At a Crossroad

Mumbai has many Iranis
- a quaint chain of eateries known for their simple ambience,
and an assortment of home-cooked food – that are a rage
amid the lower
and middle-income groups.
It is often said, “If you’ve been to one, you’ve been to them all!”
It is almost true as well
Almost all Irani restaurants are family-run; built at a crossroad between two streets;
have chequered red or green table cloth on their round, glass-topped tables;
use low-backed, wooden chairs, sans armrest; and serve ‘Bun-Pav’
‘Bun-Pav,’ though nothing but a slice of hand toasted bread
served with melting butter and a sprinkling of sugar to go,
is really quite popular
They also specialise in three varieties of tea,
an assortment of fresh breads
and every imaginable preparation of eggs known to man.
Once surprisingly, an otherwise good -natured Irani,
put up a rather rude signboard:
‘Do not enter hotel
for telephone calls, change and addresses.’
People suspected a communal disparity
given the great gulf between fact and reality
Suspicions brewed, tongues waged
Gradually after an extended period of boycott, and non-co-operation,
the place shut down,
and its proprietors went back
to wherever it was they came from in the first place.
Peace was restored
and the locals resumed life as usual.
Years later one among them,
Built
a popular store
on the very premise,
At the crossroad of knowledge and tolerance,
Put up a board that he found in his store room,
with just one minor change
‘Do not enter hotel shop
for telephone calls, change and addresses.’