Who would’ve thought Ragi Dosa falling victim to Racism?

Last Updated on June 12, 2023

This is partly a work of meaningless humor fiction with a moral lesson at the end.

This is a story about Ragi Dosa, a black dosa, having been left out of 99 variety dosa stalls. I, the protagonist, do everything I can to get justice for Ragi Dosa. But, only to utterly fail.

I don’t like Ragi Mudde/Balls because I don’t like swallowing food as it is as if I don’t have any teeth left in my mouth. I like to chew the food and savor it before it disappears. If you consult your mouth, it’ll say “Ragi Mudde is stranger to teeth than the third cousin you saw in a marriage ceremony 15 years ago”.

Don’t mistake me. This doesn’t mean I don’t like Ragi. To be accurate, I am not a big fan of the most-popular ragi food item – ragi Mudde/Balls. On the other hand, I love Ragi Dosa and Ragi Rotti.

Once I got a craving for eating Ragi Dosa or Rotti. I wanted to have them very badly. While thinking about it, I realized any roadside stall, mess, restaurant, and even food-streets have Ragi dosa but not Ragi Rotti on their menu. And, I thought, in this fast food culture, who would take enough time to spread the dough to a thin sheet by gently tapping on it? By the time they finish spreading the dough to a thin sheet, they could have 5 Masala dosas.

So, I had to drop Ragi Rotti from the plan and stick to eating only Ragi dosa with my fingers crossed.

As I was strolling along the road, I noticed this food stall or food truck with the name – “99 variety dosas”. This is not new to me as I have occasionally enjoyed the dosas from the stall.

So, when I got the cravings for Ragi dosa, It was such a huge relief to see the stall – “99 variety dosas”.

When they said they don’t make Ragi dosa, I was devastated. I think anyone would have felt the same if not worse. All this time, I have been thinking they are doing such a great job because they are including all the varieties without leaving any dosa out. So, the stall is such an embodiment of inclusion and diversity.

To my mind, 99 is a huge number and I couldn’t digest the fact that somehow they left out Ragi Dosa. They sell corn-pizza-schezwan-masala dosa but not a plain Ragi Dosa? Why? Is it because of discrimination based on color? The poor Ragi dosa fallen victim to racism?

I decided not to visit the stall anymore even to eat the Dosas that I had been eating. An economic boycott – a form of protest against Racism is what I felt was the right way to deal with it.

This forced me to take this matter to the only person I know who would really bring justice to it – my mom. Also, since the boycott, I wanted my mother to not only make Ragi dosa but also 99 variety Dosas. I knew this is a tall order.

After shedding a few brain cells, I realized there could be 2 possible outcomes with mom. One, if I ask my mother when she is in bad mood to make 99 varieties of dosa, having no intention to run a food business for her family, she will hit you with, her powerful-than-machine-gun kitchen utensil.

Second, to increase my odds of success, I found a time when she was really in a perfect mood. So, I narrated the whole story of how Ragi dosa has fallen victim to racism. I also told her I have decided not to visit that stall anymore. So, I politely asked her “Anyway, you have been telling me to cut down on eating food outside and instead, to have more healthy home food. Now, the time has come for it. So, would you please make the Ragi dosa and 99 variety dosas?”.

She calmly and sympathetically accepted it and said “I am sorry about what happened with the stall. But, also I am excited to make Ragi dosa and 99 variety dosas for you. I have been bored making the same dosas for decades. I can’t make Ragi dosa now as we don’t have Ragi flour. But, don’t worry I will in fact make a dosa from 99 variety such a way that it will be racially inclusive.

So, I said “Awesome! I can’t wait to taste it”.

In response, she said “Just this time, for your first dosa, let me be the one to choose from 99 varieties. I want to surprise you.”

I said “Great!”.

She said “Go watch TV or something. I will make it ready in 15 minutes”

Exactly as mother said, once 15 minutes finished, she brought a dosa on a plate looking like a Ragi dosa with Chutney. I was happy and curious at the same time as there was no Ragi flour to Ragi Dosa.

She asked me to wash my hands and return quickly before the special dosa gets cold.

While running off to sink to wash my hands, I couldn’t help but think – ” It doesn’t look anything like any of the 99 variety dosas. My mom must really be a good cook. I am very very lucky”.

I ran back and sat on the sofa with my mother. She gave the plate to me. The aroma of the dosa was so delicious I started drooling. I couldn’t wait any longer. So, I took a bite.

Yuck! It is a burnt dosa. My god! Somehow she made it look like a Ragi dosa, greyish, instead of charcoal black. And, also managed to add a delicious smell to fool me.

As I am struggling to chew the first bite, my mother said “Don’t be shy tell me how good it is? This is only the first in the series of 99 variety dosa. More importantly, look at the dosa color, have I not addressed racial discrimination in the first dosa itself?….. And, also look at you, you are taking all the time in the world to enjoy every bite aren’t you?”

I almost choked on the food for her last sentence in the comment if not for the food itself.

In the next sarcastic comment, she made sure what her real intention has been all along.

She said, “I know you love it because you are sweating and also when you swallow, your eyes turn watery. This must be the best dosa you have ever eaten in your life. Don’t worry we will turn our kitchen into 99 variety dosa stall and bring racial justice to all the marginalized dosas.”

When these words came out of her mouth, it hit me how really stupid my concern was – Ragi Dosa falling victim to Racism and expecting her to make 99 variety dosas.

Knowing that charred dosa is bad for health, she said “I am going to go for shopping. And, you can finish it all by yourself any way you want”.

Using the clue she gave, I decided to finish it the way I really wanted to. Once she left home for shopping, I dug a hole in the garden and buried it. I was afraid if I threw it out in the open or into a dumpster, what will happen to any creature that eats it?

Moral lesson: Don’t ever think that humans’ Social Justice issues are also faced by nonliving objects. Otherwise, you will end up writing a post like this one.