It was a day like any other except that we had to dine outside. Me and my brother decided to go in some well known restaurant. The mood was all set. But that one question as always started revolving in circles around my head, much like the stars and question marks shown around a cartoon character in a confused state. "Which restaurant?". I made a suggestion and saw a frown on bro's face. When he couldn't suggest any better I justified my choice saying that I'd heard some of my friends saying that so and so dish is best served at the place.
And there we were sharp at 9.45 p.m. As we entered we saw a crowd of like-minded people who must have come with similar thoughts and best intentions. We quickly selected a place that was meant for only two. This was just before a helper there made the very same suggestion, although we could have had made ourselves more comfortable by choosing a place meant for more people. I think, why I didn't make that decision was due to a reasonable thought that crossed my mind that said, hey, after all, we are just two and the main purpose is to enjoy good food; and why make other people wait from filling their tummies in the beautiful restaurant. Within seconds we found ourselves sitting face-to-face across a small table while the waiter waited on us placing a menu each in our hands. Once again a new question arose, "what dish?", and the confusion was getting on my nerves. Fortunately, I remembered my buddy's words, "they serve the best Chicken Biryani!". I felt relived for no longer having to make a choice. My bro had "American chopsey" in mind. So we ordered these two dishes. The prices were exotic. As we ordered, obviously I was thinking what to have as starters. But according to bro this was enough food to fill ourselves up. We were done with the ordering business, I thought. However the waiter was shrewd enough. "Col-drinks, sirs?", he asked. I talked to myself as always, "Col-drinks are bad for health and one of the worst ways to spend one's hard earned money". I said, "No thanks" and my brother said "Coke" and the waiter left us with a fake smile.
Then the wait began that usually lasts till eternity in most restaurants. Bro got a friend's phone call and he was in conversation while me, being a bit unlucky at the moment could only spend time appreciating the walk-ins and walk-outs of beautiful people, most of whom were trying hard to make their presence felt. I thought, it's great to earn and finally spend it on the most basic human necessity, food. By this time, it was as if we were through with most part of a film and were heading towards a great climax.
When the waiter finally arrived, we saw a huge bowl of "American chopsey" placed before our hungry eyes and a slightly smaller (not really) bowl of "Chicken Biryani". Seeing the sizes of the two bowls, pressure began to mount on me as I could never in my wildest dreams think of gulping so much. The great thing about the waiters is that they would never reveal the secret of the bowl-size before the order is placed, keeping their loyalty to the restaurant intact.
We started with the "A. chopsey" and a couple of spoons really made our taste-buds vibrate with joy. However as time went by we understood the enormity of the task ahead of us. The chopsey would just not get over. As it grew colder we began to get a bad taste of the perhaps left-over crum noodles. We decided to switch to the main item, the "Chicken Biryani". All the anticipation led to a anticlimax as we left digging loads of pepper seeds in the dish in order to have a decent bite. There were more pepper seeds than rice seeds. I thought the one good thing I did was to order it boneless. If I knew about the overload of pepper in advance, I would have rather ordered it pepper-less. Within 5 minutes we had mutually agreed to stop eating and parcel the food back home. May be it was the exotic price we had to pay that led us into the parceling business.
When we got home and told our sad story, we were ordered to dump the parcel straight into the garbage bin. Once this was done, I was looking for some consolation. The strawberry ice-cream I'd got home the other day came to the rescue and I felt better.
It's funny how plans go wrong. But to be able to share the experience makes oneself feel lighter.
If you are thinking about the title, the quote goes: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon.
And there we were sharp at 9.45 p.m. As we entered we saw a crowd of like-minded people who must have come with similar thoughts and best intentions. We quickly selected a place that was meant for only two. This was just before a helper there made the very same suggestion, although we could have had made ourselves more comfortable by choosing a place meant for more people. I think, why I didn't make that decision was due to a reasonable thought that crossed my mind that said, hey, after all, we are just two and the main purpose is to enjoy good food; and why make other people wait from filling their tummies in the beautiful restaurant. Within seconds we found ourselves sitting face-to-face across a small table while the waiter waited on us placing a menu each in our hands. Once again a new question arose, "what dish?", and the confusion was getting on my nerves. Fortunately, I remembered my buddy's words, "they serve the best Chicken Biryani!". I felt relived for no longer having to make a choice. My bro had "American chopsey" in mind. So we ordered these two dishes. The prices were exotic. As we ordered, obviously I was thinking what to have as starters. But according to bro this was enough food to fill ourselves up. We were done with the ordering business, I thought. However the waiter was shrewd enough. "Col-drinks, sirs?", he asked. I talked to myself as always, "Col-drinks are bad for health and one of the worst ways to spend one's hard earned money". I said, "No thanks" and my brother said "Coke" and the waiter left us with a fake smile.
Then the wait began that usually lasts till eternity in most restaurants. Bro got a friend's phone call and he was in conversation while me, being a bit unlucky at the moment could only spend time appreciating the walk-ins and walk-outs of beautiful people, most of whom were trying hard to make their presence felt. I thought, it's great to earn and finally spend it on the most basic human necessity, food. By this time, it was as if we were through with most part of a film and were heading towards a great climax.
When the waiter finally arrived, we saw a huge bowl of "American chopsey" placed before our hungry eyes and a slightly smaller (not really) bowl of "Chicken Biryani". Seeing the sizes of the two bowls, pressure began to mount on me as I could never in my wildest dreams think of gulping so much. The great thing about the waiters is that they would never reveal the secret of the bowl-size before the order is placed, keeping their loyalty to the restaurant intact.
We started with the "A. chopsey" and a couple of spoons really made our taste-buds vibrate with joy. However as time went by we understood the enormity of the task ahead of us. The chopsey would just not get over. As it grew colder we began to get a bad taste of the perhaps left-over crum noodles. We decided to switch to the main item, the "Chicken Biryani". All the anticipation led to a anticlimax as we left digging loads of pepper seeds in the dish in order to have a decent bite. There were more pepper seeds than rice seeds. I thought the one good thing I did was to order it boneless. If I knew about the overload of pepper in advance, I would have rather ordered it pepper-less. Within 5 minutes we had mutually agreed to stop eating and parcel the food back home. May be it was the exotic price we had to pay that led us into the parceling business.
When we got home and told our sad story, we were ordered to dump the parcel straight into the garbage bin. Once this was done, I was looking for some consolation. The strawberry ice-cream I'd got home the other day came to the rescue and I felt better.
It's funny how plans go wrong. But to be able to share the experience makes oneself feel lighter.
If you are thinking about the title, the quote goes: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon.
It should be "My brother and I ..." :)
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