Beans but not bean on Devon Ave, I know.
There will be a meetup this Saturday, 2PM at Udupi Palace on Devon Ave.
I’m really looking forward to meeting our midwestern readers this Saturday! We shifted the date from last saturday to accommodate both Diwali and people’s schedules. I really hope this date works for people since I am shlepping my kundi a reasonable distance in the hope of meeting y’all.
Gamemaster-G9, Ravi, Ashvin, Dasichist, Chicago Brownie, Chi-Diva, Masale.Wallah, Ravneet, Windy City, “new to chicago” and others – I expect to see you all there, especially if you said this was the better time for you.
This is going to be our first meetup that isn’t on one of the coasts. A healthy turnout will ensure future Chicago meetups, which hopefully is a good thing 
Everybody is welcome, commentors, lurkers, people who are just curious … whatever!
Please RSVP by Friday Noon in the comments (Chicago time, of course) so that I can make reservations!
Previous posts: Chicago meetup 10/28? [Was 10/21]
If the super-flakes of San Francisco can get it together for more than two meetups, Midwesterners have no excuse. 😉
the last DC meetup was pretty small cheese, ‘IMHO’
yes this is sad. although ennis if you shared a pic it would help. especally the one with your green floral shirt and your baingan pug. hasnt your experience on lavalife taught you anything. 😉
hmm.. maybe i should go to little portugal tonight and get shots of some random desi-ish hotties – and start posting on the board as preti, sonal, kusum etc. from chicago. that’ll get you horndogs juiced up.
Small, but quality, son.
hmmm. were you even there? i can’t tell from your “handle”. whether or not you were, it had TRIPLE the # of people who are “confirmed” for this, so check your facts, playa.
besides, what happened in DC is irrelevant. what’s so annoying and egregious about THIS situation is how every commenter near chicago moaned about a lack of midwestern meetups for MONTHS, sullying threads with non-stop whining about how they are sooo ignored– DC doesn’t ask, so even if its last event was “small cheese”, it’s not analogous.
that and i LIVE here, i’m not driving 100s of miles out of my way to host something after being pestered silly. it takes a lot more out of ennis to host a meetup than it does me– not all mutineers adore event-planning, schmoozing and kundi-grabbing the way i do…all of that comes naturally to me, not to the boys. finally, brimful is right– but a) she always is and b) the next time someone calls my beloved “Baghdad-by-the-bay” flaketastic, i’m going to refer them to chicago, instead.
next? >:(
The superduper flakes of LA got together too.
Excellent news! I just returned from my conference in New Orleans and find myself waaaaaaay too hungover and tired to go anywhere tonight, so I’ve cancelled my out of town trip for the next 3 days and am staying in the Windy City this weekend!! I’ll be there. Saturday at 2pm, correct? [Though…Udupi doesn’t serve alcohol. Plan accordingly.]
So, Taz, here’s my question. As you refuse to let us all overlook the fact that…well, see above, and that you organized the meetup, when are you going to just bite the bullet, claim a room in the bunker, and declare yourself a permanent Sepia blogger?
What? Taz isn’t permanent?!?
Oh how attached we all get to our female guest bloggers.
Apparatus: Plastic cups and one minivan.
Materials: Ice, Bottle of Black Label Scotch, club soda or water.
Procedure:
1) Park minivan on the side streets.
2) All personnel huddle inside the van. (Note: If van capacity is reached, rotate in shifts) 3) Put ice in cup, pour scotch, add water/soda. 4) Enjoy 5) Go to Udipi. Return as necessary.
Warning: One designated driver is required (or multiple if more people show up). Hazardous without qualified personnel operating equipment.
So here’s my personal deal – I love meeting new people but planning an event (even as simply as I did here) is around as much fun as going to the dentist. It’s a testament to how many requests we’ve received for a Chicago meetup that I was coaxed into doing this. I was really encouraged by the comments and emails that I had seen.
Even now I’m blown away that somebody is willing to drive 100s of miles to meet other SM readers. I’m really honored to be part of a community like that.
So I want to encourage you to RSVP if you’re at all interested because, and here’s the rub, if we hold the meetup on Saturday and there is low turnout, as the intern said, that’ll probably be the last meetup I hold in Chicago.
I know people get busy, and I know things come up. But in NYC and SF, where people are equally busy, there’s enough people that I know we can get together a meetup of at least 10-15 people at the drop of a hat. There’s just strong demand.
It’s a non-trivial shlep for me to come to Chicago, and the travel, event, etc. will probably take up most of my Saturday. I’m happy to do that, even though it’s a nasty drive for me, because I’m excited about finally meeting people in person.
However, if there is a really low turnout I wont be swayed by people’s requests in the future. It’s not a punitive thing, it just means that Chicago area readers are either few in number or really not into meetups.
So if you’re interested and available, don’t wait for the next one because there is no guarantee it’ll happen.
Yay! Rupa and her hipflask will be there! Sorry about th Udupi thing – I didn’t know and as a non-drinker, I didn’t think to ask.
I’m going to rent elephants, employ a free henna tatoo artist, and hire attractive models wearing hindu God and Goddess outfits for the first Houston meetup. Then it will have been brung.
Are there even desis in Houston? I thought there were only Mexicans 😛
Midwestern Guys,
I was just talking to Amrita Arora over the phone a few minutes. She tells me that she lurks at SM and may show up at the Chicago meet this weekend with the entire Bollywood crew*. She did not promise, you know she is a busy gal.
Now, take your chances. You can meet her and the backup dancers, or who know maybe, even marry her and/ or backup dancers one day. No risk, no gain.
Jai.
Much worse.I’m ashamed to admit it. But it’s kind of funny. “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” Yup. Laugh. It was on Monday.
Huh? What? Hazing? Scary bunker smells? Online crazies? Where am I? How did I get here? Huh?
Ennis,
Great. Will be there.
whoohoo… be carefll what you ask for chicagonads, the hotness quotient just went through the roof there!!!
guys, bring your best game to the show – the desi mootch mustn’t go limp. hmmm… and ennis must wear a turquoise crown…
heck… i feel like a desi peter pan – think of a bullet headed guy with close cropped hair wearing a wifebeater T and a hairy gut sticking out over a chequered lunghi flitting over your dinner table dinging you with a bamboo lathi. dont look up though. real men dont wear anything under their lunghis.
Hairy_D, you didn’t respond that way to news of Amrita Arora 😉
hey… different strokes… funny girls just make me get like a rambutan.
your experience vs my experience
anyway. i wasn’t one of the people begging for a chicago meetup but I am truly sad that I can’t make Saturday. In almost any other circumstance except my current workload/deadlines I would make it.
64. Actually it’s one of the few places where they know their desis from their Mexicans 🙂
@ 63
0.8 miles from Hillcroft. Count me in.
You must be working for Schlumberger. I know, I know it isn’t 0.8 miles from Hillcroft. Just joking. Maybe, bouncer for Rick’s. That might be 0.8 miles. Again, joking.
PS: I used to live on San Felipe.
Houston. Check. Shotokan. Check. San Felipe. Check.
Are you my long lost twin?
Ennis,
I’ll be there.
-Manish
Are you my long lost twin?
We are, if you practise Shotokan Karate @ YMCA (San Felipe) under Sensei Shadi. Then you are one of them.
I have many Lav as lost twins. You know Lav-Kush from Ramayana.
This man should go to India immediately. Sensei Sha(a)di to the blue courtesy phone please … he’d be mobbed in an instant!
76. Shadi, Kyrash and Alan. BHAIYA. Cue in 86 violins.
77. He gets mobbed everywhere. Quite a playa.
Nope…in my world, when life throws you lemons, it means you need to get out the good china as you have some lemon meringue pie coming your way !!
And Kush, you can’t just say “I was talking to Amrita Arora” and leave it at that! Remember how you still owe me for that DesiTorrents invite? Well, if you can convince Amrita to make it to the meetup, somehow let it slip into your conversation with her that your best friend/cousin/whatever (i.e. me!) is incidentally free on Saturday and could show her around town if she wants and she takes you up on the offer, we’ll call it even. Sounds about fair, right?
And Kush, you can’t just say “I was talking to Amrita Arora” and leave it at that! Remember how you still owe me for that DesiTorrents invite? Well, if you can convince Amrita to make it to the meetup, somehow let it slip into your conversation with her that your best friend/cousin/whatever (i.e. me!) is incidentally free on Saturday and could show her around town if she wants and she takes you up on the offer, we’ll call it even. Sounds about fair, right?
Definitely. Sounds fair.
If Amrita Arora shows her bhav to you, then Amrita Rao is always up for meeting intelligent fellas from Amreeka. Do let me know next week.
Main Huh Naha
I will be there as long as people are willing to eat lunch with someone who hasn’t updated her blog in months . . .
And I will drag a brown friend along.
I don’t know bdeshini – you haven’t updated either blog in months, I mean …. oh, OK, you can come. And your friend too 🙂
You guys have a really healthy way of interacting with each other….any one up for an Adelaide, South Australia meetup??
Ennis,
Thanks for putting this together. Please add one more to the list.
If you bring along single Sikh women, I’m sure Ennis would host more Chicago meetups in the future =)
Arey, there is a gurudwara on Devon Street, very close to Udipi! No dearth of single sikh women there on Sundays and I speak from experience. 🙂
Great – that makes 10 RSVP’ed, and based on past experience we should get maybe a 50% increase in last minute turnout. That’s great guys – I look forward to meeting you all! I’ll call the restaurant and give them a heads up.
mr. ennis: in my absence please eat some idli sambhar for me.. or better yet.. y’all eat some…
enjoy… ennis is awesome!
this thread seems to be on it’s last legs. good that 10 have rsvp’ed.
anyway i’m not personally familiar with the chicago area I to have some points in response to #43. these are just thoughts I have that have formed from online browsing.
chicago has maybe the 2nd or 3rd best city area rail system ie subway lightrail in the us. maybe 4th or even 5th. i wonder how commuter rail is. other ones that come to mind are the best nyc dc maybe 2nd then boston and sf. look at la. it’s known for sprawl. traffic. there is some decent public transport but probably not a system like the aforementioned cities. also chi might be the 2nd city in the US as far as desis go.
anyway have fun. who knows maybe there will be more non ne/west coast meetups.
sounds like the chi-town meetup is gonna be good — with or without starlets! (hopefully with!) hey, maybe the next president of the united states will show up too! you know who i mean…
addendum to #89 non ne/west coast other than chi meetups.
Oops, is it too late to add one more? One of my girlfriends will be coming with me as well.
It’s not to late for anybody to join us. Please, stragglers, last minute people – you’re all welcome to just show up. I just needed to know our minimum number so that I could make plans. We usually grow far beyond the original count.
At the SF meetup, probably 50% of the people were last minute types who hadn’t RSVP’ed – so an equal number.
Please, encourage people to stop by.
Next one might be Houston, b/c of Abhi. We’ll see.
count me in too- unfortunately, i might be a half hour to an hour late because of a work commitment. but i’d still like to join you guys for chai. . .
If you bring your friends “Sari Border” and “Hennaed Hands” we’d have an ABD book cover 😉
Ennis, just a question, where are you driving in from?
dasichist: he’s driving down from north dakota and the bunker.
Chick Pea, How about where is he driving in from IRL???
Dasichist – you’d have to come to the meetup to find out 😉