‘What happens when a software engineer walks into the kitchen’: Shashi Tharoor’s idli joke goes viral | Today’s news
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor once again grabbed eyeballs for his signature eloquence, this time over unusually sliced plates of idlis that looked more like mini pizzas than the popular South Indian dish.
Sharing the photo on X, Tharoor argued that the image is evidence of what happens “when a software engineer gets into the kitchen and tries to split data.”
The picture showed four neatly sliced idlis, each divided into several triangular slices and arranged on a pan, resembling pizza slices rather than the traditional whole, fluffy pies.
“This is what happens when a software engineer gets into the kitchen and tries to split data!” Tharoor wrote and playfully poked fun at tech professionals and their obsession with segmentation and optimization.
Labeling the person who prepared the dish, he added: “It’s called ‘idli’, not ‘id-slice’. Nobody eats idlis that way unless they’re Italian and mistake it for pizza.”
He further quipped, “But don’t try putting sambar on pizza, okay?”
This is not the first time that Tharoor has spoken about Idlis
This is not the first time that the Thiruvananthapuram MP has shown his love for idlis. On Sunday, he reacted with humor to a photo of idlis served with tea.
Tharoor commented that the idli in the photo did not quite live up to his expectations. He noticed that it seemed too thick and seemed to lack the airy, soft texture one associates with a properly made idli. Emphasizing what he considers the hallmark of the dish, he said a good idli should be light, fluffy and snow-white, rather than chewy or rubbery.
He also considered pairing idlis with tea. While describing himself as an avid chai enthusiast, Tharoor said he prefers to enjoy tea separately from food.
“I’m a huge chai fan myself, but I’ve always been a firm believer in the ‘separate but equal’ policy: I prefer my chai with or after a meal rather than dipping into it. Anyway, a really good, soft idli would probably just melt into the hot chai and ruin it, while a ‘dunkable’ idli wouldn’t be too rubbery for my taste.
The conversation later took a lighter turn when the user revealed that the idlis were homemade and that the dish marked her first attempt at making idlis. Tharoor responded warmly, appreciating the effort and turning the exchange into a good-natured discussion about cooking rather than a critique of the unconventional presentation.
Social networks are responding
The post has since gone viral and sparked a flood of reactions.
The user wrote: “Oh, and there’s also a little blob of chutney in the middle that no one will notice.”
Another said: “I do things like this to make food interesting for my nephews and nieces. I try to break the pattern of food structure that they have seen on mobile or TV, and they finish the food faster.”
A third user said, “You should have a twitter meetup with whoever made a mistake with your favorite idli.”
A fourth user said, “For the last two days I have been wondering why Tharoor seems so invested in the idli discussion.”
