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A Great Dining Experience!

Discussion in 'Cheeniya's Senile Ramblings' started by Cheeniya, Feb 10, 2019.

  1. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    A great dining experience

    I heard a glass tumbler falling to the ground and breaking into a thousand pieces. That was the ring tone of my cell phone. I could see my wife grimacing from a distance. She never liked this ringtone. ‘Be your age’, she had told me many times but I failed to see ringtones having anything to do with age. I picked up the cell and saw that it was my daughter calling.

    ‘Dad’ she said and I responded saying ‘Yes, dad speaking’. Old habits die hard you know. This was how we were taught to answer phone calls while I was in the Bank. ‘State Bank’ the caller would ask and I would respond saying ‘yes, State Bank here’. I would answer so not because I forgot my personal name but because that was how we were groomed to respond. My daughter asked me if I was free in the evening or I was tied up with anything. I told her that I had never been freer in my life and assured her that nothing could tie me up anymore. ‘Why are you asking about my evening status?’ I asked her. ‘Let’s go out for dinner, dad’, she said and added that she was planning to take us to a surprising eatery. ‘Suits me’, I responded. I asked her if we should come on our own or she would pick us up. ‘Of course, I will pick you up, dad’ she assured me.

    The evening came and I had a quick shower. I combed my beard as I had nothing on the head to comb. I fished out a shirt and a pant that were more tolerable than the rest of my apparel. My daughter arrived on time to pick us up. She took one look at me and grimaced. She announced that we would pick a couple of shirts for me from her favorite apparel shop before we went for our dinner. So we went to the shop and picked up a couple of shirts. I knew that it was a wasteful exercise as I had grown accustomed to my old shirts. It was unthinkable to replace them with new shirts. After she settled the bill in the shop, we moved on to the hotel.

    It was a swank place that specialized in sizzlers which I loved more than my life. Looking at the long face of my wife, my daughter assured her that the hotel had also conventional dishes like cauliflower dosa and beetroot idly. My wife seemed more uncomfortable after hearing the description of the conventional items. When the steward came to our table to take our orders with a small gadget in his hand, I ordered for a vegetable sizzler while my wife and daughter ordered for less fanciful items. As the steward took our order, he smilingly remarked that I was the oldest among his customers that ordered for a sizzler. ‘Why are you crazy about sizzlers, dad’, asked my daughter. I told her that I loved the way it was served.

    We waited for an eternity when we heard the hissing sound of the approaching sizzler. I sat up in my seat like a war horse reacted at the sound of bugle. The noise got more marked as the bearer approached my table and he placed the dish in front of me. Though it fell into silence in a short while, I was not to be fooled by the noiselessness. I remembered how I burnt my tongue in my first exposure to a sizzler. I tapped the wooden thingummy bearing the vessel holding the sizzler affectionately. ‘Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?’ I murmured remembering gratefully Robert Browning. ‘What?’, my daughter asked me and I replied that I was just wondering how long I should wait before I commenced eating.

    Very soon, the sizzler ended up in my comfortable tummy that had enough room for anything eatable. The steward came to our table and inquired if we wanted any dessert, I asked him if they had ‘tiramisu’ ‘Why that item, dad?’, my daughter inquired. I told her that I liked it because it sounded similar to the opening line of the prayer that I chanted daily. Since they did not have it, I ordered for ‘falooda’ because I liked the way it came dressed up unlike me. After the formality of settling the bill for whatever we consumed was over, we left the place. When we reached home, my wife rushed to the kitchen and made herself some curd rice. ‘God knows how you eat such food’, she exclaimed which was just faintly audible as her mouth was full of curd rice.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2021
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  2. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Cheeniya Sir,

    "Sell the sizzle not the steak" is the proverb in America. It is marketing 101 lesson to make some noise about the product before it proves itself. It is interesting to watch everyone focus the attention to the steward when he brings the sizzlers. The one who is served with the sizzlers becomes the target after the food is served. Why should age be a determining factor for deciding what to eat? As long as you can wait for a while before you taste that yummy sizzlers, what difference does it make?

    Some used to say their name or the phone number when they pick up the landline phone those days. The habits die hard. Tiramisu is my favorite dessert too! It is heavenly to taste that Italian dessert especially when it melts on top of the tongue. Falooda is a distant second when compared to Tiramisu. Sometimes, the homemade curd rice is heavenly when compared to expensive half-cooked food served in the restaurants. I understand that feeling.
     
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  3. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear CS,

    You know your narrative reminded me of my nephew when he was 3 and had gone for dinner with his parents to a restaurant and had had quite his fill there. In the middle of the night he woke up and set up a bawl and woke up the entire household. When asked what the matter was, his grave accusation against his grand mom was that she had not given him tairu chadam that night. (Inniki Maji ennuku tairu chaadame kudkali!) What guilt pangs that poor lady went through that night, I shall leave to your imagination!
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2019
  4. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    A very enjoyable dining experience for me too sir, reading the article. A true snippet from life.

    Tiramisu and Falooda!!! ...mmm...mmm...mmm ...:beer-toast1: both are my favorites.

    i can very well reckon with your wife's feelings when the tried and tested traditional dishes are mutilated beyond recognition.

    Nothing can beat thayir/mor sadham with pickle to complete a meal. I again, am with your wife.

    A delectable beginning to my Sunday sir.
     
  5. iyerviji

    iyerviji Finest Post Winner

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    My dear Anna
    Reading your heading I thought you are writing about what happened in your dining table.

    Glad to know you enjoy sizzlers and Falooda.

    I am also fond of sizzlers but get a chance only when my children take me out. My husband is not fond of eating out. I like kulfi and icecream.

    I too enjoy thayir chadam
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2019
  6. shyamala1234

    shyamala1234 Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Cheeniya sir,
    Your daughter seems to have given you a great evening! Age is only a number....New shirts, Glass breaking ring sound on mobile, swanky eating place, sizzlers, colourful beautiful falloda!!! Enjoying life unlike many seniors who want only routine food of sambhar, dal etc.? Jealous of you.My father wanted gongura pachadi daily. By the way what is tirumasu?
    I wish you many more evenings like this and enjoy life.
    Syamala
     
  7. Adharv

    Adharv Gold IL'ite

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    ;):smile: Oru hifi kudunga I do like sizzlers for the same reason as you said above and I like the sound and the smoke smell.... :beer-toast1:

    :lol::lol:

    :roflmao::roflmao: I thought it was thairsadham did aunty also think the same and served it to you :facepalm::roflmao:

    Enjoyed your snippet. :banana: thank you for the lively snippet :cheer::cheer:

    ** god, please don't punish me for laughing too much reading all the humorous snippets today. Could feel the pain in my jaw. :yikes:
     
  8. Mistt

    Mistt IL Hall of Fame

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    @Cheeniya Uncle,
    What a hilarious write up from you again:roflmao:. I enjoyed each and every line of your snippet.

    True uncle, age is just a number and we have to enjoy whatever we like at all the stages of life.

    Cauliflower dosa and beetroot idly/pink idly?:lol: I have never heard of those dishes.
    Yes, I feel same as aunty and home made any simple dish which is pulihora/curd rice or etc are the best food always. Thanks a lot uncle for making me laugh while reading throughout the post.
     
  9. shravs3

    shravs3 IL Hall of Fame

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    Sizzling write up sir.

    My favourite is hot chocolate sizzlers. I still remember when there was a new place which was opened at my place, I forced my parents to go there. It was night and the place was so crowded and I was excited to order Hot chocolate sizzlers, I burnt my tongue at the first bite, later I was so deeply enjoying I forgot to notice my friend who was standing beside me. He was teasing for the way I was eating it :tearsofjoy:
    Sir you are tempting me with my fav items, Tiramisu and Falooda!!

    But nothing can beat curd rice though . It’s an another level!
     
  10. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @Viswamitra
    My dear Viswa
    After Harshad Mehta scared me out of all share market operations, I never really felt like going that side. This guy had massive funds of ₹ 135,800 Crore taken from suckers like me. With a swan song, I bade goodbye to my tryst with share market. But this phrase made me curious and I scanned the Wikipedia which gave me enough info about this interesting concept.
    I agree. It is our digestive ability and not the age that should be the determining factor in eating. If our tummy does not approve of the things we eat, I don't think we have anymore say in the matter. But my tummy is a great friend. 'Don't worry about me! If you like it, eat it' is how it encourages my food preferences. It occasionally gets into a bad mood and that's the time I become cautious about what I eat. When it is in excellent mood, it can digest a piece of rock!
    Sri
     
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