Upma And Masala Dosa

There was a couple who shared a table with me at a popular local eatery in my city. Well, the place is such a hit that you cannot get an exclusive table unless you are four people and your turn comes after a wait of a minimum of twenty minutes. Since they were two and I was a single person, we ended up getting our slots around the same time and shared the table.

I ordered Idli-Vada and the couple took a fairly long time to finalize the order. I did not mean to eavesdrop their conversation, but I surely could not help but hear what they were talking about without any effort. 

The girl liked to have Upma and the boy chose Masala Dose. For some reason, the girl was not happy with this decision. She insisted that he too have Upma as it would be light for the dinner. She elaborated further on the benefits of having Upma over Masala Dose and also highlighted how they were not exercising enough, so they had to make up for it up by eating something light like Upma. To me, she seemed like a brand ambassador for Upma.

The boy was visibly upset and was reluctant to change his order. He replied with his excuses and explanations and stuck to Masala Dose no matter what. The girl; however, wouldn’t give up so easily. At one point, she threw her hands up and said, she will not eat if he did not comply by her well-thought-out chosen item. The boy was as flabbergasted as I was. Finally, he placed the order for two plates of Upma and one Masala Dose. I assumed the problem was solved.

As soon as the food arrived, I saw that the first thing the girl did was to take a picture of the two eating Upma and she instantaneously posted it on Facebook. I cannot predict the caption of the picture though. All the while that the boy was eating his Upma and then the Masala Dose, she kept muttering how Dose was not a good choice, how he had ended up eating lot more than is advisable, etc. I truly sympathized with the boy.

The three of us finished our dinner around the same; we had to clear the place so we could leave room for so many more waiting outside.

On the way back home, I recalled what had happened in the hotel. I am no one to judge the girl or the boy as a matter-of-fact. Nevertheless, I thought about relationships in general. Whether it is a friendship, partnership or a professional acquaintance, do we all make the mistake of imposing what we like, what we want, what we think is the best on the other person? And worse, in the name of the best interests of the other person. Secretly, we enjoy a certain sense of accomplishment post doing it. What is right and what is wrong, how much of it is right is definitely debatable; nonetheless making space for another person’s liking especially when it does not mean a compromise on our side- it won’t cost much. It can give us all the harmony and a lot of peace.