Not That Sane. V Lakshman. Every Wednesday.

Nothing Happened. (April 1, '98)

After that incident with the eggplants a few weeks ago, we wanted to be extra careful when sending out an invitation to a party at our place. Unfortunately, telling people that Indian food tends to be spicy doesn't always register. I needed to grab their attention. So, with the party announcement, went this story:
We'll have wine, beer and munchies. The experience of the Australian cricket team currently touring India might be instructive: Soon after the Australians arrived in India, they found that their star leg-spinner was having weight problems again. Only this time, he was __losing__ weight. After extensive medical examination, an urgent request went through the Australian embassy in Bombay. The requested items -- baked beans and canned spaghetti -- were flown in from Australia. Apparently, the leg-spinner's culinary taste ran to bland foodstuffs and Indian cooks blanched at having to provide spiceless curries.We will be making stuff with half the spices we normally use but if you are allergic to or just can't stand spicy food, you'd be wise to bring your version of baked beans and canned spaghetti.

Come, have fun.

The strangeness of some of the words (a leg-spinner pitches in a special way) and the grossness of canned spaghetti definitely caught people's attention. Lots of people mentioned the story but didn't bring any canned stuff (one fellow brought home-baked cookies, but then that is "his thing"). People seemed prepared for the spiciness. I'm happy to report that no one reeled or sweated or even twitched. Things were pretty normal.

Maybe it was just the unexpectedness of the eggplants.


Archive of previous columns
Non-technical writings
What is: Not That Sane
Lakshman (homepage) or email me at: [email protected] 1
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws