“Slow eater” is what I have always been referred to as, at home and among friends too. Mum even compares my pace to that of Gideon's. We have an age gap of 15 years, and he giggles away to glory whenever it’s time to eat. Prejudice, Duh!!!
The reason for this post is Nivi. I had to share my packet of Lays with her yesterday because she couldn’t bear to see me munching that small quantity for half-an-hour. My justification is/was and will always be that I relish the tiniest morsel I eat. The weirdest look of the day was when I was having Coffee. It was HOT. She knew it and inspite of that, expected me to guzzle it down in one shot! How atrocious can Friends get! Comments like “You can dream later”, “Make it fast” are quite expected every time we lunch out. And not to forget, snatching my food and finishing it off! Help, they say :P!
However, Nivi took me by surprise yesterday. As usual I was struggling to empty my platter, knew I was in for some real big time fun and gave her a paavam look when she started, “Apram enacha, Tiger vandhuchan. Tiger vandhu enna senjithu theriyuma?” Shell-shocked! What was going on? For a moment, I sat there still, not knowing what to say, how to react, what to do. All I knew was that I had my eyes welled. Table no.5 came flashing in front of me, and the memories thereof. I knew I couldn’t eat anymore, couldn’t tell her what was going on. And we left without saying a word.
