The Cafeteria Manager of our Retirement Home had listed Puri-masala for today's breakfast - apart from the mandatory Idli. When items such as Puri, Rava Dosa, Paniyaram, are on the cards, even those residents who have opted not to have breakfast, join and enjoy the fun. Thus, on such occasions, for all the three batches the dining hall is houseful, only a formal board is not displayed.
This morning the residents seated themselves with banana leaves meticulously cleaned to welcome hot puris - only an accompanying ritualistic japam was missing. But alas, the puris were not in sight. Some unexpected delay in the centralized kitchen catering to all three phases of the retirement home. The alert cafeteria boys lost no time in going around with hot Idlis. Not many takers. "We will wait," announced some while many said to themselves. A few chose to have it ad interim, more as an appetizer, but it ended up as a near full breakfast leaving little scope for the much-awaited puris. A mistake they will hopefully not repeat.
As is wont, the discussions at the hand-wash room thereafter obviously were all about this. Some said, 'the wait was too long," another said, '"still it was worth waiting for'.
"My friend at the next table," continued yet another, "got a full blown puri, while I got a flat, grounded one. I couldn't decline it for fear of losing even that one,"
An unruffled gentleman took over, "you see it was Rava dosa last night. That too involved a little wait. but how lovely they were," he concluded giving it a touch of, 'All is well that ends well'.
On way back I met my co-resident friend and alerted him, "Today it is puri. They are good, but may involve a little waiting".
"Doesn't matter mama, he said. "My two daughters in USA are in the mailing list for the daily menu. The moment they see puri and other fried items, the first thing they do is to ring me up and confirm that I had only Idli and none of the oily stuff. So it doesn't matter much to me."
Regardless of his firmness, I shall confirm from him tomorrow if he did really skip puris while he watched others in the table relish them, or let go his restrictions for a toss.
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