The Banana Leaf

I had been to a reception — more of a “naming ceremony” cum “annaprasana” (read: the first time a baby is fed with rice), of one of my acquaintances’ child the other day. Off late, I have been reasoning about anything and everything that happens in my surroundings … just happenstance I suppose.

The hall that I had been to (surprisingly called as a “convention” hall) hosted a real ruckus at the outset. It was not a place where people could be flooded in that way. A total of around 300 gathered in a place where 150 would be a norm. Imagine a fire accident, there would have been a trampede !!!

The next process of incidents appeared all the more bizarre. There is this cute little baby, just a 4 month old, who I bet was being harassed to stay awake till her naming ceremony finishes … The poor one was crying, but the process had to be finished for her to get a breather !!! Alas, she couldn’t manage one. Tons of dresses poured in (she was dressed up umpteen number of times by every possible person in that place), and each one was so too excited that they would want a snap with the baby. I wouldn’t have cribbed, but what with powerful wattages flashing into her eyes, she could have easily been dizzied for hours together. Its just that babies dont express much .. or they do and people fail to understand. Whatever be the reason, this was uncalled for .. so much for following a process !!

Then came the lunch … the “round-by-round” process. I wonder at times how people get fussy at such stuff. I mean, if we out to celebrate, lets celebrate first. I wouldn’t end up in a lame place just to look at some people rejoicing, and then wait for my chance to get a grab of a pic and hog and move out. I had been doing these things in my childhood, but I can attribute that to my immaturity (hell, we all might have had an experience of this !!!). Anyways back to the lunch.

We had to make sure that we would be the first to finish, so we had to “book” our places. I sat in front of a bickering couple, who I guess had a fight in the morning. So pissed off where they, that a look at their faces had my tummy half filled !!!

I love eating when things are served in banana leaves. It somehow is an invigorating experience, and I always tend to enjoy such a lunch. This time around though, it was an exception. The guy who places the banana leaves served with the smaller side of the leaf to the left of the serving table. That got the couple off again, and the lady screamed as if the server sinned badly. “Hey, aaku kudi ki kaadhu, edama ki undaali, adi telidha, buddhi leni vedhava” (read: The leaf shud be served pointing to left and not right, you asshole).

Now this was really not on the cards. What ought to matter is the taste of the food, cribbing about the position of serving leaves is uncalled for. Does it really matter ? But hell, there is a process for everything, much like the next issue I deal with.

The dishes ought to be served in a phasewise manner in their correct positions, with the pickles to the left and the sabji (vegetables) to the right. You ought to be served with hot simmering rice (never mind the cals) towards the closer end
of your leaf, else … you know what …

The best part was the food. We were supposed to (and I mean it that way) wrap up close to 20 dishes within 15 minutes flat, and it was at that point that I felt more like a taster to Cleopatra. There is no way that you can enjoy such a lunch, where you keep cramming things into yourself without bothering much about what was being served. Alas, people “rejoiced” this lunch, and moved out satisfied.

This is a common experience in orthodox outings. What saddens me is that this took place in what is one feels a “suave urban community” within India. Its cantankerous, frankly speaking, I somehow can’t bear with such issues, but then … there is a process !!!

I heard that chaos theory is indeed true, its high time we give it a shot though !!!

More on my rantings later !!!