The 'Dabba'
Ms. Suzy, knocked the officedoor of MD of Anand 'O' Anand Ltd just when he was having his lunch.
(Mr. Anand was health consious and followed a strict diet regime. He followed a healthy schedule everyday. Starting his day with a morning walk followed by regular exercise, having healthy breakfast and proper intake of juices with good food throughout the day. Generally, no one dared to enter the cabin during lunch break and interrupt Mr.Anand.)
He was a foodie, everyone knew. When Suzy slightly opened the door, she was surprised the food was on the table and there were drops of tear in the eyes of Mr.Anand....
When Suzy asked the reason, he narrated...........
When I was a very small... somewhere in I/II standard, I remember I had a high degree of possessiveness for my dabba. Whatever was mine, I never liked to share with anyone. We used to love the biscuits, pastries and chocolates send in by parents (in fact we were taught to be selfish for our dabba).
When we grew bigger, somewhat in V/VI, our degree of friendship increased and we enjoyed each other's company. In those days, there used to be a big group. Everyone used to open up their respective 'dabba' and share its content. The big group had many small groups of 2-3 people but everyone enjoyed everyone's company. The best of the school days. This trend continued for another two years.
Just when I reached IX standard, the monkey within us started to wag its tail. Now the big group had vanished almost. There were few bullies in the class and few helpless sheeps. The groups were distinct, The Scholars Group (where you needed to score a rank to be qualified in the group), The Back Benchers Group (where you needed to be a mischievious kind of person ready to be kneeling down in the verandha of classroom and The General Groups (not belonging to either of the above groups).
I belonged to the famous BB Group. Our day would start with punishment and end on a similar note. The intervals would now be used for only one task i.e. playing. New game every day was the order of the day. Then the 'dabba' time had changed. Now it used to be during the lectures. It was fun. To eat without being caught. Very risky but everyone among us enjoyed this task. The modus operandi was simple enough. Keep the dabba open in the desk (you never know, when will you get a chance)....put your head down and slowly put one piece inside the mouth, munch it very slowly without being caught in the glance of teacher.
The most crucial moment would be when teacher is asking question in the classroom, and unexpectedly your name is announced and you have just put in the piece of chapati in your mouth... Ooo la la.... You take all the time in the world, stand up very slowly... try to wash down everything you have in your mouth with water from the water bottle.... this is crucial because if you are caught, everyone is at risk. And if caught, even if the teacher pardons you, rest assured, you will be thrown out of the group and the mouth lashing you are expected to get is huge. But the fun is worth being a part of the BB group.
Now, after so many years, I am alone in my cabin having my food, without anyone's company but remembering those wonderful days......Wow!!! Nostalgic!!!
(Mr. Anand was health consious and followed a strict diet regime. He followed a healthy schedule everyday. Starting his day with a morning walk followed by regular exercise, having healthy breakfast and proper intake of juices with good food throughout the day. Generally, no one dared to enter the cabin during lunch break and interrupt Mr.Anand.)
He was a foodie, everyone knew. When Suzy slightly opened the door, she was surprised the food was on the table and there were drops of tear in the eyes of Mr.Anand....
When Suzy asked the reason, he narrated...........
When I was a very small... somewhere in I/II standard, I remember I had a high degree of possessiveness for my dabba. Whatever was mine, I never liked to share with anyone. We used to love the biscuits, pastries and chocolates send in by parents (in fact we were taught to be selfish for our dabba).
When we grew bigger, somewhat in V/VI, our degree of friendship increased and we enjoyed each other's company. In those days, there used to be a big group. Everyone used to open up their respective 'dabba' and share its content. The big group had many small groups of 2-3 people but everyone enjoyed everyone's company. The best of the school days. This trend continued for another two years.
Just when I reached IX standard, the monkey within us started to wag its tail. Now the big group had vanished almost. There were few bullies in the class and few helpless sheeps. The groups were distinct, The Scholars Group (where you needed to score a rank to be qualified in the group), The Back Benchers Group (where you needed to be a mischievious kind of person ready to be kneeling down in the verandha of classroom and The General Groups (not belonging to either of the above groups).
I belonged to the famous BB Group. Our day would start with punishment and end on a similar note. The intervals would now be used for only one task i.e. playing. New game every day was the order of the day. Then the 'dabba' time had changed. Now it used to be during the lectures. It was fun. To eat without being caught. Very risky but everyone among us enjoyed this task. The modus operandi was simple enough. Keep the dabba open in the desk (you never know, when will you get a chance)....put your head down and slowly put one piece inside the mouth, munch it very slowly without being caught in the glance of teacher.
The most crucial moment would be when teacher is asking question in the classroom, and unexpectedly your name is announced and you have just put in the piece of chapati in your mouth... Ooo la la.... You take all the time in the world, stand up very slowly... try to wash down everything you have in your mouth with water from the water bottle.... this is crucial because if you are caught, everyone is at risk. And if caught, even if the teacher pardons you, rest assured, you will be thrown out of the group and the mouth lashing you are expected to get is huge. But the fun is worth being a part of the BB group.
Now, after so many years, I am alone in my cabin having my food, without anyone's company but remembering those wonderful days......Wow!!! Nostalgic!!!
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