Homemade meals

The husband's cousin brother works in Dubai and lives in a bachelor pad. Once in a while, when he craves Kerala-style fish curry and well-cooked rice, he calls us and informs us that he will be visiting. So we prepare his favourite food - salmon curry or fry, rasam, idli etc - and await his arrival. Often, V takes over part of the cooking - for him, it has to be a feast with a delectable spread of Kerala food.

The guest has his fill, and when he leaves in the evening, I pack food that he can have the next day for breakfast -- for instance, idli and fish curry, or puttu and boiled egg masala, or even rice and side dishes. We also pack and take when we go to visit him at Global Village where he works during the winter months.

His wife in Chennai asked me why I go the extra mile. I told her that I can understand the craving for homemade food in someone who has no means of cooking it themselves [he has access to a shared kitchen, which he doesn't use except for basic cooking]. I had gone through that for about 10 years after I left home for a college education. The 5  years in Assumption, Kerala was okay but the 3 years in a Chennai convent hostel was hell food-wise. My classmate Usha would give me a little of the grilled sandwich she brought from home. She would also invite me home on weekends, and I spent many Saturdays at her home - sometimes staying the night - enjoying the lovely homely meals her mom prepared for the family. Her chicken curry was awesome, and I have never managed to cook something like that myself. I vibed well with her as she was also a Kerala native like me - someone with a longing for life and relatives in Kerala. I chatted with her as she fed her hens or cut veggies for lunch or took a short break over tea. She laughed and smiled all the time despite the burden of taking care of a large family - inlaws, husband, children, hens and dogs, and often extended family visiting. On my first trip to Delhi for my journalism entrance, she packed a chocolate cake for me to have on the train.

Then there were the meals I had in Usha's cousin and our collegemate Viju's place when she took me along after classes to visit his grandma. And the occasional meals in Annie's house. In Delhi, it was dad's ex colleague and my local guardian who fed me homely Kerala meals when I visited her place occasionally.

So I think this is repayment time. I understand the loneliness and helplessness of a boarder. Although I wonder if he knows that it is our (V's rather) greatness and not his goodness that make me do it _ since they never went the extra mile when I stayed as a pg at their home in Mds and I would buy bread omelette from the railway canteen on my trips to Kerala.