The first thukpa of the season
daily life and noodle soup
When I told you I picked up my laptop right before Tihar, it wasn’t quite the end of the story. The computer worked, sure—only as long as it was plugged in; it needed a new battery, and the service center I’d taken it to didn’t have the right one in stock.
“Try New Road,” they said, pointing out the serial number to me.
The machine was functional, and I wasn’t about to go to New Road right before one of the biggest holidays of the year. New Road, while no longer the option, is still a magnet for shoppers, especially at this time of year.
Tihar came and went, and I still wasn’t looking forward to the bustle of the street and the hunt for computer supply stores.
But I was in luck: over the weekend a good friend told me he had bought laptop batteries from a shop in Putali Sadak, and gave me directions to it.
Funny, until my friend mentioned it I hadn’t thought of Putali Sadak, though I should have: there’s just so much here. Walking down it from the north end, you pass shops glittering with every type of light fixture, a sprinkling of paint stores and hardware stores with neat displays of hinges and attractive doorhandles: lions and elephants, a beautiful bamboo wrought in brass.
Soon you start to pass computer stores, and wide panes looking in on bolts of fabric and smart samples of a suit you might want tailored.
I’ve said before that if I don’t visit a part of the city for a few months, I’m surprised by the changes. On Putali Sadak—and isn’t Butterfly Road a great name?—I was this time taken aback by the familiarity. By shops that looked—or appeared to look—exactly the same as they had years ago.
It was a good recommendation. When I reached the shop at the far end, the proprietor didn’t have the battery I needed, but a quick call and it was on its way by bike delivery service. Once it arrived, changing it was a matter of minutes, and I was on my way with a properly working laptop once again.
**
Also sprinkled throughout the road, tucked between all those businesses, are countless eateries, to feed the people who work here and and the many students from the colleges and educational institutions on its arteries.
One opening, narrow and stretching far inside, beckoned: Cafe Pink Floyd. Sure—it was pretty basic, but the walls were covered with bright murals, the staff were great, and I had my first thukpa of the season. Heavy on the timmur, hot and spicy both. The weather is fantastic right now, but there’s a chill in the air at night. Winter’s coming, and a bowl of zingy noodle soup topped with crunchy, chewy buff cubes really hit the spot.
Speaking of murals, yes, on the wall deep in the back by the kitchen on the left they had outlined some of the bricks and painted ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL. And I don’t think that solar hamburger looking like an alien entity bent on eating my lunch was intentional.
I hope you’re enjoying something warming, too. Perhaps a cup of tea?
