Terrace in the Sky

Last night was magical. I know no other word to describe it.

I went out for dinner with my colleague, our boss and our boss’s friend. The four of us reached Hauz Khas Village at about 8 in the evening. Inside the Village, we strolled through the lanes and the bylanes for a while before settling on the restaurant —Terrace in the Sky — as our dinner destination. Before going in there however, we decided to potter around the Hauz Khas ruins, an experience that was further enlivened by the fact that my colleague, who has a PhD in medieval Indian history, gave us a brief but brilliant lecture on the history of Hauz Khas, its construction by Alauddin Khilji, its manner of architecture, so on and so forth. A walk through the ruins at that time of the night was beautiful to say the least. Some of the monuments were plunged in darkness, while others were bathed in the soft, orange glow of the artificial lights. There was no crowd to distract us, no voice to cut into our thoughts…just us, the silence, and the ruins. It was perfect…and I could have stayed there forever.

After a while, we moved towards the restaurant, and the magic continued. The view the Terrace provides is really special. It is of the ruins, and of the small, flickering lights of the city in the distance. The Terrace is in fact, a place where you can go by yourself. Of course, great company always helps. But don’t compromise…don’t go with just about anyone and everyone. Go with someone you really want to create a perfect memory with. It’s not a place where you have to keep talking to have fun, because at any time you may want to get up for a stroll, or sit with the musicians while they create some beautiful fusion composition using tabla, synthesizer and sarod, or lean against the balcony and stare at the splendid yet desolate ruins in front of you.

The food itself was good although overpriced. But the ambience more than made up for it. And anyway, what good is money if not spent, and what worth is life without wonderful memories?