Monday, October 16, 2006

Choose the Best Answer

By the time Ashok reached home it was 8.30 at night. It had taken him more than one hour to reach Adayar from the busy streets of Anna salai. He was so hungry that he could have gobbled up a piano with tomato sauce and chutney. He was not surprised to see his two month old wife Anitha sympathizing with a mega serial heroine who seemed to have a summation of all the problems of an entire country in her single family.

After freshening up, he opened the hot box with lot of anxiety and tons of hunger. The supper was Idli, dosa, Sambhar and chutney. Awwww. The idli looked hard enough to cause blood flow if hit on head. The worse part was that the Sambhar was so much liquefied to make it look like rasam and chutney didnt have any coconut in it. The dosa looked like some piece of rug. When Ashok had first met Anitha, her mother claimed that she had cooked all those delicious delicacies. But her brother told him that Anitha was so bad at cooking that she would read the instructions to cook Maggie noodles at least 5 minutes in those 2 minutes.

"Do you know that Mrinalini's father-in-law passed away today?" asked Anitha.

"Mrinalini? Is she from your family side or mine?" asked Ashok mechanically eating one of the idlis.

"Budhdhu. I am talking about the heroine in Kabhi Bahu bhi Saas baneggiii" said Anitha.

Ashok never understood 2 things. One, why did all Ekta Kapoor's stupid serials need to start with the letter K and have unspellable spellings. Two, why did women refer to mega serial characters as if they were close enough as neighbors next door. Ignoring these ridiculous doubts aside Ashok chomped the idli with sambhar with the expression of Narasimha Rao meeting his ministers. She was still in the learning phase and Ashok was prepared to wait. And then as he feared, the inevitable question popped up.

"So how is the dinner? Is the sambhar as nice as your mother makes?" asked Anitha.

Most of the men in the world would be ready to fight a lion barehanded or attempt IITJEE question papers rather than answering this question. Ashok’s mom had been cooking since the age of 16 and was famous in the colony for the tasty south Indian dishes she made in festival times. If he were to tell her that it was nice, then she would get the wrong impression and would continue to cook this horribly and drive him mad. If he were to say that it tasted like garbage, she may start sobbing without any glycerin and may even fight and make him mad. If he were to say that both were alike, then maybe she may get angry that her cooking was not good than his mother’s.

Hell, if he could think of so many possibilities, he could put Vishwanathan Anand out of business or topple Topalov and become Chess Master. The bottom line was that he didn’t want to hurt her as he loved her a lot.

Hesitant he played on neutral grounds “Ani..its nice. It’s not like what my mom makes...but it’s nice. Tell me one thing. Why did you have to make these when you could have simply made something like noodles that’s very easy to cook?"

"Because I want to make you happy" replied Anitha.

Ashok turned silent and kissed her on her forehead and ate silently. The sambhar did not taste that bad after all.

38 comments:

Priya said...

hey, nice story.
//If he were to tell her that it was nice, then she would get the wrong impression and would continue to cook this horribly and drive him mad. If he were to say that it tasted like garbage, she may start sobbing without any glycerin and may even fight and make him mad.//
how true? seems to be the toughest question anyone could face.

Anonymous said...

Nice one man!! Very well answered... Boss you seemed to have learnt he tactic to handle such questions...all set is it? :)

Ramses said...

aaha! ooh-o

Anonymous said...

romantic!!! :D

Anonymous said...

Ha ha, seems very much like the story my father told me.

But harish, I don't think it is all that tough. Telling the flaws in a subtle way and praising if it is good can be still done. My uncle does that always to my aunt..

"Romba nalla irukkuma. Uppu innum konjam potaa innum superaa irundhirukkum" :D

While he mostly would get a hit for this, he does compensate by praising her when she does something good.

Butterflies said...

that was a real gud attempt..liked it a lot!

Anonymous said...

Thaz how the women has to answer coz then it becomes tit for tat always. A little motherly touch cna make anyone happy.

EarthlyTraveler said...

Nice story.Nijama vazhkaiyil varum sandharpangal.Nice answer he has given to his NEW wife.When you appreciate for the first effort, Though it is not tasty,she will get her confidence to try something better later.--SKM

Anonymous said...

"The sambhar did not taste that bad after all."
Nice...

Anonymous said...

Whoa!!!Another awesome narration... thoroughly enjoyed readin it harish!!! enjoyed every syllable!!! Honestly! :)

The ending was super cool!

Unknown said...

He was so hungry that he could have gobbled up a piano with tomato sauce and chutney.

From where the heck do get these similies and metaphors? U rule!

The idli looked hard enough to cause blood flow if hit on head. heheheee.. :)

Anitha was so bad at cooking that she would read the instructions to cook Maggie noodles at least 5 minutes in those 2 minutes.
chance less this!!!

Ignoring these ridiculous doubts aside Ashok chomped the idli with sambhar with the expression of Narasimha Rao meeting his ministers

sema comedy...

"So how is the dinner? Is the sambhar as nice as your mother makes?" asked Anitha.

Most of the men in the world would be ready to fight a lion barehanded or attempt IITJEE question papers rather than answering this question.


Man YOU ARE THE KING OF SIMILIES AND METAPHORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shruti said...

nice story.. lol. did you INTEND for it to be so typical?? everything about that story is typical.. ending included :)

Krithika said...

beautifull!!:) u have written it reallly well!! liked the theme..

Chandru said...

soooper appu...

Keshi said...

nice story...

Keshi.

Janani said...

=>The sambhar did not taste that bad after all.<= Did it???

Doubt in Ekta's creations?? Sorry too difficult to clarify them.

~*. D E E P A .* ~ said...

Hey !

Thanx for stopping by !

I know that every single guy does go through these questions , or a variation of these , and have no answers.
Maybe , it is time to set up a coaching centre... what say ??

Deekshanya said...

Nice one! Liked the simple flow but nice and practical talk.
keep writing. :)
-Deeksh

Anonymous said...

vazhakkam pola super story harish... :)

//One, why did all Ekta Kapoor's stupid serials need to start with the letter K and have unspellable spellings.// edho numerologist sollirpaaru...'k' la start pannina unga serial 45,362 episodes odumnu...adhaan... :)

//Ashok chomped the idli with sambhar with the expression of Narasimha Rao meeting his ministers//
avalo sandhosama...hee hee..

happy deepavali to u... :))

Vivhyd said...

Pretty sweet story... very funny!! hate those serials.. what a waste of time nah

Vivhyd said...

actually on 2nd thght, we shnt be encouraging the gals with stories like these.. they shd cook well rite? :p

Has to be me said...

Thats v.sweet of Ashok! :) And super cool bit there! Hmm so seems like u r getting ready to answer such ?s in the near future? Good luck pal!
and happy diwali too! :)

Anonymous said...

Nice story ! :D

Vidya

Aditi said...

Real sweet...
Happy Diwali!

Arunkumar said...

Nice one. Hey, Good blogs u write :)
Inspired by blogs like urs, have started mine. Chk out http://findarun.blogspot.com/2006/10/blog-post_19.html when u get time

Belated Diwali wishes :)

-Arun

Anonymous said...

Ohhhhhhhhhhh that is so sweet!!!
Nice story buddy

Harish said...

@Priya
Imaginable yes...

@KK
En pa?Naan nalla irukiradu unakku pidikalaya???

@Ramses
Does it mean that u liked it :-)

@Brute
In a way...yes

@Bindu
This is called Managerial talk :-)

@Shuba
Thanks a ton

@Pria
And men always fall so for dames :-)

Harish said...

@SKM
That is y it is titles as Choose the best answer :-)

@Gayatri
I love my last lines...

@Prithz
Thanks a ton again yaar

@Karthik
Anna....irukira kulirula neenga vechcha ice kku enakku jalpu pidichukichchu....but man...u really made my day :-)

@Shruti
Well...its naturally typical :-)

@Krithika
Yeah...i loved it when i wrote it as well...

Harish said...

@Chan
Thanks man

@Keshi
Thanks yaar

@Janani
I wish someone could clarify abt Ekta Kapuur

@Deepa
Coaching center wont do anything...experience is the best teacher...

@Deekshanya
Thanks yaar...I am trying my best...

@Gopal
Belated Diwlai wishes Dude

Harish said...

@Vivhyd
On second thought this story can also be taken as lesson for men to tackle ladies :-)

@HTBM
"Hmm so seems like u r getting ready to answer such ?s in the near future"...if that means that I am well prepared...then I guess its just one sided. Bearing me could be tough at times :-)

@Vidya
Thanks yaar

@Aditi
Thanks and Wish u the same

@Arun
Chkd ur blog and commented as well...hoping to see more of u

@Duya
Thanks yaar

Anonymous said...

Ha ha ha...I liked your descriptions! Excellent!

Harish said...

@Sangeetha
Thanks a ton yaar

Harish said...

@Raz
Luckily for a gal I m not. And yes...please go ahead...there has to be some purpose of this blog after all...

nandoo said...

liked it :-)

Harish said...

@Nandoo
Nandri Nanba :-)

KC! said...

very funny! :)

Harish said...

@Usha
Thanks ngo :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Harish,
You write nicely.

Good! Keep it up