A circular steel table that would mostly be struggling for balance as if in an intoxicated state. Pigeons that would be resting on the ledges as if they had had their meals just then. The people at the serving-counter who, apart from calling out the order-numbers, would open their mouths only for saying one statement - "Sollirukaen.. Sollirukaen! Wait pannunga! Vandhurum!".
Our college canteen reminds me of these things and much more.
Much more meaning birthday parties attended with a sorry feeling for the wallet of the person celebrating his/her birthday, Sweet lime soda's drunk for the sole reason of staying the duration of a pretty girl's lunch, first few bites stolen from a friend's dish as he left to wash his hands, laser-less scans performed of the entire canteen to check if any known person was eating a costly dish so that it could be devoured.
A college canteen, unlike other eateries, does not just function as a place that serves food.
It serves many other purposes.
It helps with strengthening friendships. It helps with making anxious love proposals. It helps with finding solutions for problems faced at a friend's house. And it occasionally does help with satisfying hunger.
Every person would have a favorite dish at his/her college canteen.
I too have many dishes of my liking at my college canteen but the dish that I eagerly look forward to there happens to be the lunch of my day scholar friends'. Eating homemade puliyogarae (!) and spicy potato curry on the circular steel table with a rose milk by the side and a suspicious looking North-Indian ahead (who seems to have devoted his life to ruthlessly slit open bhaji's for the pav bhaji dish) is an experience unmatched by any other.
I had always reserved a special sweet spot in my heart for my college canteen.
But I realized the vastness of the spot today afternoon when a repeat of the routine conversation between me and the bill-counter guy happened.
Counter guy: Enna ji venum?
Me: Oru Aaloo paratha!
A 50 rupee note is handed over.
Counter guy: 5 rupees change irukka ji?!
Me: Illayae na!
The counter-guy hands over the receipt for the ordered aaloo paratha and searches for a moment before giving a 5-rupee-valued token that can be used within the canteen.
On any other day, I would have looked at the token with frustration. But today, I realized that there was a very high chance that it could be my last lunch at the college canteen and I would no more be issued canteen tokens at the bill-counter.
No more pigeons. No more birthday treats. No more sweet lime soda's with cruel intentions.
So I folded the token carefully and placed it in my wallet.
The small white paper lay there, unintentionally acting as a token of remembrance.
Our college canteen reminds me of these things and much more.
Much more meaning birthday parties attended with a sorry feeling for the wallet of the person celebrating his/her birthday, Sweet lime soda's drunk for the sole reason of staying the duration of a pretty girl's lunch, first few bites stolen from a friend's dish as he left to wash his hands, laser-less scans performed of the entire canteen to check if any known person was eating a costly dish so that it could be devoured.
A college canteen, unlike other eateries, does not just function as a place that serves food.
It serves many other purposes.
It helps with strengthening friendships. It helps with making anxious love proposals. It helps with finding solutions for problems faced at a friend's house. And it occasionally does help with satisfying hunger.
Every person would have a favorite dish at his/her college canteen.
I too have many dishes of my liking at my college canteen but the dish that I eagerly look forward to there happens to be the lunch of my day scholar friends'. Eating homemade puliyogarae (!) and spicy potato curry on the circular steel table with a rose milk by the side and a suspicious looking North-Indian ahead (who seems to have devoted his life to ruthlessly slit open bhaji's for the pav bhaji dish) is an experience unmatched by any other.
I had always reserved a special sweet spot in my heart for my college canteen.
But I realized the vastness of the spot today afternoon when a repeat of the routine conversation between me and the bill-counter guy happened.
Counter guy: Enna ji venum?
Me: Oru Aaloo paratha!
A 50 rupee note is handed over.
Counter guy: 5 rupees change irukka ji?!
Me: Illayae na!
The counter-guy hands over the receipt for the ordered aaloo paratha and searches for a moment before giving a 5-rupee-valued token that can be used within the canteen.
On any other day, I would have looked at the token with frustration. But today, I realized that there was a very high chance that it could be my last lunch at the college canteen and I would no more be issued canteen tokens at the bill-counter.
No more pigeons. No more birthday treats. No more sweet lime soda's with cruel intentions.
So I folded the token carefully and placed it in my wallet.
The small white paper lay there, unintentionally acting as a token of remembrance.
(The College Diaries is
a shameless attempt to increase the number of posts in this blog in a short
span of time and in the process, recall and cherish various instances and
incidents of my college life that strike pain and pleasure in the heart in this
last fortnight I spend here.)
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