Hindi

The flat in Greater Kailash in Holi week: the dal is about to get cold, I have to tell you something, is something about to go wrong, we're going to have a baby, a baby is coming in December, I'm going to become a father, who do we tell first, are you going to keep the night shifts.

Priya's hospital in South Delhi, the Doctor's room: congratulations, how many weeks, about eight, have these tests done this week, have the report sent to me, what should she eat, greens, milk, fruit, chai only two cups, that's a punishment, have the roster changed, days only, I'll have it changed, bring your husband every time.

The Sharmas' table in Lajpat Nagar: a baby is coming in December, stay happy always, come here, live long, both of you, I'll be a grandfather, I knew it, she's been eating sour things for two weeks, I'll be the uncle who spoils, you'll be a great-grandmother, you've grown thin, eat first, talk later.

The roof in Lajpat Nagar after lunch: I want to leave the hotel and open my own restaurant, now, with a baby coming, why not open it now, Hauz Khas rents are madness, what's the harm in looking, and the money, our savings, why not ask Papa ji, ask him yourself, let's at least have a look at a lane.

The counter of the shop in Chandni Chowk on a quiet afternoon: I want to open a restaurant, let me explain, first let me hear the whole thing, Hauz Khas, twelve tables, Dadi ji's recipes, let me think two days, Priya agrees, let him try, don't let the bank eat you, our savings and a small loan, let me talk to Mummy, five lakh, no interest, let me at least say thank you.

The kitchen table in Greater Kailash, a notebook and two cups of chai: how much do we have, roughly, about eighteen lakh, around twenty-three with Papa ji's, the deposit alone at least four, the kitchen fittings about six, wages at most a lakh, the licences roughly fifty thousand, all in all about fifteen lakh, and two lakh set apart for the baby.

Raju bhaiya's auto through Hauz Khas Village on an April morning: on the park side the corner shop is empty, the one with the yellow door, no, that one's small, the one with the tree in front, whose is the room upstairs, the same owner's, Mehra ji of Green Park, the lake-side shops look dearer, a tree in front means three tables outside, I'll get the owner's number from the tea-stall man at the corner, and the fare, the first meal at the new place.

The empty corner shop in Hauz Khas, Mehra ji with the keys: forty square metres and a store upstairs, one lakh fifty thousand a month, that's far more than the lane's rate, at this price you won't find a kitchen in Hauz Khas, I'll pay no more than one lakh twenty, less than one lakh forty is impossible, then I'll have the floor done and you the wiring, come on Tuesday with your wife, at less than this.

Mehra ji's house in Green Park on Tuesday evening, Priya beside Noah: one lakh thirty-five and I'll have the wiring done, one lakh thirty, and only if the wiring is done by the first, on condition that the rent rises ten per cent after, only when the eleven months end, unless the music stops at ten the neighbours will eat me, soft after nine, the deposit is six months, three, provided we pay the first month today, your wife bargains better than you.

The notary's office in Green Park, the Clerk reading the agreement out: the tenant pays the rent by the fifth, the owner has the wiring done before the first, write that, please sign here, please have the keys given to me by Monday, please keep the sign small, you'll see, it'll be a pretty sign, please give me a receipt, two copies, keep yours safe, send the rent to the account, not in cash.

The licence office on a May morning, Noah with a folder: which window is for the food licence, the printout is submitted here, what is attached, where the fee is paid, when the licence will be issued, in thirty days after the inspection, sooner if everything is in order.

The same licence window three weeks later: the file is still pending, the inspector hasn't come yet, I've already brought the papers twice, the water report is still missing, here is the receipt, found it, it was already here under another name, I've been patient so far, and even so, keep the receipt.

The new kitchen in Hauz Khas, Thursday at eleven, the Inspector with a clipboard: here is the kitchen, the chimney comes Saturday, the chimney must be fitted before the licence, then you'll have to come again, a photo will have to be sent by Monday, what else has to be done, a basin by the door, I had to wait three weeks, and the licence in a week.

The kitchen, a morning on the phone to Mehra ji: I've been waiting for your electrician since nine, he's on his way, he's been on his way for two weeks, stuck in traffic at Okhla, since when, I've been paying rent since the first, by four I promise, otherwise I call my own electrician, and I'm coming myself to see.

The Okhla vegetable market at six in the morning, Yadav ji, Rohan's supplier: Rohan sent me, I need paneer and milk daily, paneer three hundred and twenty per kilo, tomatoes at the day's rate, onions and potatoes at the month's rate, delivery by eight, no, seven, half past seven, and payment every week, every Monday.

The back door of the kitchen on the first morning, crates on the step: this isn't what I asked for, fresh from the market an hour ago, the paneer I tasted was soft, the same dairy, as was agreed ten kilos and this is nine, the market scale, take it back and bring what was agreed, by noon, exactly as you said.

The kitchen at eight, the truck hasn't come, Yadav ji on the phone: the truck broke down at the flyover, either the goods by nine or the lane today, otherwise my kitchen stops, tomorrow I'll bring double, either tomorrow at half past seven or else we stop, don't say such things, deliver on time, otherwise what is the deal for, my word, and today by nine or else the lane.

The empty restaurant on an afternoon, Pooja from the lane, two years at a cafe: can you manage twelve tables alone, at the cafe I handled twenty, can you work till eleven, I can but at night I need an auto, do you know how to use the billing app, I'll learn it, starting at eighteen thousand, nineteen and I'll manage to bring the old regulars, from when can you come.

The gate of the building on an evening, the neighbour from the first floor: so you're the one downstairs, it seems a restaurant will open, I've heard foreigners cook spicy, I cook Dadi ji's recipes, it seems the drilling will go on many days, just two more days, perhaps, they say the lane stays awake at night, it seems you sleep early, I sleep lightly but no problem at all.

The tables under the tree in the first week, Aunty ji on her way out, Pooja at the counter: it's not that the smell bothers me, the chimney goes up Saturday, the music is great fun, just a little, my husband's heart, she means too loud, we'll turn it down after nine, the tables are just a bit under my balcony, shall we move them towards the lane, as you wish, I said nothing, she said everything.

The Doctor's room at Priya's hospital at the end of June: everything is fine and the heartbeat is strong, how much time is left, six months done and three to go, until when will you keep the shifts, a month at the very most, the restaurant opens in two weeks, Priya can go on a chair till ten, and I'll sit at the counter and count the money.

The new kitchen on the Sunday before the opening, Dadi ji and Mummy ji on two stools and Rohan at the stove: the dal first, so good that I'll ask who taught you, the paneer as soft as Dadi ji's, not as much ghee as I put, as much as Hauz Khas can eat, the more ghee the more love, a pinch more salt in the raita, so good that you can put my name on the board, and it's been there since Monday.

Dadi ji's Kitchen on its opening Saturday, every table full and a customer forty minutes into her wait: a restaurant or a station, it's the opening today and that's why, because of the first day the kitchen is slow, the dal cooks on a slow fire and that's why, slow fire and fast bill, the kheer on the house because of the wait, because of the kheer I'll come again, next time it won't be because of us, and that's exactly why a good review on the app.

Dadi ji's Kitchen in its first week, Raju bhaiya's auto full of the Lajpat Nagar lane and Gupta ji with a box of sweets: the whole lane has come and even the barber, Mummy ji sent the sweets and I've only brought them, you haven't even had chai, only for a minute, you've come for the paneer just like me, don't work till midnight, she's said that to Priya too, I'll just eat and go, and eat first, then we'll see about going.

The back door of Dadi ji's Kitchen on a wet July morning, Yadav ji with the crates: tomatoes at a hundred and twenty, forty last month, if you fix eighty I'll pay in advance, if you take all the paneer from me then ninety, eighty-five as the middle way, if the payment comes every Monday, agreed and settled, you've learned to bargain like a Delhi man, and from you, Yadav ji.

Dadi ji's Kitchen on a Monday morning, Mehra ji at the door with the agreement in his hand: the sign is bigger than agreed, according to the agreement under one metre, from next month the rent rises, as written the rent stays the same for eleven months, the electricity bill has doubled, you should have told me the lamp is on my meter, you should have asked, as written the owner's wiring is the owner's, and fine, the rent stays the same.

The stairs of the restaurant at noon, Aunty ji from the first floor on her way down: a good smell comes from your kitchen, do you mean I should send lunch up, oh I didn't say that, meaning a lunch box at one with dal, roti and a vegetable, only if there's some left over, a little less chilli for my husband, meaning less chilli for both of you, and your wife I've heard, and you mean the baby, in December.

The door of Dadi ji's Kitchen on a Sunday evening, a father with two children: no butter chicken and the children eat only that, try the Mathura dal and see, a foreigner and village food, taste it and see and if you don't like it there's no charge, and if I don't like it, then the chai is on me and you tell me why, all right one plate each, sit under the tree and see, and try the lassi and see, everyone takes a second.

Dadi ji's Kitchen at four on a Tuesday afternoon, two tables taken, Papa ji and Mummy ji come to see: Tuesday is slow and you'll get used to it, I'm not yet used to an empty room, you're used to a full hotel, which habit should I get into, get into the habit of sitting with the customers, you've got into the habit of coming home late, I'm getting into the habit of closing at eleven, and of eating lunch, and Aunty ji has got used to my dal.

Dadi ji's Kitchen at dusk on Diwali, lamps on the tree, Aunty ji down with sweets, Raju bhaiya's auto at the corner and Priya on a chair at the till: please come in and be seated, sweets from upstairs and happy Diwali, you're very kind and there was no need, Raju bhaiya sit and have chai, with your permission one cup then the auto, how long now daughter, December and Noah's parents are coming, with your permission let's light the lamps on the tree, and no trouble at all, I'll hold the ladder.