By the end of the eighties, the ‘Ashoka’ name was hot on the lips of every curry worshipper in the west. Intrepid explorers from ‘the other side’ (of the river, that is), had been spotted winding their way westwards in search of that eastern promise. The southerners had to be comforted. It was time to build an oasis in the dopiaza dessert and open the Ashoka South Side!