Iman was sitting at a table in the college canteen. He had a plate full of vegetable Hakka noodles, his favorite dish. And yet, he wasn’t feeling like eating.

There were students thronging nearly all tables, orders flowing in thick and fast, and he had landed in that zone all by himself. It was his first week in the college and he hadn’t made many friends. A couple of boys, who he had gotten to know better than others, were still in the library.

He had tried to evade the growing hunger and somehow skip eating lunch alone. But he knew better than to not have food. So, heading to the canteen, he ordered the dish that seemed the easiest, and had taken a seat at a smaller table.

While he was still thinking, another boy, who he recognized was from his own class, came towards him, smiling. He just said a hi and sat down. After all, college canteens are not a place to check if you can join someone. You just grab a chair wherever you can find one, specially during the lunch hour.

The other boy introduced himself as Kamran. Iman introduced himself, and they started to talk about some random stuff about classes. Soon, they got down to eating their food.

Kamran had a plate full of rice, a rich thick gravy, a little bit of curd, some salad, and a couple of other things. His plate was overflowing, everything just about managing its place. Some of the accompaniments had mixed with each other, creating colorful melanges of their own.

Kamran didn’t have a big appetite. But he relished the usual homely style lunch more than some of the fast food items and wanted all things available. He was also not averse to using his hand at times, to aid his rather quick fire style of eating.

Iman was a more ‘polished’ guy. He had been taught table manners since he was a child and usually enjoyed his food neatly laid out, picking on things separately, always using some cutlery. Naturally, he found the sight of Kamran’s plate and his eating style not to his liking. He was however, far too proud to call it out. Instead, while continuing the small talk, he kept observing Kamran.

Kamran on the other hand, also realized that his classmate had different eating habits. Kamran had not eaten like that ever, so he was also intricately watching Iman indulge in his food.

This went on for a while. The two boys continued their banter and continued to observe each other.

By this time, Iman was feeling slightly unnerved about what he was witnessing. But he could also see that Kamran was really enjoying his food and that intrigued him. How could one eat with such abandon, have so many things that are all mixed up at the same time, and yet enjoy it? What about flavors and manners?

Kamran was astonished by the methodical manner in which Iman ate and wished he could develop such sophistication. He also saw that Iman was very adept at separating out ingredients and picked at them at will, which raised questions in his mind about taste buds. For him everything was the same!

Both boys, by this time had realized that there was something amiss about them. Iman had not had so much enjoyment eating food ever. Kamran had never relished food but always considered it as fuel for the body and was always happy eating it.

As they finished their food, and walked out together, both of them were thinking the same thing – “Not that I want to be, but what if I could eat like him for a while? Wouldn’t that be cool?”

In the background, Dylan’s song played out from inside the canteen, “How does it feel?”…