I was missing the Spirit who used to visit me in childhood. She had been away for so long that I started wondering if she was just a dream. Or whether her sole interest in me was to get me married to Ram.
"Quite conceited of you, I would say"
"You're back!"
"I never left, little girl. You were so busy with your new husband that you forgot I was around."
"Sorry". I felt sheepish.
"Apology accepted. So what's the plan for today?"
"I am cooking. First time."
"Nervous?"
"A little"
"Don't be. It will be great."
I had spent the entire past week preparing for this meal. During meals, I would observe what people liked to eat. After every meal I would sit in the kitchen and would write down everything I had noticed that day. I realised that I should have started making these preparations much earlier. One week was not enough to know in entirety the food preferences of four parents, three brothers, one husband and about 15 servants who shared meals with us. Once mother Kaikayi caught me making these notes and smiled her approval. She even shared tips about the favourite foods of the four brothers.
When the big day dawned, I reached the kitchen early. Before beginning, I offered a prayer to mother Annapurna, the mother who feeds us all. This was a tradition I had imbibed from my mother's kitchen. Though I had never known my adoptive mother, I had known her kitchen intimately. My father had not removed any of the kitchen-staff who cooked alongside my mother. I had known my mother through the people in that kitchen, through those pots and pans which her hands had touched. My mother still represented to me mother Annapurna and it was partially to her too, that I prayed everytime I cooked.
The memory of my mother's kitchen and the thought of having to cook today amidst all these alien utensils, where my hand couldn't unconsciously pick up the correct masala boxes, made a tear trickle down my cheek. The head cook, who was watching me with interest, came over immediately and put a hand on my shoulder.
She was an old woman with a kind face. I had always liked her. I think she thought that I was crying out of sheer nerves. She made me sit down and drink a glass of water. Then told me that I need not worry about the cooking. She would take care of everything.
I hurried to explain to her that it was not the cooking that was worrying me. When I told her about my homesickness she gave me a misty smile and hugged me.
"Every woman experiences this when she comes to a new home, specially the one who loves cooking." She gave me a wink."Now I know I should look forward to today's meal. So what have you planned, little one?"
As I took her through my menu, a grin lighted her features. "It is ambitious, but it is a good plan. I see you have included some favourite dishes of the royal family."
"I also tried including a few that I thought some of the staff liked,"I pointed those out.
She looked into my eyes. "You are a strange one indeed, my princess. Alright, let's start then. How do you want to begin?"
I outlined to her what I needed done and she started assigning work to the rest of the kitchen-staff. Meanwhile I started mixing the masalas for the different dishes. I tried giving a different flavor to every dish, so that the tongue would be surprised and appreciate it better.
Once the masalas were handed over to the staff to grind, I took a round to check on the other preparations. One by one the ingredients were prepared, and then it was time to combine them into the whole dish.
As I worked over the lighted fires, amidst the clanging and the banging and the sizzling, I realised that my hand was automatically picking up the ingredients I needed from their place. And just like that, that kitchen became mine.
Once the cooking was done, we sent a boy to invite everyone for lunch. The boy came back within a minute, grinning. "They are already here," he said.
The head cook laughed. "I am sure the aroma of this food can be smelt right in their rooms! Hurry up everyone, set the places for the meal."
Banana leaves were placed on a freshly mopped floor for holding the food and cloth mats for sitting. Leaving an opening for the servers to move in and out, the places were set in a circle. I pulled 3 of the kitchen-staff with me to serve the food and bade the rest to sit down. Usually the household would eat in 2-3 different groups in different rooms. It made conversation easy. But today was a special day - the first meal prepared by the new bride, me. So everyone was sitting together.
We started serving the food. We served the milder flavors first, following them up with the spicier mixes. For the drink we had prepared buttermilk, it was one of Ram's favourites as well as mine. We had two types of chutneys - one sweet and one chilly-based. The main dishes varied from the mildly flavored potatoes to the spicy chollas, and from a simple dal to the many layered vegetable mix. It was a joy to see people's eyes light up when they saw a favourite dish and we made sure to serve them extra portions.
In spite of our generous serves, every single banana leaf was wiped clean by the time the meal ended. My family thanked us for a well-prepared meal and went directly to their rooms to sleep - they had eaten so much.
When everyone had left, I and the three other servers went to the kitchen to have our own meals. It had been a good day and we talked and laughed till evening.
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