The God of “Food and other” things

The God of “Food and other” things


Image Courtesy – Caleb Oquendo on Pexels.com

The mind ignored the visible deep depression on the couch as he got up to collect the order.  The appetizing smell of his favourite French fries and burger suddenly hijacked the air as he enjoyed eating with his nose before even opening the packet.

There was something blabbering on TV, but now he was hooked; pulling out the first fry, he admired it first as if looking at a Picasso, before his eyes closed for a moment and the magic happened as it disappeared inside his mouth.

The crunchiness was audible, probably even to the characters appearing on the web series he was hooked on for the past five hours.

“Today, I’ll binge-watch my favourite Game of Throughons,” he promised himself on a Monday itself and couldn’t wait for the weekend; hoarding every kind of eatable, to feast during the marathon tv watching spree.

But he didn’t realize when he cleaned off over 5 packets of wafers and nachos, khakra, fafda, and the roasted chicken he got on the way home and not to forget the special samosas his friend gave him after his Delhi visit the chocolates and the maggie were already enjoying each other’s company in his spacious stomach, and now the only last resort for more food was to order online!

He was confused between a pizza and burger, but then the picture of fries in his head, changed everything as he went for it and couldn’t help but add a burger to make it a meal. 

It always makes sense, after all, to go for a meal, not only is it economical, but it also satiates the logical and emotional senses as well.  You not only get a complete meal including fries, a burger but also an amazing fizzy cola with it; if you could just ignore the much (dis)reputed calories, it always adds that extra punch to every meal we have.

A few minutes later, his mouth turned quiet again; the mind and the body could immediately feel its impact, though.  He could not concentrate on what he was watching on the TV as his eyes constantly stared at the refrigerator while the tongue would feel the aloofness of a lover still waiting for her beloved.

The mobile till now enjoying the solitary company of itself suddenly came to life as he stretched his hands to see if there was anything he could do for the poor stomach and an even lonely tongue.

But suddenly something happened as his eyes refused to move away from the TV screen.

A beautiful model, along with her male companion (probably a boyfriend) started exhorting people to be healthy and follow better-eating habits and do at least 15 minutes of exercise every day and all that stupid blah blah blah!

He, however, remained tuned in, instead if ignoring or skipping it.

The eyes couldn’t move away from the perfectly chiselled body of the man and an equally attractive woman, who appeared to be teasing him, the camera playing truant, continuing to focus on their near-perfect jawlines and a stomach as flat as a skateboard.

The finger tapping on the screen to open another food delivery app suddenly paused as the mind suddenly froze to listen!

And, suddenly, the lightning and the loud cracking of clouds announced something no one could ever fathom; he decided to bring about a change in his habits especially, the incessant desire to eat junk food.

Up above in the heavens the situation changed dramatically as the God of junk food felt a sudden deep churn in his stomach as he turned around in his bed, he felt as if he was experiencing a nightmare. 

The constant reverberation in his mind was of an announcement; his favourite creature had expressed his desire to give up on junk food.

He suddenly jumped out of the bed; a clear sunny morning felt like a dark night as it was suddenly heading nowhere.  He looked out the window pondering over this emergency, as the enormity of the situation dawned on him. 

Looking around, he started pacing nervously in his small apartment on the top of the building with beautiful scenic views; the other gods, however, scorned him, never considering him a part of the clique, and mostly staying an arm’s length away.

“If I continue to lose them like this, I might not even have a place to stay and with all of them (other gods) conspiring against me, I am sure, I will be soon abandoned by the mighty Lord,” the thought suddenly stiffened his body into a heightened state of alertness as he contemplates the possible consequences of such a situation.

He was still in deep thought when a voice snapped his melancholy and demanded his attention.

It was “Junkie,” his favourite angel, reputed to have baptized innumerable creatures into the Junk food cult who call themselves “Junkies” now.

“I have an emergency,” the god said, without even looking at the angel.

The angel, with a crooked smile on his face, walked closer and started murmuring.

“Why are you worrying so much, let me handle it,” he offered in a conspiring tone.

“So, you know what I am thinking about,” the god asked, with squinting eyes; his long white beard flowing freely as he turned around.

Junkie nodded his head, his face gleaming in the morning sun, the warped teeth grinding as he looked at him; he, however, quickly changed his expression to a large grin as the god faced him.

“Yes, everyone here knows about it, but let me handle it,” he offered as God looked at him, cogitating over the offer and realizing there is no harm in outsourcing his troubles to a willing taker.

“Give me the strength and the resolve to fulfil your wish, Master”, Junkie spoke loudly bending on his knee as the God, placed his hands on his head and he vanished.

“Hope he succeeds,” murmured God, as he saw Junkie teleporting himself to the creature’s house.

The man was finally busy in the intricacies of a long web series, when the TV suddenly began playing food commercials of all the fast-food chains, one after another.

“Burgers, pizzas, fried chicken, nachos, samosas,” and whatever junk food there is.

The frequency of these ads surprised him, showing themselves rapidly one after the other, and felt a sudden desire to pick up the phone and order something.

The thought of the lady and the man with the perfect body though hit his mind again as he quickly pushed the phone aside.

Junkie, watching him from a distance, knew it was time for him to get into the show.

Turning himself into smoke, he penetrated the man’s mind and before he could even think what had happened, the phone suddenly appeared in his hands and without a thought, he quickly placed an even larger order than he had earlier planned to.

“Perhaps all that is photoshopped; or they must starve themselves; what will the god say after I die and go there; that you couldn’t even eat properly, the one thing I offered to all of you creatures on that planet to enjoy.”

“I will exercise from tomorrow and burn this all up,” he promised himself and ordered new shoes and a tracksuit from a trendy e-com site.

“It’s not about how much you eat but how much you burn,” he quickly recollected reading somewhere.

Finally, able to justify his recent order and eating habits, he waited excitedly for the order to be delivered.

Junkie slowly came out, but the man has now changed forever again.

“Let me tell him, the job is done,” murmured Junkie as he left for the heavens again!

“Who is this tracksuit and new shoes for?” asked Ma, as she visited her son.

“Does this even fit you,” she asked looking at the size.

“I ordered it three years ago Ma,” he replied while munching his third favourite snack of chicken nuggets with mayonnaise while watching yet another web series and waiting for his mother to cook something interesting for dinner. The God, now living in an even bigger apartment, admired the beauty of a fresh sunny morning; his white beard was now slowly turning grey, even as the other gods were trying to manage in their smaller abodes, cursing the god of junk food and praying with the supreme Lord to show them some mercy!