Oneal Sabu pauses when a glass of watermelon mojito is brought to the table. He excuses himself to take out his mobile phone and click a photo. That comes from being a food lover, he says, while taking a sip of the drink and offering one to his companion. There, with that simple gesture Oneal defines himself better than words. If there has to be words, he will choose food enthusiast, food writer, even food taster. And from December last, he is an author too of a book on food, that’s like no other. Soul Fried Monologues has no recipes in it, and as Oneal would stress, no critiquing. He is not a food critic, not an expert, but one who hates to be judgemental, and would always give a second chance.
So the book, divided into three ‘foodical miles’ as starters, main course and dessert, and the chapters named after dishes, tell not of the right mix of ingredients. But of memories that Oneal connects every dish with. “There is a chapter, on King Crab Masala Fry, Sachin Tendulkar’s favourite. The one that you get at Martin’s Corner in Goa. Like most other Indians I am a cricket fanatic. So one day if I am trapped in an elevator with Sachin, I could talk to him about the dish,” Oneal says. “I connect each dish to someone or something in life that the readers could also connect to, have a dialogue with me, perhaps debate.”
The crab dish for him isn’t just about Sachin, but a mystery woman he calls Bubble. “What makes it special is a secret ingredient, the same way I guard the secret about the mystery woman.” Then there is the chapter on butter chicken that connects it to puppy love. “You forget all about the butter chicken when you have a mutton dish the next day,” he says. This could be different for someone else, he agrees, and that’s why he wants a dialogue with his readers.
Oneal’s love for food and for writing had begun a long time ago. It’s just that he got more exposed to food later in life, in his UK days where he went for his Masters. Working part time as waiter, sandwich man, et al brought him in touch with every kind of food. The love doubled when he came back home to India with 180 kgs on him and had to stay away from food to slim down. For two-and-a-half years he stuck to his diet, missing food and losing weight. Once he shed off all that extra weight, Oneal got back to his food habits. The photos he posted on Facebook got reposted by Eat Kochi Eat and Oneal became a core member of the group. “But the monologues began a long time ago — in 2008, when I was serving a notice period for a Mumbai job and could only dream of food I couldn’t afford. I’d look at a mirror and talk of food, of what’s happening in my life, and connect these.”
A lawyer by profession, Oneal took a sabbatical to build his own home in Fort Kochi — a place he proudly announces everywhere, putting initials of it in his pseudonym- FCBOY83 and on his arms as tattoos. And because of that, he called actor Vinay Forrt, another 'FC boy' to launch his book.
