Food, Food Everywhere, but Nothing to Eat- Day 2 of Write Tribe Festival of Words

Theme of the day: Food

I spread my hands on the pleats of my Sari to smooth it and then bowed graciously at the guest sauntering into the venue. It was my first cousin, Nandini’s wedding and I was assigned a job to welcome all the guests. It was definitely a tedious job to smile continuously and make small talk with people I had never met before or will never meet again after this wedding. My mother pulled me aside and whispered in my ears, “You are looking so beautiful Kavya. Aren’t you grateful that you took my advice and wore this sari? A few families have already come and inquired about you. This is so good Kavya”.

My mother was practically mad with glee. This is the thing about big fat Indian marriages. Most of the parents are scouting potential bride or groom for their offspring, irrespective of whether their children want to marry or not.

“Mom, you know that I’m not interested in marriage”, I complained.

“I know, I know. But what to do? You are looking so beautiful today and I’m so proud of you”, my mother replied as I smiled. Ok, so maybe a small part of me was delighted to hear that. For once, I was in demand. And why shouldn’t I be? It took me 2 months of disciplined dieting and grueling exercise regime to get to my current weight. And I had lost 6 kgs in the 2 months since Nandini’s wedding date was announced. The first thing that I did was to throw out all those chocolate bars from my bag. Next to go were those yummy, mouth-watering Black Forest pastries. I strictly prohibited mom from serving her deliciously crunchy samosas and pakodas and those tasty Parathas on which she generously applied oodles of butter.

And as a reward for all those punishing 60 days I got to look awesome today. I felt great in the chiffon sari with gold embellished border. I could see many young guys eyeing me, but I pretended to be casual about it. As if I was used to handing all the attention on a daily basis.

Sigh! All those thoughts about food reminded me that my stomach was grumbling and I would faint if I didn’t put some morsel of food in my mouth. I had had enough of the guest welcoming, so I headed over to the buffet tables where the delectably tempting aroma of food wafted in the cool, night air.

I approached cautiously with a plate in my hand. Maybe I would just serve myself some of that appealing salad, nothing else. But the man behind the chat counter waved to me, “Madam try this Pav Bhaaji, or the Ragda Patties. They are the best I assure you.”

My feet had suddenly discovered a will of its own because they dragged me to the chat stall. I asked the Bhaiyya to serve a little of Masal Puri, a few Pani Puris and a little of Sev Puri. By the time I sat down at a table, my plate looked like a mini-chat stall in itself. But the food was so delicious that my taste buds experienced a wave of pleasure every time I took a bite. My plate was empty within no time and next I sauntered over to the Main Course. I was in a trance, I had lost all control of my will power and my stomach and tongue were cussing my mind and telling it to get lost.

Source:

http://www.indian-restaurant-perth.com.au/

The Main course was even more exquisite. Enticing me were a variety of Rotis, Tandoori Chicken, Paneer Koftas, sautéed assorted vegetables, Shammi Kebabs, Biryani and Fried Rice. I heaped everything on my plate and remembered that dessert was still pending. It was almost as if the hunger that I had suppressed during the past couple of months had returned to take its revenge.

As I sat back at my table, I saw Riya Malhotra walking towards me. Now, I hated Riya because she had been the most popular girl in our school, where Nandini and I had studied and she was so effortlessly slim and svelte, that she made any normal girl next to her feel fat and ugly.

As she sat at my table she sniggered looking at my plate. “Wow, someone is real hungry. You know, Kavya, a girl of your weight shouldn’t be eating so much. You are single, how do you think you’ll get marriage proposals if you continue to put on weight. You should be more careful”.

I was gnashing my teeth and trying to control myself from hitting her. My bubble of gluttony happiness was burst. I wanted to pour the food over Riya’s head but instead, threw it away and returned back to my position at the entrance to welcome more guests.  
I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 8th – 14th December 2013.