I was very tempted to write that chewing gum incidence here. I’ve had a record of keeping the chewing gum for more than ten hours in my mouth. Seriously it was not funny. It was not a comedy but a tragedy. Poor Johny! couldn’t find a way to split it away. I have this story kept aside for the question like this:
What is the worst thing that you ever put in your mouth? Well I am not a celebrity, still, I have kept the answer ready, just in case, anybody asks me such question...
Who knows? Eric might ask such essay next month!
But honestly when I ask this question to myself, chewing gum doesn’t come to my mind; it’s the other thing. And mind you, that episode was really funny. So I would like to share it with you.
My work is related to fabrication and manufacturing of metal plates, gears etc. I don’t have the liberty to sit in Air-conditioned office in front of a desktop.
One day for some extra work I had to go to others workshop ( my friend’s workshop) to complete the job. Since the job was urgent I skipped the lunch. My friend realized the urgency and ordered
‘VadaPav’. I tacitly agreed to have
VadaPav as a lunch, since we neither had time nor we could have found the restaurant in the industrial area. I was not bothered at all, because
VadaPav is my favorite junk-food.
(What‘s VadaPav by the way? Ohk, You can call it
Indian hot-dog or hamburger)
My friend’s workshop was quite clumsy place, especially for eating vada-pav. It has only one table and a chair. Being the guest I was seated. Vada-pav came shortly and my friend asked one of his boys to bring a glass. Another boy unwrapped the cover, took out vada-pavs from polyethylene bag. Four VadaPavs were there along with some liquid.
'
Hmmmm I love that smell', I thought.
Meantime a boy brought a dish and a glass.
Wwhoooaa look at this wine glass has come.
A WINE glass? What for? 
I don’t drink; & my friend knows that well.
And I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to drink now... My chain of weird thoughts was running while that boy with wine glass came, took away scummy caliper, placed shining glass on the table and poured that red-brown liquid in it.
Surely it was not the wine. The liquid was not refined and seemed quite hot or rather warm to me. Although I was very curious to see what it was, I didn’t taste it, hoping that my friend would tell mesomething about it.
At my back, there was a saw machine cutting mild steel, splashing oil-and-water all over; on my right side: my friend, sitting on the table eating VadaPav; On the other side: two boys were standing, grinning, looking at me, eating my VadaPav. I gave them a ‘
what-do-u-want?-go-back-to-ur-work’ look. But it didn’t work. In front of me there was the scummy table with VadaPav and a wine glass with red-brown liquid.
I wanted to ask “what’s in it?” but not in front of these boys. People acting like, ‘
it’s a common thing’. Nothing special in it.
I think it’s a soup…A Chinese soup.
My friend ate only one VadaPav and headed to wash basin. ‘
I already had a lunch, all is yours now. Enjoy your Vadapav-meal.’ He said while washing his hands.
Soup was tempting. I had this only chance. I made courage picked the glass and sipped.
SIPPED? NO. I GULPED.
Yes I gulped it, greedily.
And how it tasted? what I sensed?
Actually I couldn’t sense anything for some time. And when I took control of myself I realized that the liquid I just gulped was not a wine, was not a soup but a red chili chutney!!!
I had all mixed feelings. I was very much angry with myself or maybe dazed-n-confused. I was perplexed, idiot, stupid, fool and now sorry.
For the first time in my life I actually realized why cartoonists show the fire blowing out from the character’s mouth when she/he eats something spicy and hot!
When I regained my senses, I observed that there was nobody around to witness my stupidity.
Thanggod.
Man! Chutney in a wine glass?
Now, when I remember this incidence I laugh on myself. How funny it was to have a chutney in the wine glass. Still funnier was my behavior. I claim to be the aspiring MBA student, I blabber around and lecture people: how “proactive” one should be, to be in business, to be in business school. Crap, crap, all crap. I talk a lot but a tiny
lil question I didn’t ask to my friend thinking that it would be foolish to ask such a petty thing.
Then I realized my mistake. I could rather have afforded to be foolish to ask that question than being foolish.
