We have a ritual. On the 1^st of January every year, for quite a few years now, we have been going to a temple in the outskirts of the city. The peace and quiet there after the noise, the hustle and bustle of the previous night, is a welcome change and has always given us a divine kind of serenity to lead us by the finger into the new year.

And after the darshan, we go as a family to our favourite restaurant for a brunch we love. This ritual is perhaps more of the kids’ favourite part of the day but we enjoy it as much as they do.

This year however the 1^st of January had some unexpected developments. Both the kids couldn’t make it to the temple and they were too tired after their New Years’ Eve Partying to be in any mood to be spiritual. So for the first time in many years the wife and I went alone and had to contend ourselves with bringing back Prasad from the temple. And of course it did not make any sense to go for brunch, so we quietly returned home and rustled up some homemade lunch and got on with the year.

Strangely enough, both the kids and us parents felt uneasy about the way the year started. The kids were repentant that they had missed their date with God and we were full of remorse as far as the brunch was concerned.

A day later, my older daughter left for Chennai where she works and that was that. We were going to be a threesome at best for the next few weeks before my daughter returned on a vacation and we could make foursome plans again.

But obviously our prayers were heard, our discomfort noted and so on. Suddenly we got a call and a message that due to the long weekend that the festival had created, our daughter could join us for a few days this month itself.

Without any hesitation we planned the resurrection of our ritual.

And started with looking for a place to brunch.

The choice finally boiled down to our favourite, usual restaurant and a new cafe which I had heard about. Since my health had prevented me from going out too much in the last year, the idea of checking out the new venue won the argument and we all landed up, albeit 2 hours too late for brunch, at a wonderful place called Truffles Cafe in Jubilee Hills.

The sight of a never ending staircase that led from one level to another was daunting, but I braved the first set of steps and was shown a benchy seating arrangement at Level 1 just outside their patisserie.

The waiter was friendly and the menu card very attractive on the price side. And the options were delicious. Pastas, Pizzas, Rice Combos and a host of other yummies that began to appear magically on our table within a few minutes of ordering them.

Okay, there was no beer so we made do with fresh sweet lime juice with a frothey head and cheered our way into part 1 of the family ritual.

My younger daughter had no hesitation in declaring that as far as she was concerned, today was January 1^st.

Of course that means I have a couple of days to get the kids to accompany us to the temple and complete the circle.

God works in strange ways, but I wish all of them tasted so good.

Truffles Cafe, look out. You have been officially adopted.