It was a hectic work day and I left my office in a hurry to board the late evening flight to Kozhikode. The airport was crowded and after passing through long check-in queues and a longer walk to the boarding gate, I was just in time to board the flight. I plopped onto my seat quite weary and hungry. I never eat or order on a flight, my premise being the food is not to my liking and the short flights that I usually take is better spent sleeping than eating. But today I was thankful that a meal was pre-booked. The flight was for 3.5 hours …IVLM said my ticket…a Vegetarian Lactose meal. Vegetarian …fine but why the lactose? Curiously I sought the help of Google which said it would be three pieces of paneer tikka, mint chutney, a multi-grain bread slice, some salad, and a beverage. I eagerly waited.
A green and white triangular box was placed in front of me and I asked for cold coffee, quite oblivious to the fact that inflight hospitality practices have changed…. yes when I was busily sleeping over the past 1 year during travel! I had definitely missed out on the latest. I was told that I could choose between a coke and a fruit juice with no added sugar. Refusing the lethal options, I began to tackle my meal wondering how all that I had listed earlier was so aesthetically packed into that triangular box.
Much to my dismay out came a mayo-slathered saucy paneer sandwich. Was it a paneer tikka sandwich with the salad rolled into one? IVLM?? No way that I could guess? A bite, the bread stuck to my upper palate and the chunky paneer had a taste that was not to my liking. I just shut the box and appeased my rumbling stomach with water and tried to sleep the entire journey. I wanted to catch up on my sleep as the next two days would be busy again. A couple of days later I read about a bolt/screw being found in the sandwich that was served inflight on an airline. Shocking!
Airline meals need not have nutrition standards and portion sizes but the least that they could do, is offer “boys and girls” healthy meal options which are safe…. Health risks of a sugary fizzy drink, a chewy paneer along with bolts and nuts for the crunch……terrible! A question that I always ask myself is why is it that a vegetarian substitute for chicken always paneer? Airport kiosks and food courts are another story….. Jumbo portions at exorbitant costs and most of them being HFCS foods (high fructose corn syrup)…muffins, doughnuts, fizzy drinks, cookies, candy, Pizzas … Its high time we started carrying milagapodi idlies, thick dosas soaked in milagapodi, arisi upma, aloo parathas, masala poories, sandwiches and if needed even puliodharai and thayir sadam.
