Green vs Brown Plate

Venky considered food as an emotion & not as a survival essential. He believed that food carried culture, heritage, ancestry & legacy from generation to generation. The time & effort invested in food exploration was evidence of his commitment. He endeavored to cover the food spectrum irrespective of the ingredients, cooking style, variations of spices, regional specialties & whatnot. It was unprecedented for him to be late or miss a booking at any restaurant. Considering the busy Friday noon traffic, he ensured the team started for the restaurant on time. The team arrived at 1:15 PM at a barbeque restaurant. After 10mins wait, the receptionist showed the group of ten to an enormous table.

The table was at the corner of the room & one end of the table was to the wall. Venky let the rest of the team members settle. He strategically settled into the first chair at the other end of the table. As per their premeditated plan, the inner circle settled beside each other. Kanika sat beside Venky & on the opposite side sat Sheetal & Gaurav. Venky looked at the entire team & observed, the table held a spectrum of eaters. They covered veggie lovers, bone crushers, gluttons, epicureans, cautious eaters & self-imposed anorexics.

The waiter greeted the crowd & explained the restaurant setup of serving barbeque food. Venky had lost count of the number of visits at this particular restaurant. While the waiter spoke, Venky skimmed over the specials menu. The waiter explained that the staters were cooked up to 95% & the rest at the table on the skewer. He pointed at a variety of chutney available to coat on the starters. The first-timers were mesmerised by the concept.

Before leaving, the waiter pointed at a metal flag on the table & said, "Please put the flag down to end the starters serving." No sooner did the waiter leave than Venky requested Preethi to pass the metal flag to him. He announced, "No one else gets to put down the flag except me." Very few people paid attention to it, but the fours at the corner nodded in unison. While the waiter set up the barbeque grill, the teammates ordered drinks to go with the food. Another waiter came up with plates & enquired, "Green or brown?" Venky immediately responded, "Four brown here & the rest of them are green." Kanika looked at Venky. He replied, "Green plates are for vegetarians & brown for people like us." The quartet chuckled.

The waiters relentlessly served starters & the teammates relished with friendly banter. After a while, Preethi enquired, "I had asked for a repeat of potato; did he bring it?" Venky replied, "Yeah, we took that serving. I have asked for a repeat." Now the reason was apparent to other teammates; the strategic seating arrangement of the notorious fours. Any serving would go to the other end of the table first & then to the rest of the team. Preethi reacted, "Oh, come on! You non-vegetarians, eat both veg & non-veg." While lifting one of the non-veg skewers, Kanika replied, "We aren't stopping you from eating. Would you like to try some?"

Preethi firmly said, "No!" Kanika shrugged, "Your loss is my gain." Venky stated, "Every restaurant we go to, it's the same complaint." Sheetal added, "Remember the last time we went for a weekend ala carte lunch, they ordered several dishes & said, oh so many vegetables." Venky reacted, "Yeah, apart from the bean, carrot, cauliflower, potato & pea. What else can they eat?" At the moment, the waiter came up with a plate full of mutton sheek kebab. The corner four seats took servings & dug into it. Preethi responded furiously, "How conveniently you forget to mention that every other dish ordered was chicken." Kanika added, "Chicken dishes taste different; unlike veggies, chicken takes the flavor of the spices." The potato dish had arrived, but the green gang wasn't ready to retreat from the barbeque battlefield.

Madhu expressed, "There are other veggies too. You people don't know." Gaurav giggled & questioned, "What else do you eat? Paneer & Mushroom? One is curdled milk & other is a fungus." Sheetal said, "Madhu, don't even bother getting into this." A few of the green's cheeks were slowly turning red. Sheetal continued, "During a weekend getaway at Pondicherry, she shared a picture of a Pizza." Kanika's eyebrows knotted & questioned, "What? Pizza in Pondicherry?" Sheetal articulated, "Yeah, it was a strange-looking Pizza with red circular discs as garnish. On enquiring, she said, its tomato topping!"

Kanika thumped her left fist on the table & stated, "It's an unpardonable sin to not eat seafood on visiting the coastal area. You ate tomato Pizza! Then of all the people on the face of Earth, you dared to send the picture to Sheetal?" Gaurav added, "We are at a seafood festival, which is celebrating & respecting the Sea. The buffet has lobster soup, crab curry, octopus & squid Thai curry, fish & prawn; along with usual chicken & mutton dishes." The debate continued while they munched on the sumptuous food.

Keerthi came up with a defense strategy, "Vegetables are healthier. You will understand later in life." Kanika questioned with a chuckle, "Alright, how many of you are diagnosed with deficiency or insufficiency of Vitamin B12?" Most of the green-plated crowd raised their hands. Kanika smiled & stated, "Red meat helps in boosting levels of B12." Preethi wasn't stepping behind. She conveyed, "Eggs boost B12." Kanika replied, "Not as effective as red meat." Sheetal stated, "Oh god! Egg?! So it is acceptable to eat an egg before it hatches into a chicken but not later?" The quartet laughed so hard that the rest of the restaurant crowd looked at the table.

Kanika mulled over a thought while she chewed on the soft prawn. She whispered into Venky's ears, "Should I bring up the topic of red & deep red dots on the products they buy off the rack in supermarkets & medical stores?" Venky wiped his mouth with a towel & stated, "I'm sure they are already cursing us. There is a high chance of us suffering from stomach aches. So let's keep it to ourselves." Gaurav had taken up the baton to continue on the topic. He stated, "You do not complain when a lion or a tiger eats a deer or a bison." Sanju replied, "Its nature, that is a food chain." Gaurav responded, "We too belong to the same food chain. We cook & add spices to the meat; carnivores don't."

Take Away:

A dense forest is a home for a diversity of plant & animal species. Yet, Lion is called the king of the jungle.