New Delhi, July 18 -- At lunch they forgot the cutlery.

To be fair, my partner Bishan and I had arrived after normal lunch hours. But the gracious hotel, housed in a beautifully restored 17th century colonial building in Tharangambadi, a former Danish colony on the coast of Tamil Nadu, assured us that was not a problem.

We sat on the veranda, next to trees laden with pink and white magnolias, while dragonflies swooped around us, waiting for our fish kozhambu (curry) and banana leaf biryani. The food arrived but without plates. When we pointed that out, a flustered waiter ran off to get plates. Later Bishan realised we had no cutlery either. By then the wait staff had vanished as well.

"It's okay," I said. "We'll just eat with our hands...