The cutlery conundrum!

Throughout childhood, eating with cutlery was not encouraged at home. You ate with your fingers. The South Indian foodie needs to mix the rice and sambar with his fingers till it turns into a creamy consistency. A spoon is a poor instrument- it just wouldn’t cut to take a spoonful of rice, and follow it with a separate spoonful of sambar. 

When you went to school, for conformity, you made some adjustments- ate roti with the fingers and rice with a spoon. Still, the skill level when it came to using cutlery was basic. It was much later in life that you encountered the cutlery conundrum. 

Sitting on your first flight, you faced a lunch platter and a full set of cutlery- a fork, a knife and multiple spoons. Your first temptation was to reach for the food with your fingers. But when you are sandwiched between folks from other parts of the globe, it is not so easy. You watch them go hammer and tongs at the food with all this equipment! You feel it is easy to imitate them, but without cutlery practice, you are all at sea! 

Many an upstart has cut a sorry figure on his first flight! Either he toppled the bowl onto his neighbor’s lap trying to use the spoon, or worse, put too much pressure on the knife as he tried to saw the cutlet in the center. The cutlet was airborne on an uncharted flight-path, much as the novice watched helplessly! 

Sometimes, you get caught in tricky situations. A gulab-jamun on a plate, and a single spoon is a recipe for disaster. The jamun is a mischievous fellow. You relentlessly pursue him with the spoon, but he keeps evading, always one step ahead. The hockey game comes to a close when you successfully manage to push the jamun right out of the plate! There is no sight sorrier than this. The jamun was so tantalizingly close. You could have used your fingers and gobbled him whole! Now, the opportunity has gone begging. 

There is none more slippery than a bowlful of noodles. The adept wields the cutlery effortlessly. But each time you pick up the noodles with the fork, he gives the slip. By the time you raise the fork to your lips, it is all empty, leaving you hungry and angry! 

As you advance in age, a sense of defiance sets in. You do not worry about conformance any more. You eat in a manner that is easy for you and leave it at that. You wonder- why is the world struggling to walk on stilts when you can walk on your legs, faster and better!