The Biryani Challenge

 THE BIRYANI CHALLENGE!

By Jickson V George

 

One day the Master Chef summoned his 3 chefs for a task.

When everyone assembled he said, "You all should cook a big pot of Biryani and bring it to me by tomorrow morning, il taste it and will announce the best one amongst the three"

The 3 Chefs dispersed to prepare. 

Next day morning, as told, all the chefs brought in their big pots filled with Biryani to the brim.

The Master Chef took a spoon and tasted each Biryani one by one. He instantly knew which one was the best, which one was average and which one was not upto the mark, but then he said,

"Now each one of you must take your pot of Biryani to someplace and feed someone, come back by dawn and I'll announce the winner."

The 3 Chefs excitedly hurried off in different directions.

The First Chef saw a grand reception and entered the banquet hall, the manager immediately stopped him and asked him why he was there.

The Chef told the manager that he has a big pot of Biryani ready to be served to the guests, but the manager was not surprised as he had a galore of tasty and delicious dishes being served in the reception by his talented chefs from the in-house kitchen, thus he refused to entertain the First Chef. 

The First Chef insisted and persuaded the manager to at least try one spoon, and if he doesn't like it, he would leave without any fuss.

The manager agreed and took a spoonful of the Biryani and tasted it.

He exclaimed, he had never tasted such delicious biryani in his entire life and immediately asked the servers to place the big pot in the main row of best dishes so that all his guests could have the delicious biryani.

The servers did as told, the First Chef was beaming with happiness...

But to his dismay, the guests weren't going for his biryani, they passed right in front of it but did not take any serving. 

Annoyed by the fact that his delicious biryani was not being entertained, he personally went and started serving the Biryani to guests who were walking close to the serving row. 

Soon he realised, the guests had already eaten the main course and were already full, even though he tried to serve the guest's, they couldn't eat any further as they were already content with the prior set of dishes being served at the reception. The guests could manage for sweets, but a serving of Biryani was surely off the plates.

He waited and waited, but the reception was almost at close and only 25% of his delicious biryani was served. He finally accepted, now nothing could be done about it, and decided to go back to the master chef with his almost full pot.

The Second Chef passed a school where kids were being served mid day lunch. He noticed the kids were having plain rice with lentils and some salad, his heart was filled with pity and he decided to serve his entire pot of Biryani to the kids. The School's Principal embraced the gesture and without even tasting, took the pot and ordered it to be served to the entire school. Not only the students but the teacher, staff and everyone working at the school had a hearty meal. The Pot was empty and not a single grain of rice was left in the pot. Extremely Satisfied by the gesture, the Second Chef went back.

The Third Chef, unable to find any place to serve, pitched on the roadside with his pot and started announcing, "World's Best Biryani, made with most unique ingredients, now available for FREE FREE FREE!"

Instantly, a crowd gathered in front and it ensued into a long queue. Although most took a serving, they did not eat much, as the word spread that it isn't the best biryani as advertised. The crowd started losing interest and left the place. 

The Third Chef had somehow managed to serve only half of the pot before the crowd had left. Reluctantly he had to pack and eventually went back to the masterchef with half pot of Biryani.

When the Masterchef saw his 3 Chefs and their respective pots he had a smile on his face, he then began to speak...

" I am extremely happy and proud that all three of you managed to prepare a Big Pot of Biryani meant to be served, not everyone can do it, so in one way you all are Winners, because you completed the First Task perfectly.

I am again overwhelmed with happiness and content that you have a heart to serve and you went out to serve with what you cooked. That again makes you winners because not everyone parts with what best they have...

But alas! I'm a little disappointed that you do not yet know amongst yourselves who is the Winner!"

The 3 Chefs looked at each other with puzzled eyes, they all had their unique experiences but they weren't yet aware who could be the winner indeed. 

So the Master Chef continued,

" When I tasted your respective Biryanis in the beginning I knew which one was the Best, the Average and the one that's not upto mark. But i wanted you to go out and serve only to understand that sometimes being at the right time and the right place and with the right attitude can do magnificent wonders.

So the Winner of the Biryani Challenge is…..?"

The End!

Now if you have read the story till the end, let me know in comments who is the Winner and why?

• An Original Story by Jickson V George