Feast at Shahidullah Hall: Reminiscence during Quarantine

This is a piece of writing that I wrote during quarantine days.

05.05.2020

The ‘Lifestyle’, the Tuesday bulletin of the Daily Star has published some delicious mouth watering food recipes and seeing those, I’ve started missing the feast of our beloved hall.

At the beginning of every month, the ‘dinings’ of our university dorms arrange feast. Different types of food items remain available at these feasts. Typical food items include polao rice, beef, chicken, mutton, duck/ koel/pigeon meat, borhani, deserts etc. Feasts would generally start at 8.00 pm and new batches would sit for feast 30 minutes later by turn. Every student needs to take ‘token’ for these feasts and they can choose a token for their convenient period. 10.00 pm would usually remain the last batch and I would always take ‘token’ for the last period so that I can eat for a longer time! I would take 30 to 40 minutes to eat the feast and I would always be the last person leaving the dining except the serving boys. I would take polao rice full of my plate at first and galloped that plate of rice almost without any curries or with only salad. After that, I would take 2^nd plate of rice and started with main courses like beef, mutton or duck/pigeon/fish fry. Another one or two plates could I finish with these items. Lastly, I tried to finish the chicken roast and at this moment, I surprisingly noticed that most students finished their feast and are busy with the dessert items.

But I was, as if a voracious person, wouldn’t leave any item uneaten. What I did at this moment is I tried to finish the chicken roast with ‘borhani’. I would give one morsel of polao to my mouth along with a big bite from chicken roast and a gulp from the ‘borhani’ or cold drink. My stomach would become loaded and yet I tried to devour but I would find it difficult to finish. Others would perhaps have a strange eye at me. My glutton-like eating would almost take 30 to 40 minutes as I mentioned earlier and at the end, I would find none but myself on the dining table struggling with remaining food items! Finally, after washing hands, I would leave the table taking the deserts with me and toddled to my room with loaded stomach.

My next task would be lying down in the bed as I would remain tired. One or two hours later, I would finish remaining deserts that I brought with me and I would keep the apple or other fruits for the breakfast of next morning!