The Last Cheesecake

Alright, I tried to bring about the dramatic effect “The Last Samurai” and “The Last Mimzy” created ages ago! But this edible chunk of matter brought along a lesson one day for me.

It was a nice, cozy Sunday afternoon. The kind of afternoons that usually demand a cup of hot coffee with your favourite read or the ones that just let you stare at the open blue skies.

I was in my dream mode when I received the call from an old friend to meet up. I was rather flattered on learning that someone would actually sabotage their “little-me-time” over a comrade like me! Poof!

As a gesture to her kind thoughts, I head straight to my favourite “food house” to get some freshly baked cheesecake for her. The aroma of the cheese, the cream-iness in its flavor and the meltdown of the bright red strawberries in its own syrup, would anytime top my list of the best “hello” gift ever!

Everything was perfect. Nothing could go wrong. I trotted in happily and with a confidence of a five yr old, I asked for the most awaited cheesecake. The “Employee of the Month” walked past the counter and in a very cranky voice delivered the news to me. “Sorry! We’ve run short of it for the day!” Taken aback with this comment, I pointed out to the only slice that was tightly secured in a glass case, behind her. I asked in innocence, “What about that one?” The answer to this came to me as a 10 sec long head-to-toe verification! I followed her eyes on me only to capture a familiar realization. I actually walked into that place with my pair of bedroom slippers and my treasured pink and white pyjamas. I was a replica of the lose-jean kid with “out of bed” hair from a tacky old rock band or something! But, for argument sake, when did everyone start dressing up for cheesecakes??! Guess the “cold air” in the atmosphere of that lil’ store hit another rep. He was much younger in age and wasn’t infected with the virus of grumpiness unlike the “other”. He enquired of me and I placed my concern upfront. He handed over the last piece of that once chunkful cake to me. The lady watched the whole scene in slow motion with eyes of disgust and pity. Probably, I shattered her cherished dream of letting a princess in white walk away with that cake!

I was really shocked in amazement, with the whole ordeal of a quiet fight over a cake!? Not atleast from her. I mean she was like me. A stranger in a strange land with rules that suppress both her cause and mine! Discrimination should now have a new tag – One size fits all! Somewhere in our tiny heads, we strongly believe that the whole universe abide by our laws and those who don’t comply by it, don’t make that world with us or rather don’t deserve to be a part of it at all! The suffered then brings up the suffering on someone to suffer elsewhere! And the story of grief, of perilment and of war continues! All, to start off with something as simple yet deliciously sinful as a cake! However funny it sounds, I was glad to win the battle of race, of class, of gender and of the deserving! I was so overjoyed that at the end of the day, my friend was forgotten! I believed I had to relish each bite of my sweet victory. I savored each moment of it like the Israelites who ate “Manna-from-heaven” in the desert!

It felt good. To have. To have the “ Last Cheesecake”.