave a bit late. My 14-year-old son’s midterm exam results were supposed to be published on 13th October. The results are handed over to parents and the timing was 9 AM to 11 AM. I left early around 7.30 AM in the morning so that I can reach before time and collect the results before the rush in the school starts.
Unfortunately, Andul Road (the place where I stay) had traffic congestion because of CESC work on some portions of the road. After crossing Andul Road as I reached the Toll Tax of Vidyasagar Setu, I met with further traffic congestion. The entire bridge was filled with trucks and the traffic police were having a harrowing time to control the commotion. With the Durga Puja festival just around the corner, 13th October was the last date of the free-flowing of heavy vehicles in Kolkata. Because of excessive entry of trucks, the entire Vidyasagar Setu got jammed. The traffic was literally crawling and a distance of 13 Kms which generally takes 30 Mins on normal days took me 1 Hour 15 minutes to cover. Because of my decision to leave early, I was still able to reach the school before time and as per my prediction, I was the first parent to enter the class and collect the results. Another advantage of going early was that the class teachers were more than willing to give proper feedback of my son which wouldn’t have been possible in the rush.
Anyways after picking the results my next destination was Phears Lane, where Asif resides. I reached Phears Lane by 9.20 AM. Parked the car and informed Asif about my arrival. Thereafter I proceeded to the nearby Gupta Hotel to have my breakfast. I generally take my breakfast by 8.30 AM every morning and now I was famished. After finishing my breakfast which was rounded off with tea, we had the next decision to make.
Our next destination was to pick up Mukesh who stays in College Road, Howrah. The traffic congestion that I faced while coming from Howrah made me feel that it’s better to go via Howrah Bridge rather than taking the Vidyasagar Setu. Google Maps was showing that the bridge is now free of congestion so we decided to take the Vidyasagar Setu though we were not fully convinced. As we entered Vidyasagar Setu we could see that traffic on our part of the road was moving freely but as we went towards the toll tax we could see complete chaos with no movement of vehicles.
We wasted more than 1 hour in this traffic congestion. What we had planned was to hit Kona Expressway by 10.15 AM but by the time we finally hit the road we were well past 11 AM. Nevertheless, journeys are supposed to create memories and this starting trouble added to our many memories of the past.
Asif was in the wheel as we started our journey. Our planned break was at Kolaghat. You cannot take a journey through NH 6 without halting at the famous Sher-E-Punjab Dhaba situated on NH 6 at Kolaghat.
We are no different. We reached Kolaghat around 12.30 PM and ordered for our favourite Alu Paratha and Tea. This was a bit of an early lunch but when you are on the road, time early matters. After finishing our lunch we started from Kolaghat at around 1.30 PM. We had another 120 KMs to travel. We took only one more break on the way to Mandarmani to take diesel. Otherwise, it was a smooth journey with Mukesh on the wheels. As expected the roads narrowed in the last 50 KMs which reduced our speed but otherwise it was all as per plan. 5 years back when we went to Mandarmani, the approach road to the resort was in terrible condition, intact there was no road leading up to the resort but this time I found the roads have been built and though its a narrow entrance but it was a proper laid down road.
We reached Anutri Beach Resort around 4 PM. The service quality at Anutri Beach Resort is of top quality. The rooms are pretty OK and the food is also nice. These are the reasons why we booked the resort for the second time and needless to say we were not disappointed. After checking in and having a round of tea, we made our way to the beach. With the evening setting in it was a pleasant walk around the beach. We roamed around the beach for more than an hour.
It being the final pre-puja weekend, the crowd was sparse. As the sun went down, we made our way back to the resort. Asif & Mukesh went for a dip at the swimming pool later in the evening. We ordered dinner and had our food by 10 PM. After walking around the resort for a while post-dinner we went back to our room. Thereafter our chitchatting started with topics ranging from the current craze of #MeToo campaign in India, Politics and of course business. By the time we hit the bed the clock was past 2 AM.
A night of sound sleep was broken by the constant buzz of the calling bell. I looked at my watch and it was 7.30 AM. The butler came in with our bed tea. We finished our tea, freshened up, and then left towards the dining room to have our breakfast. After a sumptuous breakfast which included bread/Jam/Omelette/Alu Paratha/Medu Vada & Tea, we once again moved to the beach. The resort being right on the beach is a massive advantage for holidayers. After a casual walk around we moved into the shade where a local masseur provided full body massage to both my friends. We also had tea alongside. This local masseur service was significantly cheaper than the spa which was situated inside the resort. After coming back to the resort, Asif & Mukesh went for the next round of swimming which was followed by Lunch.
After lunch, we spent the next few hours at the resort lawn which oversees the beach discussing business plans. Our #ChintanSivir mainly hovered on points of Employee engagement plans, Customer Satisfaction, Marketing Plans for the next 2 quarters, New Product planning etc. Time passed in a jiffy and as the sunset we retired back to our room to continue the discussion over tea and beer. Indian cricket team crushed West Indies in the second test match so watched the highlights of the match and thereafter watched an old movie, Gupt. Had an early dinner and retired to bed early since we had to leave for Kolkata in the morning.
On Monday morning, got up early, finished our breakfast, and checked out of the resort by 9 AM. We planned to go non stop to Kolkata because had to join the office. The roads were a bit crowded specially the first 50 KMs otherwise it was a smooth journey back. We reached Kolkata by 1 PM and reached office by 1.30 PM.
So our first trip of 2018 ended with all 3 of us rejuvenated to take our company to the next level. As we take a break of 5 days for Durga Puja, let me wish you all happy holidays!