Eating out

Ever heard actors and actresses with their fab bodies going on record saying that they are foodies and gorge on anything and everything but somehow they are fortunate that they don't put on weight...well my friends that is all crap....pure unadulterated crap. U eat and don't exercise u put on weight...unless ur metabolism is god-given (which i hear is the case with shipla shetty). I make no bones about the fact that i love food. Those who have seen me in the flesh will know that i am not lying about it. Food and I have had this very intimate relation which dates back to the late 1980's.

Like music and books..i like a variety of food. There is the naadan mallu food that i don't mind eating (good old rice and curd with a dab of lime pickle is more than enuff for me), then we have the mumbai street food (bhel puri, pav paaji...ok now my mouth is all watery), then there is the italian cuisines (pizzas, lasangas and the whole lot)...i could go on and on really. I can confess withou an iota of shame that i live to eat and not the other way around.

Being from a family that was living apart for a long time..eating together was not really common place. By the time dad came back for good, I was well into my teens. As u would know being a teenager has it's own complexities and I was no exception. We were all into our own thing and spent most of our time in our rooms and had our meals at different times. It was only when dad decides to take us out for dinner that we all eat together a family and honestly a part of me always waited for him to make that declaration coz quality time with the family was something we lacked and something i looked forward to.

Our usual joint for eating out was the Trivandrum Club. Dad liked taking us there...coz the enivronment was familiar to him.. He could also play his game of snooker and down a few pegs with friends. Not to mention the most important fact that the food here was easy on the wallet which is a very important criteria for a miser like him. We did not complain much coz the food is quite good there. We have tried other places too..but eventually come back to the club for the aforementioned reasons that my dad cares about. Like i said before eating out gave us the opportunity to find out what all we have on our 'plate' and brainstorm over what we should do about each thing that comes our way. Dont get me wrong it is not that we our totally unaware of what the other is doing otherwise but this is good time to get things out in the open and discuss in length. Eating out also gives mom a well deserved break form her routine and she looks forward to it the most.

Our discussion varies from the Iraq war to who did not flush the toilet. From the volatility in the stock market to the food habits of our pet, impy. As a rule of thumb any left overs of the non-vegetarian kind must be reserved for the four legged thing.. and thus brings about the embarrasing prospect of trying to explain the neccesity of procuring a plastic bag to the waiter..who otherwise would be thinking .."Duffers wont even leave the bones behind". Once the formalities of eating and packing is over the waiter asks whether he should bring the bill..to which my dad would invarialbly reply by saying "only if it is absolutely necessary". Once the bill is recieved and thoroughly examined by my sister and I, we debate about how much we should tip the waiter. With that our entire eating exercise is some what wound up and we head home only to get mauled by impy who takes her frustration, of not being included, on us...mom being the most effected. I suppose there are somethings that cannot be changed even with the passage of time.