where we find paradise.

Dinners here in India are very sparse, not at all like our multi-course dinners back home. Lunch is the time when the quantity of food is highest, and oftentimes dinner will only consist of chapati and one other item. Because of this, Collin and I have had to go out and find more substantial dinners. One such place for sustenance is Arun's Paradise. It's right around the corner from us, so there is no need for a rickshaw, which greatly improves my opinion of this restaurant.
We went to Arun's for dinner last Saturday night, and to our delight we find that the place mats are word searches. After a brief glance at the word search, we find that there is a very unpleasant theme; all the words are associated with sickness and disease, not something that would really whet your appetite. Nonetheless, we find all the words in the amount of time it takes the waiter to come and take our order.

A short man awkwardly approaches our table and looking at me inquires, "Yes ma'am?" to which we respond by placing our order. He doesn't speak English, even though the menu is in English. So we point to an item and read exactly as the menu says, then the waiter bobbles his head in agreement in that endearing Indian way, and tries to repeat back to us what we had just ordered. After several rounds of this ordering and bobbling, we finally come to an agreement with the waiter that we are all talking about the same items. One more bobble, and the waiter starts off to the back of the restaurant. He suddenly stops, hurriedly swirls about looking for something, finds what he was looking for on the table that is behind him and next to us, then grabs an empty salad plate, and on it he places a napkin. Then once more he asks us what we would like to order, then quickly jots down our request.
The dinner, as usual, was great, and we had artwork to entertain our eyes while our palates were busy with the tikka masala. Although the waiter wasn't a bad entertainer either.