Walk with a Cake

Walk with a Cake

Last week, I was in Bengaluru for an event for which a fancy 2-layered cake had been ordered.

And, I was given the ominous task of collecting it from the baker located about 15 Kms away. I was told that a driver would drive me up and down and all I need to do was to hold the cake in the backseat and ensure that the it reaches its destination safely.

Just imagine, Bengaluru roads, and that too after rains have battered them!! I managed to put up a brave face and left on my mission.

I google mapped to the baker’s location and collected the cake. The baker assured me that the cardboard ‘cake base’ of the cake has been securely taped to the bottom of the cardboard box and I just need to hold it so that box itself does not tilt.

I sat on the back seat holding the rather large cake box with both hands as if I was holding on to my life. Then started my journey back with the cake. Around half way to my destination, I felt a firm thud on my arm. Fearing the worst, I asked the driver to stop the vehicle, opened the cake box and checked. Only to find that indeed my worst fears had come true and the cake had tilted to one side, smashing its top on one side of the box. While the cardboard cake base was still firmly stuck to the box, the cake’s bottom layer itself had come off from the cake base. Fortunately, the baker was kind enough to come and reshape the cake before the event.

One question that evoked in my mind when I reflected upon the event was…

Like the cake base that was stuck firmly to the base of the box and yet not serving its purpose of holding the cake itself in place, “what beliefs and values am I stuck firmly to, that don’t serve me anymore?