My Tryst with Garlic

I grew up consuming 'non-garlic' dishes mainly because none of us, at home, liked garlic. It was at MB Mess that I realized that garlic was a major ingredient in many dishes. In some dishes, the taste and smell of garlic was expertly masked by an intelligent mix of some other component which, I presume, must be some sort of masala. Whatever it was, those dishes were quite 'without-garlic' in taste to me. The important fact about these dishes is that they came by less frequently than the other, more famous 'with-garlic' variety. Although I tried getting used to the taste of garlic (for nearly an year,I think!) I failed miserably. My dislike for garlic only grew!

As I was missing out on 'nutritious food' (read MB Mess dal), which never found place on my plate(due to their 'high garlic content'! of course!) I decided it was time to do something about it. I tried 'de-garlic-ing' stuff.I used to leave out pieces of garlic that were in the dal and eat the rest of it. This approach had a couple of drawbacks. The first and the most important: the dal was still not garlic-free as some pieces were always left out. The second disadvantage was that the process increased the time spent at the mess. There were times when I had rush soon after a dinner/lunch and I could not afford to spend time on 'de-garlic-ing' dal!

I faced a grim situation, and there was only one way out. And that was, to start *eating* garlic! I started viewing dal and other 'high on garlic content' dishes as medicines and consumed them(!!!) with the help of m(j)ugs of water...

I was relieved when I walked out of MB Mess for the last time...'No more garlic!', I thought. The bliss was shortlived. As an intern living away from home, lunch was mostly at the company cafeteria. The smell of garlic was so strong at the cafeteria that it could have been mistaken for a garlic farm! One particular day, I decided to give myself a break and ordered a plain dosa..lo and behold! what do I find hidden in it?!?! no three guesses...there WAS a *large* piece of garlic..!!!

My tryst with garlic....continues..!!