Dr. Prakash Dave
Or there are those eateries which are buffet or pangat, it doesn't matter, it only means with the food and not with the type of food or serving. We humans are born creative. Nothing goes without a personal touch. That's why we have created a new type of serving by mixing row food and buffet food in many places, in which there are also buffet counters and such personal counter attacks are also meant to be served while you are sitting down to eat! Buffet is also known as gourmet banquet. It is believed that people can eat according to their taste, but as mentioned earlier, we cannot live without giving personal touch to anything. A meal card includes a self-service meal instead of a buffet. Ruchi had written a dinner ceremony and in that ceremony, people went to have dinner! In olden days we used to eat there in rows. People would sit in lines and the entire team of waiters would come to where you were sitting with a plate of food like a 'Sarkar Apne Dwar' programme. There was fun and punishment in this. The fun part is that you don't have to go to the counter again and again as the food arrives at your place. As a result, you can take whatever you want as many times as you like and no one will even know. The big problem in the buffet is that if you counter-attack again and again, the whole village notices that Maganbhai has come for the seventh time to get Gulabjambu. If there are religious occasions, people used to sing tunes till the food is served, now such tunes are not possible. One of the disadvantages of pangat was that after you sit down to eat you don't know who has come and who hasn't. Not everyone goes out just to eat. You don't know who came or who came, so even if the person for whom you went to eat keeps coming and going, you don't know! No such worries at the buffet. Aye, you can watch the whole world with a plate in your hand and with glowing eyes. You can keep track of who has come or not. Also, if you have had the habit of pushing while standing in line since your elementary school days, the buffet will be very useful. As soon as the word “hello jamva'' is heard in the buffet, one has to wait in line to forget the knee pain and the growing age. If you show any laziness or politeness in this, no matter how early you reach the dining place, it is the last time to eat. Here, that principle is adopted earlier, but it is implemented from the food line rather than the restaurant. In buffets, it often happens that the plates are missing from the counter just when it is our turn. Therefore, the ban is placed on the new diners for an indefinite period of time. That time is very frustrating. Almost everyone takes out the mobile and starts pressing the horizontal switch to pass the time. One also casts a glance at the gentlemen and ladies present. Kumak of thali bowl arrives there. Here one has to come into conflict with certain attitudes and certain priorities. There comes a point where you feel like vowing never to eat at a buffet for the rest of your life, but at the same time, the new bhajjian doesn't let you take the pledge and you forget the past and move forward in line. The hassle of standing in a queue is exempted from the hassle of standing in a queue for the second time diners at the buffet. Those people can enter directly. No one seems to mind it, but what happens is that the hurried and half-starved human being rushes the plate before entering the line himself. A plate stained with the edges of vegetable broth, dal rela and chutney paints seven or eight people around without warning, even if it is not dusted. It is rare for us to be there, yet under the influence of the aroma of fritters, we even clean our shirts and even forgive the intruder. Who says happiness is happiness after suffering first? After so much pushing, insulting, drenched in juices and dal we reach the bhajis where the bhajis are gone!
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
