Brief Exchange

People gathered on the ground outside the stadium to attend the food festival. The food festival was the first event of its kind to be organised by a popular fast-food chain and one of the greatest singing talents in the nation was going to perform to promote the event. His pictures were all over the advertisements of the event.



Various food and beverage brands occupied different stalls and presented the menu of items they were offering. Many popular brands were around and at the same time the event was also a good platform for those who were growing in the food business.



Tables and chairs were commonly arranged all around where people could sit after they bought their preferred food items. Some food stalls went a step further with their themes and arranged decorated sitting areas of their own.



There was a games corner as well on one side, where children were having a good time. Strings of rice bulb lights were placed all around, they were beginning to shine as the Sun was going away with its light. Another big highlight of the event was the stage where the singer would emerge to start with his performance.


Anish and Vinu stood eating their potato spirals.



“You know, this is actually pretty good. I would like to have another one later,” said Vinu



“How come you have not eaten one before? It must be commonly available near your house,” said Anish



Vinu stayed quiet trying not to mention how her escapades in social media had detached her from the world outside and this was an outside experience in a long time.



The newly formed ‘Food Festival’ group in a messaging application had five members, three of them were very eager to attend the event and the other two- Anish and Vinu who were not too eager were forcefully convinced into attending the event and both cancelled all other plans and made up their mind to be here.



Oddly on the day of the event, Anish and Vinu stood at the gate of the event, waiting for the other three, none of whom were responding to calls and messages. They decided it would be better to enter the event than standing outside and waiting.



While Anish and Vinu were good friends with two other members of the group however, they barely knew each other. Luckily the booked tickets of the event were shared in the group for all to access.



At first they just stood walking around and watching the crowd.



“Let’s have coffee I guess,” Anish had said and Vinu had agreed and near the coffee stall was a stall making potato twisters. So, they ended up getting two cold coffees and two potato twisters.



“How could they do this to us? I thought the time was decided unanimously,” complained Vinu



“I guess they had a conversation afterwards which we weren’t made aware of,” said Anish



“.. and just when we think we know people, they leave use stranded in an event they planned themselves to begin with,” sighed Vinu to which Anish almost laughed



A group of people were creating a noise of excitement and had caught the attention of some people around.



“What’s their deal?” Vinu asked casually



Anish looked at them and observed some of them wearing t-shirts with pictures of the singer.



“They are fans,” he said, “you know the kind who follow the performances of their favourite singer around.”



“Oh..” said Vinu, “I have never been such a big fan of anyone, but even if I was, I don’t think practically I would have been able to follow the performances everywhere.”



“I agree. This singer is good though, he has a huge fan following. Many regard him a genius at songwriting and singing.”



“I know about him. I guess it’s easy to be a genius being born in a family of musicians.”



Anish looked for a dustbin to throw the empty disposable box of the potato twister. He found one and threw it.



“I agree he had it easier than most, but there is some talent involved right?” Anish asked after he returned



“Yes, talent is a thing, but talent for what? Talent for one or more? How much more talent for one thing than the other? What are you good at? The thing you think you are good at or something you don’t know that you can be good at yet? There are so many potentials in everyone, exposure of any one of them at the right time and place surely brings out the most compatible talent at the moment, but that doesn’t mean you cannot be good at something else as well. Like a person may find himself/herself good at cooking apart from his/her profession. But cooking is something everyone comes across every day very commonly. What if this same person could be a talented pianist as well but never came across a piano in his/her entire life?” replied Vinu



Anish thought about it. He had honestly not expected such a long answer.



“I am sorry, did I say too much?” asked Vinu



“No, it’s fine. Well yeah, I agree, the singer could have been a good farmer as well had he been born in the family of farmers or if he would have had exposure to farming. But I feel being satisfied with what you have is the deal. Like food, if you order food in a restaurant but keep wondering if what you did not order might have been the better dish than it will just adversely affect the experience,” said Anish



“Makes sense,” replied Vinu as she looked towards three figures approaching.



“I hope we are not too late,” said Priyanka



“Only in a universe where coming two hours after the decided time is considered late,” replied Anish slightly irritated, then he looked at Nishit



“It’s a long story. I will explain it to you later, let’s enjoy what this event has to offer.



The five of them stared around at the venue, thinking of what to do next.

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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