Well both of them explain my resistance for group parties.Hopefully now my batchmates will understand my plight .
Now , thankfully , this semester had been quite eventful for me so far.
As a result , the stack of parties I owed to my friends was being constantly pushed higher and higher . But it were the end of the end semester examinations and this trivial stack was occupying a lot of memory. It was time to execute some pop operations (yes,I had a course on data structures this semester :p , don’t worry if you didn’t get it)
But again , I wasn’t a fan of partying around. Still I had to give one.And since my friends have been waiting for long ,I wanted it to be a memorable one. A little different from what they have grown accustomed to.
Food at Hudson Lane or NSP had started tasting pretty hackneyed by now. I was afraid that a treat over there would be pretty tasteless one too. No hard feelings anyone. These two places still are a few choices we have at hostel to relieve ourselves when the occasion calls(occasions like staying alive and stuff).
After a decent amount of research , I was able to locate this cafe called Echoes in Satya Niketan. I read about the concept around which the cafe is based (and the price list too) and was impressed at once. While my friends planned to surprise me with a belated-birthday gift on my belated-birthday party , I planned to surprise them with a new experience in return. So, I asked them to assemble on second of December at the New Delhi Metro Station at one in the afternoon.
To reach Satya Niketan you can take metro to Dhaula Kuan Metro Station(Airport Express Line).The cafe was a mere 1.5 kilometres from there and you can even walk around to the venue in just 15 minutes or take auto at Rs. 20 per head.We decided to walk and explore the area.
Now Satya Niketan has quite a different ambience than Hudson Lane or GTB Nagar , mostly filed with cafes and restaurants and no Desi Kiraana Store or Saaree house unlike GTB Nagar which surely whacks the urban-ness out of any place. Moreover Satya Niketan feels less crowded. Apart from this a ride in the Airport Express Line is enough to make you feel that you have left India behind (especially if you are travelling in it for the first time).
We finally reached Satya Niketan. With Scooter-On-The-Wall cafe at the very front welcoming us , we found many American cafes , Hookah Lounges , Gaming Parlours and Ice-Cream parlours on our way.Sri Venkateshwar College (or Venky as they like to call it) was on our left separated from us by a road which has been almost reduced to parking space.
At the very end of the lane Echoes was waiting for us.Upon reaching the front of the cafe I explained my friends about the reason for choosing it.And they probably felt a little surprised(I hope). Anyway we climbed up to the first floor for the cafe.Though I had read about it online , I still was unsure about how things would proceed. I do believe that the differently abled are the strongest people you can meet. But how would they communicate with us when they can’t speak or hear us. Fortunately, we were at Echoes and that’s what set them apart from any of the cafe I have ever visited.
Upon entering the cafe we were welcomed by a gentleman with a warm smile. He gestured
asking about the number of guests accompanying me. I mouthed five as my right hand involuntarily signalled the same.He courted us to our seats. Soon after we all have taken our seats,he handed me a visiting card which read-
“This cafe is managed by differently abled staff.Help us with the initiative.Thank You”
And I nodded as religiously as possible.Then with a really amiable smile he handed me the menu and explained about how can I communicate with them.
All of them were trained in sign language and if you , by any chance, knew sign language you could easily communicate them using that. If not then there was no need to worry. Each table was provided with a switch which would light up a bulb corresponding to your table number and no sooner than it is pressed, your server would be right with you. Mangu’s strategical position provided him with the honour to use the switch throughout our lunch.Then there were various flash cards which one could have used to communicate further.
They read “Spoon Please”,“Clear the table” , “Thank You” and even a card which I can ,with most certainty, claim would never have been used for the purpose it was made -”Call the Manager”.
The menu comprised of a wide range of food.It had sections like Head starters,Burgers ,Pizzerias, Pastas, Wraps, Shakes, Echoes Special among others.We decided to get different items for all of us and then do what I never wanted to in the first place-share them. We were provided with a notepad and were gestured to writedown the DIsh Code and the quantity on the note pad and hand it over to the waiter(I wish I knew a more respectable term, beacuse he deserved that)
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| Mudit toying with the switch |
For starters we ordered a plate of Cheese Joints Sticks for us all.I had read online a night before about the Echoes’ Cheese Joints Sticks and hence was tempted to order one. Now, these Cheese Joints Sticks were simply deep fried sticks filled with molten cheese and only God knows how deliciously gratifying it was to gulp down those cheese bridges formed amidst your stooping mouth and the leftover cheese stick in your hand after you took a bite.
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| Mexican Chilli Wrap |
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| Lasagna |
Aditi then ordered a BBQ Paneer Sandwhich , Aditya ordered a Lassagna , Aayush a Mexican-thin crust Pizza, Mudit ordered a plate of Arabiatta Pasta while I ordered a Mexican Chilly Wrap for myself.We further ordered Green Apple Mojito and XXX on the beach for us all.And they were the first to arrive.
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| Mocktails, Arrabiata and Mexican Thin Crust |
The Mojito felt a little biting but had enough taste to quench our mouths dried by cheese cheese. XXX was fine though.Remind me to Quora it out as to why it is called so.
Then came my Mexican Chili Wrap.The corns inside were quite sweet as compared to the overall smokey-chily flavour wreathing the wrap .It tasted quite different(and a lot better) from the mundane wraps DTUites are used to.
It was Aditya’s Lasagna that arrived our table next.It was pretty nice and could have easily given any cafe in Hudson Lane a tough competition.Same could be said about Mudit's Arrabiata.I didn’t actually like the Mexican Pizza Aayush ordered and realised (and made a mental note that I’m not a thin crust person).The BBQ Paneer Sandwiches were simply delectable.Thankfully they were five in number and hence sharing became easier.But the real charm was the mayonnaise dip the sandwiches brought along.
Amidst various selfie sessions we enjoyed ourselves.The feast had been relished .And I learnt sharing food can be fun (and hell lot of messier).Finally,we showed the flash card saying ‘Bill Please’ and the waiter got us ours . We had a last selfie with our waiter and were able to capture his heart warming smile within our phones. And that was what Echoes was all about -
courteous , heart-warming smiles and lots of respect for the same.
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