Just Li'Es

The sprawling   restaurant  named  Bevina   is a  structure completely made of wood  and I was fascinated by the “natural”  windows  with open spaces all around  for one to savour nature’s bounty, the passing clouds over  the distant  mountains  and  a closer look of some of the birds (among the 40 varieties that kurumba valley boasts of)  perched on trees  surrounding Bevina.  As we  were feeling  quite  ravenous  we headed to the  buffet area  and noticed   the  large spread  comprising  the day’s soup , crisp okra,  fried rice and a variety of side dishes like mutter paneer,  mixed vegetable, Manchurian,  bitter gourd curry besides  dhal,  rice, sambar, rasam  and of course salad  and papad.  We took a table at the far end   and   even as we finished with the starters, the waiter brought hot phulkas and asked if we wished to have some more of them. During our five day stay at the resort the hospitality of the staff matched the quality of food and its variety (no dish was repeated either at breakfast, lunch or dinner) I thought. What   impressed me most was the liberal use of fresh vegetables in all the dishes served unlike in restaurants /hotels in Chennai.

 After  I   climbed  back   to the  Reception, not a pleasant experience I tell you after a hearty meal, I slumped  into the sofa  and I picked up a book at random  from  one of the  book shelves (the Reception has a  miniature library  which was a welcome sight)  and found it so engrossing  that  I decided  to   finish   reading  it  as soon as I could. The title was “The Chain of Evidence” by Michael Detroit.

(to be concluded…)                                                     

N. Meera Raghavendra Rao