Our incredible amazing meal was $15 for 7 of us….contrast that to about $90/person at the Leela, and the Leela cannot provide the ambiance and incredibly authentic fare we had at this local place (which literally embodies the moniker “watering hole”) called Garam Naram. Spicy, steaming veggies accompanied by 6? varieties of stuffed bread, all served to us by the very youthful-looking waiter who wrote absolutely nothing down as our cohort Danny Mehra fired off our extensive order.

Gideon was in heaven and I was too (once I used some butter to fan the flames in my mouth!!)

One of my co-worker/travelers said the Leela is a 7-star hotel and I believed him. It’s technically 5 but I’ll opt for the Spinal Tap exaggeration to 7…it deserves it. Ostentatious and pompous yes. Also, perfect. Perfectly clean. Perfectly light. Perfectly beautiful. Perfectly indulgent and anticipatory of every feasible and conceivable human need one could have. Where do I start? The marble floors. The enveloping linen. The fluffy huge perfectly white towels. The water and amenities abounding everywhere.

Oh – and the mouth-watering breakfast bar at their Citrus Lounge…..the whole affair, plunked right in the middle of intense, chaotic, swarming Bangalore, easily lulls one into a sense that all is good this side of heaven. Plus the VIP treatment (being picked up by multiple cars, whisked away to executive briefings, having your photo snapped in lobbies with kiosks bearing your names!). Can I snap out of it?

Or was it a day? What is time? All is lost when you fly 14 hours…wait an hour….fly 4 more…wait 10 more….and fly 4 more. Reminiscent of our arrival in Auckland last year, arriving in Hyderabad via a Pacific route was like Groundhog Day: you keep thinking it’s another day but it’s really all the same day.