J___ came to pick me up for dinner yesterday. (To those of you who havent read my older posts, I am too much of a biped. I don't have a vehicle here). He had come along with two of his colleagues from office. Actually, one of them was his colleague and the other guy was an ex-colleague. Now, did that matter? Anyway, J____ came around at 8.45 PM. Drove for around 10 minutes on his bike through maddening traffic. You could see all sorts of things on the road. Cars, bikes, fishcarts, go-karts, flying saucers (at least the way they were unfamiliar with driving sense tol me they were UFO's). Finally we came to place exotically titled 'The Village'. A dim bulb lit up a wooden but elegant display board which boasted the name of the place. It looked like a tandoori joint to me. It was open air, had an open kitchen etc. So I mentally prepared myself to munch thru some juicy chicken legs.
When I entered the place, I realised I was mistaken. I saw a familiar utensil on the tables. It saw me and smiled back at me. A stainless steel four-faced micro-mini sized bucket. This thing usually carries 3-4 different varieties of chutney. I asked J___ whether this was a veggie joint. He said it was. I was disappointed, but I was determined not to let it show. I resolved to enjoy my veggies that night.
I happened to sit right opposite the menu card. Now it sounds funny and I realise that. What I mean is that the menu card was painted on a big board right opposite me so that I could read the items available. It was the same old story. You had Tomato Roast, Mushroom Roast, Cauliflower Roast, Coriander Roast, Plain Roast, Butter Roast, Roast, Masala Roast, Mixed Roast. I wondered if there were no more varieties of Roast left. If you think Roast is somethin great, it is just like a dosa. They have different toppings for it and thus different names. And after Roasts, they had what are here called Uthappams. These too followed the same pattern A Uthappam, B Uthappam, C Uthappam, Z Uthappam. It was easier to find out which variety of Roast/Uthappam wasn't available at the village.
Finally I was able to order for something other than the normal stuff. The server said that Egg Chappathis were available. (Now I've had Egg Parattas but these I'd never tried) . So I told our man to bring one of them for me.J___ too placed the same order. When they came, i realised that it was nothing more than two chappathis sandwiching an omlette with some kinda paste on top. My good dad used to prepare that almost everyday!! And here I was thinking that I was gonna taste something exotic. J____saw my disappointment. He wasn't very happy too.. We decided to try a thing called Mushroom Sevai. Now I had no idea what Sevai was. 'It's something that looks like noodles, only its not' J_____ said. I agreed. Thankfully when it came, it didnt disappoint. I was full at the end of this one, but J___ was going on full steam ahead. He had already started. I was just on the point of labelling him to be the greatest food guzzler in 'The Village' when a dark shadow fell over me.
I felt it was the Dark Lord, Sauron, himself. It wasn't him, but it couldnt have been closer. I turned behind and found myself looking at a giant of a back walking towards a helpless Nilkamal chair. The chair was trembling with fear. (On second thought, it could also have been because of the vibrations caused by BigFoot's feet). He sat at the adjacent table, and I wasnt sure the chair would hold him. It somehow did. I didnt hear what he ordered for, but when the waiter brought him his food, I saw him place two idlis in front of him. Now I don't know if you have ever seen an ant at the foot of an elephant, but these two idlis looked perfectly ridiculous in front of him. Two tiny specks of white they were. And sure enough, he didnt take more than a minute to dispose of them. The waiter bought two more. I turned away lest I lose count.
When we left The Village, BigFoot was still busy.
If there really is something like 'Food for thought', BigFoot sure was in a very thoughtful mood last night.
Cheerio.
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