We made paneer biryani today

We made paneer biryani today.

Some of its ingredients include saffron, paneer, yogurt, biryani masala, basmati rice, onion, cardamom, ghee, coriander, garlic, ginger, cumin, and cinnamon, among others.

My socialist prof. posted a pic of his favorite chicken curry on Facebook.

My right wing friend posted the pic of his wholesome meal consisting of poori, bhaji, papad, salad and achaar – on Instagram and Facebook.

The prof in his caption wrote about the irony of indulgence in times like these. The right wing friend asked us to thank God for what we have and to help others if we could.

I adjusted the plate, took a portrait mode photo, chose the right filter and ‘froze’.

This period has made most of us amateur cooks, who want to capture the essence, the aroma and most importantly that perfect pic for our social media handles. We have opinions on policy, religion, culture, popular media, economy and what not but most importantly we have food on our tables. It is unreal how deranged we have become as a generation, bordering shamelessness in our never ending quest for finding happiness in others' screens.

Meanwhile, it’s not all gloomy today, as I place my bets on a worse tomorrow. As a generation, which lives for social media validation takes over, ours might be the last one which at least is overwhelmed by bouts of guilt in between, like those cloves and cardamoms in a biryani. They really spoil the mood, right? 

What is worse is that they would also not acknowledge (like most of us) that they were always the 1%. Despite all that they try to credit themselves for their relative successes, they were destined to be there and not that street vendor’s children. 

There's a certain existential dread that we, as an outcome of capitalism should feel these days.

Yes, we made paneer biryani today and here is the picture.