9. Food Revolt

This will be the first revolt in the history of the Vidya Mandir hostel. Irony is it happened in the mess hall, which was much loved by all the students (will inmates be a better word!). It was never intentional. It happened spontaneously. The surprising part of this revolt was it happened during the period when Master Blaster Varadarajan was the warden.

It was a Saturday night. Everyone was relaxed, as there is no study after food and the next day being Sunday (TV watching and chance of meeting parents). That night, the menu was rice meal- sadham, sambar, poriyal, butter milk and pickle.

The rice was served after the prayer. At first, no one noticed it, the rice was badly cooked or it was just half-cooked and added to it, the rice had a bad smell. Some still felt it was good. Balaji, sitting to my right said it was good, while Aravind on to my left disagreed (Left always disagrees!). I couldn’t decide, for me one bite was good and the next tasted bad. Everyone was still seated, the low whispers started to take some decibels. Someone from Ramakrishna hall line shouted that we shouldn’t eat this food. Hearing this call, the Shradha big boys joined the wagon. Unable to decide what to do, we Vivekananda boys were just sitting idle, with one hand inside the plate. 

Mani and other staffs had arguments. Usually by this time there will be food munching sound, but rather today, it was shouting and arguments. We were still seated; we were neither prepared to get up, nor prepared to eat the under-cooked food. Situation was about to go out of control and we needed an arbitrator quickly, before someone throw the plate in the air!

Hearing this unusual noise from his room, Varadarajan came to the mess. He didn’t come in, but was standing next to the door. He was patiently waiting and noticing what was happening. Few students spotted him and cautioned the boys next to them. After a minute or two the entire hall went silent.

He then walked towards the kitchen and tasted the rice. His first reaction was not good; he must have felt the rice is not good. He then spoke with Mani and the other staff. He came to middle of the mess hall and apologized for whatever happened. He said it won’t be repeated again. And, all will be provided with five biscuits. Everyone quietly dispersed by having the biscuits.

That was a calm night.

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Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

***Above image by the blogger