1

Weekends are not without a visit to the local eatery. There was neither a specific interest for starters nor for soups with those salty chips served to be eaten with green pudina chutney, rather, Sunny would ask his family of three (including himself) whether they wanted fresh milk tea and masala dosa. Occasional sandwiches and momos for adults, and a must fresh juice or milk shake for the kid. The menu would slowly add up with the mood. But, at most times the default was tea and masala dosa.

It was a boring order at a restaurant that played music of the 90s, when heroes wore their multi coloured loose dresses and mesmerised the audience with those crazy dance numbers (when you come to southern movies it can be akin to exercises you do at the gym).

Sunny looked out of the window and sniffed. An auto rickshaw without silencer passed by, surprising a street dog deep in slumber. The aroma of the dosa was too much that Sunny tore and devoured it, washing it with sips of tea.

Now doing nothing, he would look at his wife’s plate rubbing his fists. A general craving for more, although he had eaten many dosas at this very restaurant that the order was by-heart to the old waiter. His wife Shrija, and his daughter Shweta, now in 6^th grade, were slow eaters. That always taught him a lesson; eat slow, chew more. Eases your guts work.

‘Never would have Ramprasad served anyone with the same dosa these many times,’ Sunny said.

‘We don’t have to come here every week,’ she reminded.

‘This is by far the best restaurant in our locality,’ he said. ‘It gives you a chance to visit your parlour moreover, isn’t it?’

His wife would visit the Sunshine Beauty Parlour, which was tucked in a corner of the housing colony of about 30 houses. Forget the sunshine, the thick curtains of the ground floor room shielded as an extra cover from the sun. If asked, the owner, a lady with bulging waist would say that it was to protect the parlour from those vagabond men and their peering eyes. So far, the silent locality had failed to produce such vagabond men.

Ramprasad brought the bill and sugared jeera.

‘Don’t forget to offer a tip,’ Shweta said after Ramprasad had left.

‘I know to butter him with these bribes, more than the butter he adds on our dosas,’ he chuckled.

‘He is kind, but, you don’t have to do this week on week,’ she reminded.

Sunny shrugged his shoulders. His wife was choosey. Not a bad habit, but, he felt it too materialistic, whereas, he was jolly.

‘I never asked you to NOT offer charity, but, offering tips every time is like throwing away that extra dime for nothing. Donate, but, don’t throw your hard-earned cash,’ she said in a low tone.

Sunny just smiled at her words. What else could he do? It made all the sense when she spoke.

But this time, she didn’t stop. ‘This is the last time we come here, okay?’

Sunny lifted his hands in surrender and looked around. Ramprasad saw him animating and smiled. Poor man, he loses his free cash, was Sunny’s initial thought.

‘Just this time. I kind of like him,’ he said.

Shrija rolled her eyes.

2

‘I’ll be back in one hour, just take care of the kid,’ Shrija said kissing the kid good-bye and opening the door of the parlour.

‘I will, for sure,’ Sunny said with a smile.

‘I think I should ask the kid to take care of you rather. I don’t trust you,’ she said sternly. ‘No more hogging.’

‘Yeah! No more hogging. I’ll take the kid to the Krishna Garden Park for a stroll. There is just a tender coconut water stall, which I don’t prefer at this time of the day,’ he said in a straight forward manner.

‘Glutton!’ she screamed and closed the door behind her with a bang, leaving Sunny wondering what he had said wrong. The kid laughed.

‘So, where do we start?’ Sunny asked.

‘Start what dad?’ Shweta asked.

‘The last time you told me about your friend Aruna. Whom are we talking about today?’

‘I saved her life,’ she said.

‘Yeah, you did? How?’

‘She eats like you. I mean swallow, which is the right word, like how the leopard eats, always in a hurry thinking their food would be stolen or lost to the hyenas,’ she said as in a matter-of-fact way.

‘Haha, that’s amusing.’

‘She choked and started a hiccup. Some tried to make fun of her and started to do an imitate scare to cure her. I knew it wouldn’t work.’

‘So, what did you do?’

‘I gave her a glass of water. Asked her to take tiny sips. Eight of them. And she did it one by one without any hurry. Eight of them. And her hiccup miraculously was cured,’ she said.

‘That’s a decent thing which you did. She owes you one,’

‘Dad,’ she said, ‘You owe me too, now that you’ve heard what I said. Don’t be a in a hurry to empty your plate and choke yourself,’ she said.

‘Hmm. Maybe you are right baby. I do owe you one. You are a smart kid.’

3

They reached the park. The park was almost empty, barring two old men reading a magazine. Can’t be the Debonair, he thought with a laugh.

It was 4 P.M, and people slowly arrived for their evening walks. The old men looked at the entrance and nodded at us, the father-daughter duo, with a smile.

He waved back at them.

‘You should be like them,’ she started.

‘Like whom? The old men?’ he asked bemused.

‘They are healthy at this age. What do you think?’

‘Why do you ask kid?’ he enquired.

‘Because, Nimay’s father was a drunk. He ate too. Lots of non-vegetarian and he consumed it until he had problems with his abdomen.’

‘Oh! That’s bad.’

‘He had to be hospitalised and they did something called a biopsy on his liver,’ she said.

‘Dear, that’s bad. How is he doing?’

‘Heard he is better and in a recovery phase and that I term as lucky,’ she said.

‘Yeah! You are right. Lucky indeed,’ Sunny said.

‘Do you remember Mini?’

‘That quick wit girl, that is Mini, isn’t it?’ he asked.

‘Mini had food poisoning.’

‘Oh! Don’t tell me she is into junk food.’

‘Her father is rich and they ate only at posh restaurants, but, still had to go through these complications.’

‘I see. That’s a bad case of eating outside.’

 ‘Yes. Without her, the class was dull the whole week and was concerned of her,’ she said.

‘But, do you get it dad? We eat almost every week without fail, while we can cook if we can try?’

‘Yes, we can,’ he said with a thumbs up.

‘I mean, I can tell these cases only to you. There is nothing much I can do. I don’t want to lose hope, I mean, when there is a hope,’ she said looking at the ground.

He got up, knelt on his knees and held her shoulder with his hands.

‘I got your point dear. That was thoughtful indeed. You just let my glutton jump out of the craving window. So, that only means you can do wonders. Guess how? Your mom told me that you cook noodles. I never knew you liked your dad this much? If yes, then, you could cook me noodles too,’ he said.

She beamed a smile. In a sense of success.

‘In fact, I was about to tell you a case too,’ he said.

‘Really? What is it dad?’ she asked.

‘My friend Ajit inspires me. He is a vegetarian, something like me. But, the difference is that he never eats from outside. Yes, they do go out and dine, but, very rarely,’ he said.

‘But, there is a catch. Do you know what he does during weekends? He and his kids prepare lunch at home. Sometimes Indian, sometimes Western. That tells me how much he likes to bond with his family and at the same time, he has developed this passion for cooking,’ he said.

‘Some inspiration, isn’t it dad?’ she said.

‘Yes. And perhaps, I too should inculcate this habit. You know good habits attract and bad habits needn’t be the last to go. Not necessarily. But cases like Ajit inspires me and of course, it is good to know how concerned you are.’

‘If you ask your mom, she would say we shouldn’t let our mind control us, rather we should develop habits to connect and control our senses,’ he said. ‘You helped me from this insanity beta. I know it s just a mad craving,’ he said holding her close to him.

‘My pleasure dad. I can see your incandescent bulb glow up,’ she said with a laugh.

He smiled.

‘Come, we should get going. Mom might be ready.’

The father-daughter duo walked out of the park. The entrance was lined up with street vendors selling pakoras, gol gappas, mirchi bajjis etc. The aroma was widespread in the air, and many had already started to queue up.

Shweta looked at her father. Sunny just smiled and holding her hand, they both ran away from the place, leaving the vendors confused.