Achche Din

Fiction

“Veg or non-veg?” the waiter asked.  I was travelling on Rajdhani Express which served too much of inedible food throughout the journey after which the waiters would stand at the doors of the compartment demanding what they called ‘tips’ without paying which you had no way out although you had paid a hefty sum for your journey.  Those were the days before the achche din. Those were days when the travellers could choose their food without fear irrespective of what the guy on the next seat liked.

“Non-veg,” I said to the waiter because I was bored of the stale paneer they had served during lunch. 

“Tu maans khate ho?” asked the guy who sat next to me.

“I found the veg lunch boring,” I said.

“Boring?” he looked menacing.  “It’s the healthiest food.”

“I know,” I said. “But what they served was stale.  I’m hoping for something fresh, you know.”

“Vegetarians are compassionate people,” he said.

“I doubt,” I said hesitantly. 

“Why?”

“You see what happened in Gujarat just a few months back,” I said. “Hundreds of non-vegetarians were killed or displaced by vegetarians.”

The man stared at me as if I were the most diabolical person he had ever met.

I realised I had spilled the beans. 

The waiter served the meals in the meanwhile.  I munched the chicken bones and the guy licked his fingers dipped in tomato chutney. 

Actually I loved the potatoes on his plate.  But he didn’t seem to love it.  He didn’t seem to love anything, in fact.  I wished the potatoes were mine.  I wished the tomato chutney was mine.  I wished they were not stale.

He got down at the next station which was his destination.  Not without giving me a warning, “You will see what we’ll do. Watch out, you cannibal!”

Achche din followed soon.  A pure vegetarian PM ascended the throne.  My son says that he can’t eat what he likes in his IIT hostel.  

“Tu maans khate ho?” They ask him.

“Did they call you cannibal?” I asked.

“Yes, dad, indeed. How did you know?”

“Take care, my son. We live in achche din.”

PS. Written for Indispire Edition 205: #shortstory