All eyes
were on him. It was Rajan's first day at work. While most of the day was spent
idling around, and he was instructed on how to go about his duties, there was
some unease in his demeanour as his confidence dried up. He had messed up.
It was Pammi's bday. Manpreet,
Supreet, Jagjeet, Gurdeep, Rajdeep, Sukhi and Happy, her entire clan including
her son, daughter in law, grandsons and granddaughters were around her. Pammis favorite were Rajdeep and Jagjeet.
She hoped he would give it to Rajdeep. But he instead gave it to Manpreet.
Pammi winced.
One of
the toughest jobs in this planet besides crab fishing in Alaska or being a UN
negotiator is that of a restaurant server. All eyes are on you, the dish and
the serving spoon. Everyone on the table is judging you by how much is served
and on which plate. If you serve more you cant take it back. If you serve less
you will be asked to give more and there may not be enough left for everyone.
This is still manageable when what you serve is just based on quantity. Like
for example dal makhani. But when it is chicken handi, besides the quantity the
quality of what is served becomes equally important. Some pieces are preferred
over others. The server has to make up his mind who gets the legs. There are only
two. And Rajan had lost one to Manpreet.
All eyes
were on him as he moved around the table with the dish that had only one leg
piece among other not so important ones. Two patrons, both kids, waited to be
served. Pammi initially hesitated. But then she had to take control. She
announced, "Jagjeet nu leg piece de". But who was Jagjeet? The boy to
his right or the girl on his left? Under tremendous pressure, he did what was
commonsensical. He gave the leg to the boy.
Damn
these waiters... muttered Pammi. For a change this Punjabi family's doyen loved
the daughters more than their sons.
Damn
these Punjabis and their unisex names... muttered Rajan.
