Last week, the worst fears of Aditya caterers came true. For long, Messrs Aditya and co. had felt that they will be able to avoid the limelight that inadvertently follows a reputation of the most healthy and tasty food served in a community mess anywhere in India. Keep in mind that this is not just any community, but postgraduate students (and a smattering of undergrads mixed in there, that is when they feel too lazy to pick up the phone and order a Domino's or call Laksmi) of IIT Bombay, people who live and die by good culinary habits. It is no mean feat to serve a staggering 2000 men with burgeoning appetites that correlates with their hunger for class notes. And because of that, I bow to thee Aditya!
However Murphy was not a man of discrimination, and in their attempt to refine the tastes of these hungry men, Aditya and co. fell into his trap. A dinner of chinese food went horribly wrong, and next day, 500 (that is only 25% statistically speaking!) landed up at the doorsteps of another landmark at my alma mater, the IITB hospital. Of course, the hyperactive Indian media couldn't resist itself from shoring up some attention through another story linked to IITians (remember when a fake IITian story was hyped by TOI for days?), and food poisoning became the new buzzword for parents inquiring from their wards staying at the campus. Yes, a story about food poisoning at IITB grabbed more print space than the newly implemented biometric attendance system. If one was to probe the economics of running a mess at any educational institute, especially places like IITs where students feel entitled to better things (not that there is anything wrong with being aspirational), it is not difficult to realize that these messes are being fueled by a magic lamp than anything else. The mess advance is Rs. 10,000 per semester, and the amount actually charged for food is something around Rs. 1500 per month at hostel 13 (figures not adjusted for inflation). In this rather paltry amount, which many students would outspend on movies and weekend jaunts, the caterer is expected to serve a 4-course meal replete with essential nutrients. You get my point!
Of course, my friends and myself went wild on FB poking fun at survivors we left behind at H-13. Who doesn't like having some enjoyment at the expense of a re-hydrated friend? The big question was lost in the lurch. At a time when the honorable HRD minister is going all out to prove his bravado to a bunch of pandering journalists, whether it be proposing a 6-fold hike in the fee or scrapping the benchmark exam we love to remember as JEE, it might be prudish to solve the bigger infrastructural problems plaguing IITB. Among them, ghost-house-sque hostels, crumbling furniture in classrooms, and not the least, incandescent bulbs. A rationalization in the price of mess food, while being unpopular in the short term, will go a long way in making sure that a repeat of food poisoning grabbing headlines doesn't happen. Otherwise, the residents of these hostels are only abetting their caterer to serve them cheap food fast, and not better. Cooking (for myself) is actually a big chore, so my sympathy has shifted from friends back home to the cooks who do the labor. You don't get it till you actually do it!
PS: The chinese-style dinner was never popular in any case, but I remember long queues in front of the 'extras' line serving butter chicken for dinner. Perhaps a swap would work! Yeah, that was wishful thinking.
Came across this group recently and must I say, they are pretty good!
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