Diary Entry – 46
The first time I went to Saravana Bhavan, I was ten.
They served unlimited meals and my mother and I had so
little that the waiter felt sorry for us. It was the first time my mother was
eating there as well and she was shocked when they charged us only forty rupees
for the food. We happened to meet the manager and my mother told him, they
should be charging more when the food is so good.
I think they took my mother a little too seriously.
A few days ago, I went to Saravana Bhavan again. It was one
of those days when I skipped breakfast. When I left the house in the morning, my
mother told me to order something other than meals, because last time (11 years
ago) we were not able to eat much. If you are wondering why I did not go to
Saravana Bhavan for the last decade, it is because a non-vegetarian simply does
not pay to eat vegetarian food in a fancy restaurant. If you are a non-vegetarian
going to a restaurant which serves only vegetarian food, you won’t even ask for
the menu. You simply order Naan with paneer curry.
When the food arrived, I thought I was dreaming because of
starvation. I was amazed how small the Naan was. I kept staring at the food, like
the fat guy who looks at the small idly in the Docomo ad. (See Video Below.)
The paneer curry I ordered along with the Naan was served on
fire. There was this casing sort of thing which had a bowl with paneer on top.
Below the casing was a lamp. All that looked cool and fancy, till I realized
how small the bowl actually was. After gobbling down a few pieces, I was left
poking my finger into the bowl searching for the paneer.
When I finished eating, I felt as hungry as I was before. The
quantity of the food they served was not half as shocking as the bill. They
made sure that my purse wouldn’t let me think about food till I reached home.
I know. I should have just gone to McDonalds. So much for
cheap, healthy, vegetarian food.
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