I sat with a scowl on my face, while Varun sat next to me deeply lost in his laptop.
Me : "Hmph!"
Varun ( looks at me ) : "What happened honey?"
Me ( still scowling ) : "You never have any time for me. Earlier you were so romantic, but now all you do is make love to your 'laptop' all the time, hmph!"
Varun ( smiles at me ) : "Ah! Is it? Then, I think now is the perfect time to reveal my surprise for you."
He pulls out a folder and hands it to me. It had some pictures of a Yacht, some invoices and a legal type paper.
Me ( looking confused and curious ) : "What is this?"
Varun : "This my dear, is my surprise for you, for our upcomming anniversary. I'll kidnap you this Friday for the whole weekend to the high open seas, where there'll be nothing & noone, but us. We'll go on an exciting holiday on the Yacht that I've booked."
Me ( can't believe if it was for real ) : "Are you serious? Oh Varun! This is so cool and what a fun way to celebrate our anniversary. You are so romantic!"
Excited, I hug him tight, feeling rather silly for scowling at him just a while ago.
Me ( but there's a question in my mind ) : "You said there'll be no one but us, so who will sail the boat or cook?"
Varun ( reassuring ) : "Sweetheart, you forgot the days I spent in the navy. I can perfectly handle the boat. As for food, its a fully stocked modern Yacht, and since I know your dependence on 'Ready to Eat' dishes from
Kitchens of India, I'm getting all your favourites items from there on the Yacht too. Dont worry honey, I got it all planned."
Me ( thrilled ) : "You are such a darling baby. I love you. Can't wait for Friday to come."
Friday came before we knew it and both Varun and Me, boarded the Yacht early morning. He was all prepared with the maps and navigations. Plan was to sail out to the high seas then drop the anchor and get romantic for the whole weekend in the middle of the open seas. The weather was perfect
( with the met dept declaring no sign of any storms for the next fortnight ) and so we took off.
While Varun steered the wheel
( i.e helm ), I made dishes with my favourite
Kitchens of India, sharing hugs and kisses in between and life was too good. We were already out in the middle of the open seas after some time, and Varun had dropped the anchor that would hold the ship steady. As we watched the sun set for the day sipping wine, we enjoyed a hot delicious meal of the following :
( Click images to find out )
After a passionate night over the moving waters below, we fell asleep in each other's arms, with the Yacht swaying gently in the mild breeze. Little did we know that the anchor planted deep in the ocean floor had shifted in the night and the Yacht was moving on the high seas, taking us far away from our anchored point.
Varun : "Simran, Simran! Come here fast!"
I heard Varun calling out to me urgently. It was still early morning and he was in the control room. Still feeling very sleepy, I got up and went to where he was.
Me : "What happened honey?"
Varun : "Shhhh....Look out. I think the Yacht moved in the night and we are somewhat lost. Look at those tiny approaching rafts surrounding us."
As I looked out to where he pointed outside, I saw several tiny round rafts surrounding our Yacht. Oh no! I realized, we were lost in some god-for-saken place in middle of nowhere, and some native aborigine tribes had surrounded us from all sides. They wore strange tribal dresses of feathers & leaves, had tatoos and piercings all over their body. They also carried little bows and arrows. All looked quite menacing as they got closer and closer to our Yacht, ready to attack. I was petrified, not quite sure what to do.
Varun ( sensing my fear ) : "Be calm honey. There's got to be a way out of this."
He was acting brave, but I knew, he was worried too. The aborigines had got extremely close to our Yacht now, and were chanting some strange stuff out loudly in their language. We saw one leader amongst them, who was dressed the same way like the rest, but he had a long feathered crown on his head. He also carried a skull. He raised his one hand, and the chantings stopped. Then he started calling out, looking at our Yacht.
Me : "What is he saying?"
Varun : "I think he is calling for owner of the Yacht. I think I should go."
Me : "Be careful Varun."
Varun raised both his hands in a surrender sign and stepped out of the control room. He walked towards where the tribal leader's raft was.
Varun : "We mean no harm. We are lost, please dont hurt us."
All the aborigines started whispering in their rafts. Some looked curiously, some suspicious got their bows ready in an attack mode. My heart went out to Varun who still had his hands raised in surrender.
God please help us, I prayed.
Aborigine Leader ( in a strong commanding voice ) : "What are you doing here? I see a lady with you as well. Dont you know this place is dangerous?"
I was surprised to see the leader speak in fluent English.
Varun : "We are lost sir. We were holidaying, when without our knowledge the anchor of the Yacht shifted and the boat drifted from its position."
Aborigine Leader : "You modern city people, why do you all make these kinda machines if you donot know how to handle them?"
Varun embarrassed, was at a loss for words. I crept by to his side and stood near him.
Me : "Please help us, we are lost."
I said, feeling rather uncomfortable. The leader looked at me scrutinizing.
Aborigine Leader : "If we help you two, whats in it for us?"
Me : "We have nothing but amazing food from
Kitchens of India. We can give a 'thank you' party for you and your people here."
Aborigine Leader : "Do you hear, my people? They have food!"
The leader shouted out to the others. Everyone yelled happily raising their bows, though not threateningly anymore. The leader turned to me and said with a gleam in his eyes.
Aborigine Leader : "Ok, you feed us the food and we will help you get back to your city shores."
Nothing sounded more a relief than that. I hurried to the Yacht's kitchen and started preparing. Varun had fully stocked up the Yacht, so a grand meal could be easily prepared for all of them. The food from
Kitchens of India being ready-to-eat, made my job lot easier. All I had to do was 'heat and cook'. After an hour or so, everything was ready and I went back to where Varun was, on the deck.
To my surprise, the Aborigine Leader and all the other tribals were aboard now on the Yacht and sitting on the deck with the leader chatting away with Varun. I announced to them little nervously.
Me : "Dinner is ready!"
Along with some crispy naan and cans of coke, the meal served comprised of the following :
( Click images to find out )
Varun helped me in serving and we served all the tribals in the open deck area. Very soon they were all licking their fingers, having thoroughly enjoy the meal. Some took 3-4 helpings of the food as well as the various
chutneys and conserves that I laid out for them. I thanked the Almighty God that Varun was thoughtful enough to stock so much of food on the Yacht.
After eating their full, the tribals were again whispering amongst themselves. This got me a bit worried and I looked anxiously at them, thinking
now what!
Aborigine Leader ( looking at me ) : "They are saying that they want to thank you both for the delicious food that you served us all, with our main festival dance 'Hur Hur Jingalala'."
Relieved, Varun and I readily agreed and soon drum beats followed, and some strange humming 'hur hur jhingalala' tribal songs. The tribals started dancing for us. Some pulled both Varun and me to dance along with them. They were all happy and danced for hours, showing us their various martial art skills and acrobatics too. It was truely a wild party happening on the deck. And we all enjoyed thoroughly.
At the end of it, the tribals slowly descended to their rafts and got ready to head back for their homes. The Aborigine Leader spoke to Varun for a while, giving him directions back to the city shores and finally took leave.
And soon we were heading back to the city as well, with memories of the inprompu 'tribal party' in the middle of the wild open seas with
Kitchens of India playing a big role in saving our lives.
So, always keep food from
Kitchens of India ready, who knows when they might come handy ;-)
This post is part of 'My Gourmet Party' Contest by ITC - Kitchens of India in association with Indiblogger.in
