It was a warm morning. Well, it was morning to him at least. He had just woken up. The clock showed 12 and he had a class at 1.
He slowly rolled out of bed and put on his slippers. He did not have enough attendance leeway left and had to punch in for the class, lest he lose a grade.
He strode out of his room, straight to the mess. The aroma of potato mixed with turmeric was tantalizing. He stopped for a moment, vicariously enjoying the dish and then cantered in, with vigor. The dal rice along with the potato curry and boondi raita, served on that day, was his favorite combo.
He filled his plate with the food and started eating, enjoying every bite of the crunchy potato and gummy rice. He was reminded of his childhood. Nostalgia hit him hard and the pain was sweet.
Every day, curd rice and potato used to be his lunch. Every single day for 10 long years…
Those were the days…
Here he was, 2000 kms away from the place he called his home, eating the same dish and made the same way.
Well, it almost brought tears to his eyes…
He would have liked to sit there and eat it all day. Yet, his capacity is something that was limited and he was forced to stop.
He cleaned the plate and as he was washing his hands, he was reminded of a famous quote.
“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”
Ah, how true it was…
He sighed with satisfaction….
He trotted out of the mess and was affectionately kissed by the warm sunlight.
It was soothing, the winter had just ended and the sun was making a comeback.
“Summer will be fun, real fun”, he thought and a smile crept on to his face. He then checked his watch, it was 12:55. He was alarmed. He had spent way to much time in the mess, lost in nostalgia.
He almost ran. He ran into the class, punching in his attendance, on the way. He went to his seat and sat, heavily.
The heavy lunch should have made him drowsy. On that day, though, the class was good and it got over before he knew it. The next session, went the same as the first one and he was done with lectures for the day.
He was standing in the corridor, contemplating if he should go out for a cup of coffee and then his phone beeped.
“Meeting at 5:15 PM”, it read.
“Ah, I forgot”, he realized. He had a meeting to attend on that day and it was he who had called for the meeting. He had forgotten it.
“Well, coffee will have to wait”, he decided and went in to the classroom.
It was 5:05 PM and he was bored.
He decided to go have a look in the canteen for some lost soul, who he can chatter with.
As he walked into the canteen, there she was with her plate of noodles. A fork in one hand and the plate in the other, she was slowly but surely making her way through the noodle maze. She looked up from the maze, surveyed him and frowned.
He went into the canteen and himself a bottle of mazza. Mangoes were also something he relished. The luscious and sweet taste, made him swoon.
He came out of the canteen to the seating area. He went and took the empty chair next to her.
The canteen was a nice chic place. The seating area had a steel table, a few fiber chairs, a TATA Voltas water cooler and a couple of wooden stools. It was the only hangout spot for the students on-campus. The only canteen on-campus, they were almost a monopoly. If not for the shack outside the campus, they would be raking in the big bucks.
No complaints though, he was a loyalist and they did serve a decent fare. Noodles, Sandwiches, Omelettes, Cool Drinks, Chocolates and a few other snacks.
She was engrossed in her phone and the noodle was given second hand attention.
It was almost time for the meeting and he did not want to be late. He finished his drink, in one long swig and got up to place the bottle in the holder. She started eating the noodles in earnest, eager to complete it before the meeting. She finished her snack and they both made their way to the classroom.
Well he did not know then, but he had spoiled her evening. The noodle was a paltry substitute for what she would have been having at the point in time, if not for the meeting.
He did not know this though…
A couple of people were already there, in the classroom and a few more were on their way.
“Let us start and get this done, fast. I AM going out for coffee today.” He decided and the very thought of the beverage made him cringe with longing.
His affair with coffee started on a bright, summer morning in 2014. It was his first job and it was the first time he tasted the beverage and it was love at first sight.
That tale though, is for another day…
The meeting went well. It was quite a productive one, a lot had been accomplished in that 30 mins. Things were well set and he was quite satisfied.
People slowly started leaving the hall.
As he was packing his bag, he looked up. He noticed that she was frowning at him, again. Well, that was not right. People do not usually frown at him…
He could not see the reason…
Well, they made their way out of the classroom, strolling towards the gate.
“I hate you”, a voice claimed.
He did not realize that it was for him. He walked on unperturbed.
“I hate you”, it exclaimed again.
Well, this time he was certain it was for him and he noticed that it was her. He did not understand what was happening though. He was clueless.
“I was supposed to be having a tikka”, she proclaimed. She was agitated, energized and he could see a controlled laughter, creep into her face.
“I missed my lunch as well and you forced me to have these pathetic noodles, instead of my royal tikka”, she declared, more energetically.
“Why did you have to call for a meeting today”, she castigated him, or so it appeared.
He did not know what or how to react. He was startled and a bit surprised at this outburst.
“At least you did not go empty, noodles are good. It is for only one day and you can have your tikka anytime”, he managed to retort.
Well, she was relentless. Then and there she started the “I hate you” campaign.
Hammering in, right till they reached the gate and after…
Surprisingly, an auto was waiting right outside and they did not have to wait. They boarded it. He thanked the gods, for this bit of luck.
Which god ?
He did not know.
Her words were not offensive and had this subliminal tease to it. Yet, he was lost for words of his own. The auto came to a halt at her stop and as she got down and payed.
“I hate you”, she proclaimed again, a wry smile curling up on her face.
The auto then, sped away.
There he was sitting silently, ruminating.
All thoughts of coffee vaporized.
“Food is the most important need in a human’s life”, he contemplated. The first thing he decided to do is to get her a tikka.
My Discovery of India 