In a ceremony attended by every senior officer who could be located, the Ministry of Biryani and the Department of Chawal have signed the Historic Chawal Accord, formally ending a disagreement that began over the question of whether rice should be counted as an ingredient or as a department.
The Accord runs to fourteen pages, of which eleven are preamble. Article 1 establishes mutual recognition. Articles 2 through 9 establish the ceremonial order in which the two bodies shall be served. Article 10 refers the substance of the dispute to a joint committee.
“This document represents a generation of patient work. We have not resolved the question. We have resolved to stop asking it in public.”
Terms of the Accord
- Both bodies acknowledge the existence and dignity of the other.
- Neither body shall describe the other's output as "basically the same thing".
- A joint committee will determine the substantive question by a date to be set.
- The Accord shall be reprinted annually on good paper, regardless of progress.
The International Ambassador of Chawal welcomed the agreement, describing it as "a framework within which we may now disagree formally". The Ministry of Biryani declined to comment, citing a prior engagement with a degh.