Hemantha Kalam - 63 "Eat Out - Eat In"

I helped in peeling and dicing the raw banana to be turned out into a curry by my wife. Not a big deal. Took me all of about 10 minutes, at the most!

So I was expecting to get a hot and spicy banana fry for lunch and started salivating. But when it was served onto my plate I found it to be different to my expectations and was sort of a little gravied, if I may say so; not the crispy fries but a little moist, as it has been cooked than being fried.

With a bit of disappointment, I continued with my lunch and got onto my thoughts. If only I could have had the choice of eating out! Well, the world is locked down due to COVID-19 (Corona Virus) and under the circumstances going out to even the barber’s shop, almost next door, seems to be impossible.

So, I was (in all lighter vein) ruminating on the differences between eating out and eating in! Well, here’s a quick list I could compile.

Eating out (at restaurants/delis etc.)	Eating in (at home)
Your choice, with the                            chef’s recommendation, if you are up to it.	“Chef’s” choice absolute and most of the times irrevocable.
Scenery can change, as choice of eating out at different places.	Scenery rarely changes, as the place is always the same.
Discreet eating with discreet partners.	Indiscreet and monotonous with the regular ‘clients’ every day.
You have the choice of choosing from a menu.	Choice of menu is rarely yours.
You have the choice of telling your requirement and suggest choices; like roasting it rare, medium or deep.	Your innovative thoughts and suggestions on any specific dish, rarely work.
You don’t need to buy the raw materials.	You better get the raw materials if you want to eat.
If you are with guests, there are chances of the guests footing the bill, sometimes.	No such luxuries! You better cough up even for y/our guests.
Choice of payment depends on who you are with and what type of a meal it is.	Unless you are a homemaker or a child, you always end up making       the payment and for all, at the table.
You pay for only what you eat and as billed.	You pay for what you don’t eat too and many a time for the leftovers and wastage too.
You pay after you are done with your meal! Credit cards are possible!	You have to shell out in advance, sometimes even one or two months in advance!
You may have to leave tips.	No need for tips. But the interest lost on ‘prepayment’ takes care of it. In addition, you may have to clean the dishes.
You have a right to express your displeasure.	If food is not upto your liking, you express so at your own peril!  The punishment could vary from getting the same stuff several times in the week or burnt out stuff or even ‘no stuff’ sometimes. So watch out, before speaking out!
You don’t need to remove the plates and wash them if you could afford and pay the bill.	You may have to remove the plates and other empty vessels to wash, even after you have paid, much in advance.

Folks, what do you think? Do let me know your thoughts!

Meantime, it’s time to wash the dishes! Now, where’s my apron? J

Till then, 

Krutagjnatalu (Telugu), Nanri (Tamil), Dhanyavaadagalu (Kannada), Nanni (Malayalam), Dhanyavaad (Hindi), Dhanyosmi (Sanskrit), Thanks (English), Dhonyavaad (Bangla), Dhanyabad (Oriya), Gracias (Spanish), Grazie (Italian), Danke Schon (Deutsche), Merci (French), Obrigado (Portuguese), Shukraan (Arabic), Shukriya (Urdu), Bohoma Sthuthiyi (Sinhalese) Aw-koon (Khmer), Kawp Jai Lhai Lhai (Laotian), Kob Kun Krab (Thai),Asante (Kiswahili), Maraming Salamat sa Lahat (Pinoy-Tagalog-Filipino), Tack (Swedish), Fa'afetai (Samoan), Terima Kasih (Bahasa Indonesian) and Tenkyu (Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea).

Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy

Chennai, India