“No TamilNadu Meals!!”

hat’s exactly the response I got from Selva, the friendly looking waiter at my table at the Saravana Bhavan on Janpath. Nothing could be more disappointing for a rice-eating young south Indian than being denied the pleasure of a Sunday Afternoon spent devouring sambar rice with appalam to go with some koottu, chutney, kara kuzhambu, uralai kilangu fry, sweet pachadi and some payasam to top it off – the works, basically. I had been preparing for this afternoon for a week now through the scorching work week in Delhi. The rains too failed to dampen the spirits. (The pre-monsoons have arrived in the Rajdhani, by the way) So I arrived, asked for the Meals section and took my royal perch. Only for Selva to bring it crashing down. “Tamil Nadu meals niruthi naal-anji maasam aagudhu saar…” he continued nonchalantly (“Its been quite some time since we discontinued the Tamil Nadu meals combo”). Clearly, the flabbergasted look on my face had failed to elicit a correction in the menu. The drubbing was complete.

So there was only thing left to do for any self-respecting meals-loving south Indian bloke. And that was to go to the nearest self-respecting meals-peddling south Indian joint. Which in this case was the good ol’ Andhra Bhawan. The AP Bhawan on Ashok Road has been a sanctuary for good Sunday afternoon food, as many a Delhi food connoisseur would agree. Long before the capitalists (read SB) arrived. Meal-time starts around noon and extends upto a couple of minutes past 3. As long as you’re able to hustle the crowd to get yourself a token and put yourself on the waitlist. And if you dig the tasty pesarattus, breakfast is between 7.30 am and 10. The prices aren’t exactly up the socialist tree but the meal is satisfying nevertheless. Take note, Biriyanis are Sunday specials.

Midway through my third helping of rice and sambar at the AP Bhawan (helped along by some good fish pulusu), I realized there might be an uncanny similarity to the political situation down south. The incumbent government has practiced a policy of isolation towards most groups and has also made “Volte-face!” a party slogan. Its as if they've been bellowing "No Tamilnadu Meals!" to anyone wanting to engage them in a conversation! Over the last 4 years they seem to have clearly set a record of sorts by rejecting the Left, the Right and the Centre! And the scrambles have been worth following. Ranging from fighting to take credit when a telecom major decided to invest in a manufacturing facility to the current confusion over the now-you’re-the-topper now-you’re-not situation after the entrance exams got cancelled. The judgment has been reserved and lets hope for the best.