Having finished work late, I decided to grab something to eat at thelocal vendor. Eyeing the delicacies neatly placed in their silverplatters and lit to brilliance under the yellow fluorescent tube, whatcaught my eye were the cheese sticks designed to look as gingerbreadmen and hence decorated ironically with lots of colored sprinkles. Theycame with toothpicks which served both as walking sticks for the menand as the road for them to tread on.

After deciding on a gheefilled croissant, I pay him the 20 rupees and carefully manoeuvre theslippery delight lest I loose the precious golden liquid. He then tellsme that his place actually caters to many IT people like me and that itwould set me back by a measly 70 rupees to eat at his joint for a year.I step back to see if the offer was worth its salt while I bit into thecroissant.

She then steps next to me, eyeing my eat and thenproceeds to ask the vendor for the same, both in English followed byTamil. I then turn to see who had ordered the same dish as mine and shewas peculiar like someone I had seen before, someone from my schooldays.

She was dark. Her hair cut in a cute bob. Her eyes neatlykajaled. But then her hand approaches my croissant which I've onlyeaten a little off the side while she breaks a big piece. As sheunceremoniously steals what is mine the ghee oozes from its doughycavity I "aaeehh" in defiance as she consumes it.

A lady clad ina sari sitting on the bench close to us all this while quite suddenlyspeaks "Do you know what you have done? Only married people aresupposed to eat from the same plate." "What??" I scream...

SleepilyI type this, my myalgic fingers tiring to stop and go back back tosleep but I continue word by word spell checked and full stopped...