Chicken, but Proud

The other day while on my way to work, a Tempo, carrying chicken in cages, chose to suddenly dash in front of my car from nowhere. I had to hit the brake pedal real real hard. Its driver obviously did not look out left or right, and believed that it was "his" right, and that it was other drivers' duty to apply brakes so as to avoid a very-possible collision with him. He not only impatiently came in my way, but also slowed my car to a crawl by chugging ahead of me at a leisurely pace.

Given the traffic around me, I had no choice but to stick to my lane. Since I had all the time in the world to stare at everything in the back of this rickety three-wheeler, my attention was caught by the chicken in those cages. - They were crammed together and were in an egregiously unhygienic condition. Most of them seemed to have some skin disease, and needed a dermatologist more than a butcher to get them rid of their misery. Others were already half-dead for want of food and, definitely, some space. A few had almost "no" fur around the neck. It was just a sample in front of me, and a scary one at that. I was sure that most of their urban brethren too are in similar misery.

I felt pity for the people whose platter they would land into. And I also wondered if the Tandoori chicken, Chicken tikka masala and many more dishes from the chicken stable that I gleefully order every other day come from a similar lot. How can I eat something like this?, I scolded myself. I was really shocked to realize that there IS a possibility, no matter how remote, that the chicken I like to drool over on the dining table could as well be from a similar tempo.

Ironically, at an office dinner the same evening, my Boss, quite aware of my gastronomical preference, asked me to choose between Butter Chicken and Chicken Afghani. I bashfully said “I’m a vegetarian, boss!”. Expressing surprise, he further asked “Since when?”. “Since today”, I said. He was like “But why?” I playfully retorted, “I’m Proudly chicken to have a chicken”. Without narrating the reason to anyone, I ironically let all the non-vegetarians enjoy their bird, and hoped that they all may run into "that" tempo soon enough.