AN EXPRESSION OF HUMANITY

The very offer of food is an honorable act. We normally offer food to somebody we love or like or feel sorry for. The offer of food is the manifestation of residual kindness in all human beings. The offer has to be accompanied by the act of cooking the food, which can be very tedious and backbreaking. My experience with a plate of food or a meal has always been very interesting. Even if the food was not good, the surrounding made it taste better. I can never forget the honey chicken that I had in Joan’s place or the Idlis in Mrs.Devagnanam’s place or the Mee-curry with Subra. Below is a collection of events, which showed the humane dimensions of my friends and family.

Shaik & Family

When I was back home, I always ate every meal twice. I just couldn’t avoid eating in shaik’s place. I’ll have the first meal in my place to satisfy my mom. The second meal in shaik’s place was a rule rather than an exception. I just could not escape the clutches of shaik and his family, when it came to eating. Not to say, that I didn’t like it. It was just my small frame was unable to take the volume of food that was being fed to me. So, I had to look for ways and means of escape from the kind yet watchful eyes of shaik. In the unlikely event of being cornered by one of shaik’s family members, I used to dish out rather outrageous excuses like “Doctor suggested a strict diet” or “I don’t eat without taking bath” or just about anything that comes to my mind. Those excuses were not getting anywhere and I still had to eat under their watchful eyes. Whenever I am away from house, I really miss their love, if not the food.

Steve & The Sushi

That was our first day in Perth. Mohan and I were pretty hungry. As it was the first day, we were not communicating very well with our colleagues. Our Indian accent was very pronounced and our ears were not trained to their Australian accent. We didn’t know where to go or what to do, and we were too apprehensive to ask for help. It was then; Steve made a very noble gesture. I still remember the exact words. He said, “Hey, Don’t you Indians eat lunch. We Aussies have Lunch everyday” in his own inimitable slang. He asked about what we wanted. We ordered for some idlis, Roti chenai & dosas. Now, he realized that he had bit more than he can chew. He requested us to be more realistic and also told us that it may take a couple of days to travel to India to get the lunch that we asked for. He didn’t ask again. He just told us that he’ll bring something for us & he came back with some Sushi. I wouldn’t take time to explain about how it tasted. Steve’s gesture just made it awesome. That was one simple gesture, which helped us to overcome our apprehensions and move more freely with them.

Pizza & Scarborough Beach

Every now and then, Gab took me out for lunch. It was always a very enjoyable experience. It was not the food that we had but the circumstances that made the food better. We used to pick up a pizza from Domino’s and drive straight to Scarborough beach. We would park the car right in front of the sea. The sea would look absolutely magnificent and the waves majestic. It gets very windy there. As the wind blew towards the sea, the wind lapped the waves and waves rose very high. This made Scarborough beach a favored destination for surfers. To top it, you had all those gorgeous girls in their bikinis who had come for a good tan. The Pizza, The Sea, The Surfers, and The Girls – everything made the food taste better, if you forget about those mobbing and annoying sea gulls.

The Farewell

Some of my special moments were during the farewell dinners I had when I was transferred to Malaysia for good.

Mrs. Nalini Robertson, more than anyone else, was able to relate to my plight in a foreign land. As she was from India, she was able to guide me and give me moral support to get used to conditions, so foreign to me. I used to approach her for advice and she always was there with a solution. She was a great guide and a mentor. I still remember every discussion I have had with her. She arranged for a farewell dinner. My dinner mates were Mrs. Nalini Robertson & her children, Her mother & sister, Vin & Melina. It was a very emotional experience for me. I was there in a foreign place and Mrs. Nalini & her family had known me only for the period I was in Perth. Yet, they were there to bid me farewell and wish me luck. I was too emotional to give them a speech thanking them for the kindness. I take this opportunity to thank them for that great gesture.

After Mrs.Nalini Robertson’s, I had another dinner with Gab, Joan, Steve & David by the seaside. There was another dinner with the Hare Krishna devotees at the temple.

It was not the food but the circumstances that made it taste great.

The Italian Waiter

Once Gab and Joan took Mohan and me to an Italian Restaurant. The Italian Waiter, who was dressed to kill, spat out a whole list of delicacies in their restaurant. The list was so long; I thought that he would blackout once he finishes. At the end, I had to make a choice. I ordered an item, which had a very nice name. I had no idea about what it was. I was eagerly waiting for the food and the waiter came with the dish. It was a piece of bread toast with tomato pieces on top of it. I thought it was an appetizer. But, the waiter told that was the dish I ordered. As I thought it would be uncourteous to show my disappointment, I decided to suffer that dish. That was probably the first time I had bread toast for dinner & thatz what I had that night. This time, I had all the exotic and delicious food at my disposal, but I had to eat something that I didn’t really want.