This is an incident which happened about 7 years ago but it is one which we still talk about and have a laugh everytime we get together!
It was somewhere in november when I was still busy with exams & all of a sudden I got a call from my buddy Levin & he was like “dude come over to my place for lunch tomorrow”. I was excited “Whats the occasion?” I asked. “Nothing special, I am cooking” was his answer. For a second I didn’t know what to say. “You there??” he asked. I said “yeah yeah, U cooking????”. “Yes & be sure that you make it & I’ve called some other friends over too”. Relieved that there would be others to share the grief “Yeah sure” I said trying to sound excited & at the same time making a mental note to have a heavy breakfast the next morning.
I had to go to college so when I reached his place it was just a little late, but with plenty of time for lunch though. When I made it there finally I saw that the others were already there.
SCENE 1
CHARACTERS– Binoy, Pearl, Karen, Relin & ofcourse Levin
THE SETTING – Levin’s Dining Room
Of these people Binoy was an old friend from school, Karen was a friend from college & I was meeting Pearl & Relin for the 1st time. When I entered all these guys were sitting around the table & Levin was painstakingly explaining a board game to them which they were about to play. I opted out of it (which i was really thankful for later!!). Looking at everyone’s faces I knew immediately that nobody could understand what the game was but everyone pretended with some even asking the occasional question. Nobody wants to look dumb you know. I made a prediction that Levin would win the game because I was sure that no one else understood what the game was all about. Anyways they began playing & it went on for about an hour. Binoy had that determined look throughout. He wanted to win desperately even though he had no clue as to what was going on. Karen kept circulating some card to everyone throughout the game. Relin pretended to be enjoying & Pearl…Well she wasn’t even pretending. She kept fiddling about with everything & yawning. Finally the game to an end and VOILA!! the winner was……..NOBODY….Huh?? Yeah you heard it right. Nobody won. The fact that even Levin couldn’t win even though he was playing against four people who had no clue as to what they were doing says something, doesn’t it?? Then everyone blamed poor Relin saying that there was no winner because she cheated during the game. Give me a break!!! How can you cheat in a game that you don’t even know how to play in the first place?? . Well…she agreed that she cheated( which makes it all even more weird).
SCENE 2
CHARACTERS– Well pretty much the same
THE SETTING – The Kitchen
Levin went into the kitchen to have a look at the “food”. The rest of us began packing the game up. Suddenly Binoy realized what the game was actually about & began screaming “Now I understood the game”…huh?? I know its getting all too weird. So then we went into the kitchen
WAIT A MINUTE…..THIS IS GETTING ALL TOO BORING. LET ME DRAMATIZE IT A BIT
We were done with the game. Levin went into the kitchen. We all looked at each other. We knew that the time had come. Our worst fears were about to come true. The moment of truth. We were scared, we were confused,we were helpless. We were surely too young to….well not die but have a stomach ache or something( Do people die of stomach ache???). We looked at the main door. I knew that everyone had just one question in mind,”Could i make a run for it?”. But we all knew that it was just not possible. Levin would get to us even before we would get halfway through the hall. Hungry, scared, dejected we made our way to the kitchen in a single file like Prisoners of War. There Levin was standing saying”everything looks good”. Everyone was standing far away waiting for the other to make the 1st move. Seeing that nobody else was coming forward I grabbed my plate & went first. I smiled to comfort the others( because I remembered the movie Bhagath Singh). I went to the rice first. I grabbed the spoon to take the rice. I tapped the spoon with rice onto my plate. Nothing happened. ’Tap’ again nothing happened. Then I scraped the spoon with another. ‘Splat‘ the sticky and gooey rice fell on the plate. Now that was done I looked at the rest. Other items on the menu were palak paneer, curds & vegetables. I put everything in my plate , mustered up all the courage & put the first morsel in my mouth…….
Now after such a build up to the story I am sure you must be expecting me to say that it was either very bad or very good. But here’s where a bit of anti-climax comes in. It was neither good nor bad. It was STRANGE. Strange because everything tasted absolutely the same, not similar. SAME!! I mean you eat rice & then palak & then the vegetable & have a sip of water. SAME. In fact if we would run out of palak , it didn’t matter because you could make do with the rice. Everything tasted the same after all !!! In fact for the first time ever I realized that water had some taste. Everyone else started having their lunch silently. Levin still kept sayin “everything looks good”. I felt like punching him! Somebody(either Relin or Pearl) said there was a jar of pickle in the cabinet. Everyone ran to get some.I’ve never seen so much demand for pickle ever. Now at least we have something that tasted different. Well anyways somehow we managed to finish whatever was in our plates. I don’t know what had gotten into Levin. He still kept saying “everything was good, nothing got wasted”….DUH!!!! I wonder whether he would have something else himself after we left like in the movie DUM LAGAKE HAISHA
Well whatever it is , it was an experience(I didn’t say good or bad). I also know that Levin wont stop trying. He’ll definitely call us all over to his place once again & TRY and cook again because he’s an optimistic guy! Ill definitely go. Till then I am going to enjoy & appreciate every meal that I have everyday and I will be optimistic about his next cooking venture too, after all that’s what friends are for!
AUTHORS NOTE :
1. This is a true incident. All resemblances to any character living or dead are not co-incidental.
2. The Palak Paneer didn’t look anywhere as good as the picture that I’ve posted above. This one is from IndoAmerican-news.com
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