What’s with the Chicken Tikka Roll?!

Akshay, my son, likes to take a chicken tikka roll to work. Not once in a while. Not as part of a rotating menu of varied choices. No, he eats one every single day, five days a week. Like it’s a job requirement. His colleagues don’t even ask what he’s having for lunch anymore. Instead, the running joke is, “Hey, Akshay! How was the roll?”

I know he likes chicken tikka rolls. Who doesn’t? But every single day?

In the beginning, I thought it was a phase… like the time his sister Tanvi insisted on bread-and-jam sandwiches for kindergarten. But no, this isn’t a passing fancy. Years have gone by. The world has survived Covid, multiple iPhone versions, political upheavals, and yet, Akshay is still unwrapping the same old chicken tikka roll, Monday through Friday.

Doesn’t he ever want a change? When I ask, he simply shrugs and says, “It’s easy.” 

And that, I have come to realize, is the whole point. Having the same lunch saves him from thinking about lunch. One decision less to make. No weird surprises. No disappointing experiments with “something new.” No regrets about overindulging in something fried or fabulous. Just one tiny thing he can control while Trump throws the world to the dogs, while the stock market crashes, while AI threatens to outthink us all. Maybe eating the same thing every day isn’t a failure of imagination but an act of quiet resilience. A way to carve out a small, steady island of certainty in a sea of chaos.

And I’ll admit—it makes my life easier too. In an Indian household, where food is sacred and the kitchen often feels like a full-time battleground, my son’s predictable palate is a gift. No endless deliberations about what to pack. Grocery shopping? A breeze. Meal prep? Streamlined. Just roll, wrap, and done.

Still, I have a feeling the reign of the chicken tikka roll may be coming to an end. Akshay’s new bride enjoys variety in her meals. She’s unlikely to make the same roll with the same precision, day after day, year after year.

Or maybe, just maybe, she too may come to appreciate the quiet genius of the chicken tikka roll?

Time will tell.

PS: Do you like to eat the same meal every day for days? Do share.