Of chakki fresh atta, theplas, helpful neighbours and Kitchen Table Wisdom

Since I am born a Mangalorean I am a complete rice eater. At my parents house 'rotis' are not made at all. We used to make them earlier, for Doogie, our dog. After Doogie's demise last year my Mom stopped making them altogether. Given this background it is not surprising that I hardly make good rotis. I have been working on my roti making skills lately, but the biggest hurdle in my path was getting the right kind of 'aata' in Dubai. The search for the 'right aata' has been a matter of great discussion with almost everyone and anyone who seemed inclined to help, but alas nothing worked. For some reason Pilsbury too has not done the trick for me.

One weekend, sometime last November, my husband and I bumped into a young couple who had moved into our building, infact on our floor, that very evening. They too were from Pune - our city, and so there was an instant connect with them. Over the last five months the connect has grown stronger and now we are in touch with each other on a daily basis. We get together for impromptu dinners or breakfast and if any of us has cooked anything special we make sure it is sent across to the other. A couple of days ago, my new friend Rasika told me that she had found the best place to get 'aata' from in Dubai. It was from a flour mill which offers home delivery services promptly and at a very reasonable rate. She offered to place an order on my behalf since I am on a hectic schedule these days. Last night my seach for the 'perfect aata' ended and I now have two kilos of chakki fresh aata in my kitchen, all thanks to Rasika.

Incidentally, less than a week ago, I happened to catch my friend Meena online and asked her for her Mom's recipe for Theplas. I love Gujarati cuisine and Meena's mother makes the world's best theplas. Could there be a better start to my perfect aata? I made theplas for dinner tonight, under the watchful eyes of Rasika and they turned out really nice. I am sure they'll get better everytime I make them.

I'm reading an interesting book titled Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen. This book is about the moments of everyday life which help us connect with the deeper meaning of our lives. One of the points Rachel makes in her foreword is about how a sense of loneliness, alienation and isolation is prevalent in our culture because of the breakdown of the social networks that used to give us a sense of connection and community. And this loneliness is the real epidemic in our culture. I was thinking about this point Rachel made and realized that it is so true. I guess I am lucky to be discovering the joy of having helpful neighbours, whom you know you can count on at all times. Simultaneously, I am lucky to be exposed to the simple and undiluted joy of chakki fresh aata and of a tried and tested recipe.

Rachel also mentions that in the earlier days the kitchen table was the place where life stories and wisdom was shared with everyone. Well..the kitchen table may not be the place now, but I could not help but equate my blog and the blogs I follow to the Kitchen Table where one's experiences and stories are shared and a connect is made.

Musings at 2 a.m.

I was thinking of updating my blog earlier today and was wondering what to write about. Could think of nothing interesting. It occurred to me that I wasn't sure of whether I drive my blog or whether my blog drives me. As in - do I try to do interesting things so that I can write about them or do I write about interesting things because I do them anyway? Still don't know the answer.

The last few days have been uneventful, the only saving grace being my Arabic classes that started about a week ago. I had forgotten how interesting and challenging it is to learn a new language. It's fun being a student again, to get new books and instruction sheets and a roll number. My classes happen thrice a week from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. and I rush from office to make it to my lecture on time. I'm amazed at our capacity to fill more things into our day when we put our mind to it. A couple of months ago I would have probably shuddered at the thought of doing something after work, but now I seem to be able to put in a long day at work, attend my classes after that and return home to other domestic chores and it all feels quite effortless (till now atleast). It's feels nice to have a full day and it makes the next free evening even more special.

Will end the idle musings of my mind on that happy note. It's almost 2.30 a.m. and will have to be up in a couple of hours to meet the challenges of another new day...