Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Hat-trick of the firsts!

Its a day of pleasant and unusual events. My mom has been retired for over a decade now. While she used to have her set of friends, after she got her voluntary retirement, over the past decade, her gang of friends have also subsequently retired and she seemed to lost touch with them. But last week, she dug up her address books and spent about two hours on phone with her friends. Following that, today one of her friends visited her. This is the first time in her life in Chennai (since 1978) that someone is visiting her!

After about three to four hours of catching up with the past, her friend decided that its time for her to leave. My mom suggested that she would join her to visit another common friend of theirs! She dressed up quickly and told me. "Badhri! I am going to visit my friend along with her. I may come late in the afternoon!'. That is something that I have never heard from my mom! It is usually I who says those words to my mom! :) That is another unique first!

And it doesn't stop there! After about my half-an-hour, I woke up from my work to hear someone cooking in the kitchen! I was about to get up to find out who it was, but my dad came to me with a plate of "Adai" (a dish similar to dosa, only a little thicker and made of a different flour), beaming with a self-congratulatory smile. He said "Now that your mom has gone to visit her friend, I am free to play in the kitchen! I called your sister, got instructions on how to make Adai and tried it out! Come come, try it and let me know how it is!".

My dad has cooked before, if my mom fell sick or if she has gone out of station. But I wouldn't say that he enjoyed the freedom at the kitchen. Unguided by my mom, he usually screwed up a dish or made a big mess at the kitchen, or did something for my mom to come back and complain later. But this time, my dad's adai turned out to be perfect! Six pieces, all circular, none over-fried. A little salty for me, but my dad likes the extra salt. I called my sister and told her my dad's achievement! She gave the credit to where it belonged. But the best credit was what was not said. When my mom came back, she had her share of adai, examined the kitchen, came back and settled down without a word to watch Velukkudi Krishnan's explanation of the meanings of Bhagavat Gita!

Splendid! That is another first. Hat-trick!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Neat one I must say :) I wish the same for my mom too..! I wonder why our beloved moms get so dissolved into family life, children, husband, this and that etc. that they forget entirely about themselves, about their space, about their life. They must pursue their hobbies, hang out with friends, and break free from their regular domestic chores. This may fetch nothing much but some pleasure and spice in their lives.

Not just women, but i guess after certain age, men and women both recluse themselves and do not socialise much. I personally would encourage them to take up activities that interest them and keep themselves busy throughout and live life with great zeal.

Anonymous said...

WOW :-) nice to hear such first times, I really enjoyed reading your article. Good that you have captured it in your blog its gonna be a nostalgic trip for you, every time you read it.

Reminds me of an all womens lunch party at Tandoor yesterday. A group of fifteen plus women chatting, gossiping playing housie and eating. I was amazed at thier energy levels. They looked like teenagers from school or college and not thier age at all! (I presume from thier appearance all of them belonged to 40+ years group). WOMAN when they get together have a lot of fun :-).

Keep writing.

Badhri said...

:)
Thanks Shabnam. I guess its hard to be that way unless one goes after her hobbies like a professional going after his profession! Said that, I didn't mean to make it such a serious discussion. I am sure those who do it enjoy their cooking as much as professionals enjoy their professions! :)

Anon,
Any gang, when the get together have a lot of fun. If it is women, they make a lot of noise in addition! :)