Expiry
It was early in the morning; the sun was yet to kiss the clouds with its beautiful rays, the murky darkness was still alive. Lights were yet to be out in my apartment, and we were in a sound sleep. When the clock ticked 4:15, we heard a rustling sound from a polythene bag from the kitchen. We were reluctant to go to the kitchen to check. Later that morning, my friend, Vignesh was the first one to visit the kitchen. According to him, the first witness, few pieces from a bread packet was missing. This was how the day 15th June 2010 started for us.
There were no symptoms of breakage or a little possibility that someone could have broken in from outside. One of my friends quickly provided the forensic report; the bread expired a few days back. We were in a deep shock, not because the bread was stolen, but were anxious about the thief. We decided not to call him the thief but the victim.
Then began the confession time. Everyone looked at everyone including me, but none came forward because the victim must have been afraid of the mighty consequences that would follow from friends. We all looked up as a sign of god to save the victim. Around 2 PM, I got a call from V one of my roomies, the crux of the conversation, “mapla continuous loose motion from the morning da, I don’t know what I have had. I need your help da”. I rushed to my manager and asked for permission for a couple of hours and borrowed the bike and picked my friend from the office and we reached a clinic.
Dr.Palani was an AIMS retired, running his clinic with a bare minimal fee as a social service. After a deep breath putting his specs on, the doctor asked,
Doctor: what is your problem?
V: Sir, stomach pain and loose motion from the morning.
D: Oh, I see. What did you have last night?
V: Roti and Subzee sir.
D: did you eat anything specific which could have triggered this?
V: with a heavy heart, thief like a face. V looked at me and said to the doctor, "I had few spoiled pieces of bread."
D: that’s not the one you should eat. Adjusting his spectacle. When did you eat?
V: 4:15 AM in the morning.
D: that’s not the right time to eat the expired bread. This time cleared his throat.
After the Doctor inserting a needle into the back. All set to go. This time I was too worried. I went and stood in front of doctor behind my friend.
D: what’s the problem with you? All ok?
Me: I had the same bread yesterday. Do I need to take any medication?
D: (Maybe recovering from a mild heart attack) no problem. You don’t need any medication since you might have had the perfect portion of the bread.
Me: puzzled by doctor’s reply. Thanks, sir
Even today when I meet this Victim after so many years, we smile at each other. I tend to say, "that is not the right time to eat" and he would reply, "you had the unspoiled portion of the bread".
Every single day teaches something. It’s up to us to learn or not. In hindsight, we learned few things that day.
1. There can be just too many items on the shelf, so there will be chances that an item is expired and yet the supermarket personnel hasn't found that out. It is always good to check the expiry date before the buying decision.
2. One step ahead to decide on the consumable purchase based on expiry date. If you feel that you cannot consume at least 75% of the good by expiry date avoid buying it.
A long healthy life is no accident. It begins with good genes, but it also depends on good habits. So, never forget to “check the Expiry date.”
There were no symptoms of breakage or a little possibility that someone could have broken in from outside. One of my friends quickly provided the forensic report; the bread expired a few days back. We were in a deep shock, not because the bread was stolen, but were anxious about the thief. We decided not to call him the thief but the victim.
Then began the confession time. Everyone looked at everyone including me, but none came forward because the victim must have been afraid of the mighty consequences that would follow from friends. We all looked up as a sign of god to save the victim. Around 2 PM, I got a call from V one of my roomies, the crux of the conversation, “mapla continuous loose motion from the morning da, I don’t know what I have had. I need your help da”. I rushed to my manager and asked for permission for a couple of hours and borrowed the bike and picked my friend from the office and we reached a clinic.
Dr.Palani was an AIMS retired, running his clinic with a bare minimal fee as a social service. After a deep breath putting his specs on, the doctor asked,
Doctor: what is your problem?
V: Sir, stomach pain and loose motion from the morning.
D: Oh, I see. What did you have last night?
V: Roti and Subzee sir.
D: did you eat anything specific which could have triggered this?
V: with a heavy heart, thief like a face. V looked at me and said to the doctor, "I had few spoiled pieces of bread."
D: that’s not the one you should eat. Adjusting his spectacle. When did you eat?
V: 4:15 AM in the morning.
D: that’s not the right time to eat the expired bread. This time cleared his throat.
After the Doctor inserting a needle into the back. All set to go. This time I was too worried. I went and stood in front of doctor behind my friend.
D: what’s the problem with you? All ok?
Me: I had the same bread yesterday. Do I need to take any medication?
D: (Maybe recovering from a mild heart attack) no problem. You don’t need any medication since you might have had the perfect portion of the bread.
Me: puzzled by doctor’s reply. Thanks, sir
Even today when I meet this Victim after so many years, we smile at each other. I tend to say, "that is not the right time to eat" and he would reply, "you had the unspoiled portion of the bread".
Every single day teaches something. It’s up to us to learn or not. In hindsight, we learned few things that day.
1. There can be just too many items on the shelf, so there will be chances that an item is expired and yet the supermarket personnel hasn't found that out. It is always good to check the expiry date before the buying decision.
2. One step ahead to decide on the consumable purchase based on expiry date. If you feel that you cannot consume at least 75% of the good by expiry date avoid buying it.
A long healthy life is no accident. It begins with good genes, but it also depends on good habits. So, never forget to “check the Expiry date.”
😄👍
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