Sometimes I wonder why o why …the big man sitting above…why does he always make me the chosen one…??
A blissful morning …you get a call from your son that he is coming home(from his hostel) along with his friends.He declares the names of the dishes in such a breathless manner that will surely put Shankar Mahadevan and his “breathless” to shame…and I kept nodding my head making a mental note of all the dishes …
Alright let me confess I am a self-proclaimed good cook who has this khoobsoorat see masoom see galamfehmi that she cooks very well..n all kind of cuisines on that…trust me my sons and hubby are the culprits to make me believe in that (hehe hubbies can’t be choosers..)
So I cancel all my plans…and march towards my part-time karm bhoomi aka my kitchen…
I have a tendency to work very fast…am sure I do look like Jerry of the famous Tom n Jerry fame…in fast forward motion.
I chop, slice, blend…roast..bake..sauté…peel..toss ..boil steam n ooops burn too…perhaps it’s a part n parcel of the kitchen romance….
My helper (an affectionate middle aged ..ok just like me…I mean in her 40s -a Bengali dame )is stuck in one corner of the wall…looking at me as if she was watching fast n furious albeit with Bengali subtitles……
She kept asking..” didi hum madad kor dega…amake bolbe”
So I assign her the job of peeling some garlic…chopping some ginger n green chillies …as I wanted to marinate the chicken…..
So I give her instructions,”didi aap…adrak lehsoon…mirchi ko pees do….so that main chicken ko,,.ko…ko…”now I was fumbling for the right replacement of marination in Hindi knowing well that she wouldn’t understand the word…
She kept looking at me with patience…….n I kept stammering like oh so desirable shahrukh……
Finally like a Good Samaritan she opens her pretty mouth n says….
“Ooh aapka matlab mherinate???????”
“Ah…o…mheri….wha…what”I continued fumbling….shocked rather surprised that knew the word ..n spoke with such ease..albeit in her cute bangla accent…..
“Didi usko mherinate bolte hain…”she enlightened the lesser mortal looking at her n this self proclaimed good cook…got enlightened not under any Bodhi tree…but under the small n cute fan sniggering at me from the kitchen roof……
“Ofcourse….jannatul didi…that’s the word…thanks..”I resigned to her quick wit…and also felt proud that she knows such words….it’s commendable.
(Mind you she is the same lady who had once confused me with a mystery man Archit Patel who..err which turned out to be Orchids petal….???????)
So all the dishes are prepared… chicken is still enjoying the marination……ready to be served in a while…every time I open the lid to peep inside,…it seems the chicken is winking at me saying…”see am being mherinated babe”…..
I am trying my best to control my laughter while I wait for my sonny boy n his friends to come over..n enjoy maa ke haath ka khana….dekho ab toh write up bhi ho gaya.