FOOD FOR THOUGHT: KJC and its eateries

Shalini Nair, a 1st year Bcom student, has resigned herself to the fact that she will never make it on time for first lesson. So, she catches a late breakfast at 9:00 at St. Mary’s Bakery. Eventually, as the day progresses, she discovers that an unfinished essay will probably cause her to take a detour from English class. She spends the remainder of her afternoon at the college canteen, steadily working the Kristu Jayanti social scene between bites of her chicken sandwich. She boasts that she spends more hours shuttling between these two places than she does attending classes.

Food joints have always been the cornerstone of the educational experience and with the student life at Kristu Jayanti College, it is no different. Owing to how cut off our college is from the rest of the city, the students do not have the Café Coffee Day or KFC option. Paul Dharamraj looks at popular eating choices in and around Narayanapura……

THE COLLEGE CANTEEN
The College canteen has provided for many a student, earnestly seeking refuge from the persecution of post lunch language classes. With its wide lunch tables and pebbled floor, it plays host to several spontaneously formed clubs- “The Paratha Appreciation Society” being a prime example. The canteen even has seating sections shaded by brightly coloured canopies for those who’d prefer just their food cooked to a crisp.

Hot favourites at the canteen include the aforementioned paratha(priced at rs.15) and the fried rice(Rs 20), that’s served in generous quantities. Beverage options are ever so slightly limited now that politics, pesticides and Pepsi have all added a new dimension to the cola wars. However, fear not, for the canteen staff has reverted to good old fashioned lemonade, the drink that fuelled every other Enid Blyton child detective and has been the American kid entrepreneur’s business model. This 3 parts water 1 part lime cocktail is recommended especially after a cumbersome commerce lecture or a football match that went into extra time.
The canteen is well staffed and its system of food coupons ensures that a senior doesn’t make a getaway with your order when you have your back turned. This writer’s circle of friends spends hours on end at the canteen. The topics of conversation usually revolve around schemes towards coupon counterfeit and how many rotis a certain ambitious friend can stuff into his mouth at once.

However this satisfier of the raging undergrad appetite is not without its flaws. To quote Mr. Sagu, the head of staff, “If it’s not the flies by day, it’s the rats by night, pa!” Futhermore, several students have complained that canteen food is widely viewed as the source of food poisoning. “The cholera seems to come free with your plate of biriyani- now that’s what I call value for money”, jokes Liban, a 1st year B.A student. And if that doesn’t entirely put an end to your appetite, the sight of chicken being dissected on an open counter should definitely do the trick. We promise.

THE BAKERIES:
The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. And the best way to ending the term with critically low attendance scores is by bumping into that long lost friend at the bakeries. The above “friend”, who lasted attended class back when the second floor was still under construction, always manages to seduce you with the promise of BUN PUFF.
At this point, I feel the pressing need to describe the culinary miracle that is BUNPUFF to the uninitiated. BUNPUFF, as the name would have you believe is a puff (egg, veg or chicken) skilfully wrapped in a bun. Throw in a smattering of sauce and you’ve got a filling snack all for just rupees 8. The makers of the famous bunpuff have also developed its cuisine cousin, the BUN CUTLET. Mahalaxmi Bakery boasts of a state-of-the-art microwave and an adjoining supermarket. St. Mary’s is well equipped with seats and an escape from the college campus. “Both bakeries are well replenished with chips, cola and other forms of junk food”, says Rakesh.
Mary’s sees a variety of people- from the nervous post-grad preparing for campus recruitment to the sleepy undergrad that burnt the midnight oil in pursuit of “academic excellence”. St. Mary’s is also home to an afternoon session of impositions, projects that were due last semester and the heated, colourful lunchtime debates. Amidst the loud swearing and the flinging of text books, if you listen very carefully, you just might hear the Holy Virgin turning in her grave….

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that you the reader, is spoiled for choice…but I’m sure I’ve thrown some light on a few places you may not have tried. These places are especially recommended for hostel students on a shoe-string budget. So put that stone-cold, multi layered tiffin box aside and for once, try some bisi bisi local fare- bon appetite!