Feb 11, 2005 10:00 AM
11661 Views
(Updated Feb 11, 2005 10:00 AM)
It has been a hectic day since morning. Tackling one thing after the other has left me no time for lunch.
The students turned up around two in the afternoon. Shuffling their mobile phones from one hand to another ? expensive sneakers left outside the lab.
?Uh, could we postpone the class today ??
Yippeee!!! Manna from heaven! Can this be true ?
Truth is, I?m relieved.
?Why?I ask, hoping that I look disapproving enough.
?We have our festival coming up?Ah, so sincere, so truthful. ?Please, please, we have to submit a script for a play to be held at the fest. We need a day off!?
?Look, I can?t force you to attend?trying to sound as if I really care.
?Thank you, thank you sooooooo much?
I have a feeling they?re kicking their heels together right outside the lab. ? just as I am inside.
It?s far too late for lunch, I might as well grab a cup of coffee. As I take my coffee from the guy on the counter, my glance falls on the attractive packs of Lays arranged neatly on the shelves. My favorite Cilantro is here.
Calories!!!shouts the brain.
We?ll walk them off in tomorrow?s shopping trip.I pacify the inner voice.
Avoiding the students dotting the cafeteria lawns, I retreat to a bench under the shade. The day are just starting into spring and my coffee is yummy. Sitting on the side of the Japanese rock garden and enjoying the sunlight ? it?s a rare, quiet moment.
Trying to concentrate on the paper at hand, I tear into the bag of crunchy, yummy Lays. Umm? Love the ridged surfaces and the smell of Cilantro. Each golden chip is a perfect golden oval. I anticipate the crunch.
Just as I bit into the first one, my glance fell on two boys ? about twelve. Rugamuffins. Neat, but something about them says they?re not from the same background as the students in the expensive, branded clothes. They were going from one group to another picking up the discarded bags of lays ? cleaning up ? ?
No, they were looking for any leftover chips.
Something has spoilt the afternoon for me.
I called them over. One came.
We work in the canteen, he said. We live here only. My mother lives nearby and works for the building contractor. We live here only. Yes, that?s my brother. No, we don?t go to school ? there?s no time. But life is good here. They give us enough to eat and we sleep in the canteen. It?s warm at night.
What about a future, I want to ask him. But will he understand ?
I handed over the bag of chips ? you have it.
No, No, he says ? embarrassed and pleased.
Take it, I press it into his hand.
He walks away, clutching the Lays like a treasure ? to be hoarded and savoured.
Suddenly, I remember the line from the ad and laugh.
I could eat just one, I want to tell Saif.
