Who is World’s Beloved Clown?

The only task awaiting execution was to bid good bye to friends and relatives. Most of them said.. “Convey our regards to Mr. Bush”. One of my uncles said, “Yeah.. If you happen to bump into Bush, just tell him that we are doing fine and are eating just what we need!”

It’s been over 10 days since I reached here. Interestingly, there are countless restaurants around the community we live in. You name a cuisine; you have it somewhere close by! The first one we tried was “Pita Jungle”, a Greek restaurant. It is an amazing place, artistically lighted and brilliantly furnished. The unique brush strokes inside huge frames on the wall added elegance to the entire room. The ambience itself is extremely inviting. I thanked our friends for picking the spot who helped us place the order too. I was specific about just one thing – “No cheese please!” I knew it was like asking for a masala dosa without the masala!

Sudhir “americanized” my requirement and said, “Light on cheese please..!” While eagerly waiting for the food, I keenly monitored the place and the fellow guests. All of them were eating in huge bowls. In India, we would call it triple-extra-large (I doubt if we have that size at all!) I remembered the tiny container at my fav dosa hut in B’lore which served just 2 spoons of chutney. Pointing at the white lady who sat at the opposite table, I asked, “Is she having only for tonight or does that include break fast and lunch for tomorrow as well?!” I told myself, "Poor thing.. Will she ever get to see a two digit number on the weighing machine?!"

There comes our food - not in a plate, not in a bowl.. but in a drum! Water was served not in a glass; but in a tank. My eyes literally popped out! Are they not aware of the concept called “small”? I, being somebody who lives on lays, pringles, biscuits and once in a while little 'ordinary' food, struggled to empty the drum of mixed vegetables treated in number of sauces and other things whose names I’m ignorant about. However, wasting was the last thing I wanted to do!

Except us, everybody in the restaurant was perfectly comfortable with the quantity served. In fact they even went for second helping, followed by deserts and drinks! Thankfully my worries did not reflect on my face; else I would have spoiled our first outing! After all, we only started exploring and definitely it's all part of having fun!!

While we drove back home, I warned them not to crack any more jokes as I found it difficult to even laugh. My tummy experienced an unusual immensity. Once again, George Bush was our topic of discussion. We shared our views on his contention that growing demand for food grains in India was the reason for spiraling global food prices.

Bush said there were 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. "Their middle class is larger than the entire population of America. When you start getting wealthy, you demand better nutrition and better food, and as demand goes high, the price too go up," he said shamelessly.

Is that not a cruel joke?

In fact, the policies of USA were also responsible for food grain shortage. How could George Bush criticize others when Americans themselves set apart agricultural land for other purposes? But I feel a sensible person should not react to such idiotic comments. Before making a fool out of himself before the whole world, his secretary at least should have found some time to find out the latest statistics on related topics.

I tried to be a Roman while in Rome by not criticizing, but trust me, it’s extremely difficult. On which ever side of the globe I’m, a little bit of me always remain in myself!

That is when I decided to drain my frustration out by penning down few lines on what I feel about world’s beloved clown!