On my way back home from office, I noticed a new restaurant making shawarmas which quickly made me stop for a bite. The restaurant looked pretty cool and spacious. I saw a family enjoying their dinner and thought to myself “I should probably bring my folks here this weekend”.
I then ordered a shawarma . The waiter responded after a moment saying, “Sir, it will take another 15 minutes for the shawarma to get ready. Will you wait till then?” I didn’t have problem waiting. I then went for the wash room. But as soon as I took a seat at my table the shawarma guy called me outside in a totally informal way, waving his hand like an upper middle class guy calling for an auto rickshaw. Confused, I walked towards him.
The shawarma guy then said, “There are guests inside. You can have it here.” While speaking with me, he took a steel chair, placed it near the parking space beside the watchman, placed the shawarma plate on the chair and got back to his mincing work.
It took me say 10 steady seconds before I realised that I was humiliated. Was it my messy hair? Or the jacket I was wearing because of the rains? Or is it just because I ordered less?”. There was a sign outside the restaurant that read: “We are Open”. Perhaps the board should have read: “People who eat for less than Rs. 100 will be treated best outside the restaurant”.
I gave in to my anger and decided to leave, taking the shawarma home. Filled with anger, I stormed off on my bike heedless of the fact that I was riding in fourth gear. I rode back home smiling at the realisation that my mom’s uppuma always tasted better at heart and that I’m not going to complain eating it hereafter.
Oops! Did I miss the part where I am supposed to whine — “Where is India going with this?” Nah! It’s not going to make any difference. Let’s just look for a better place that serves shawarma .
SARAN PRASAD A.,Software Engineer
