Bhatura, Jilebis, Pumpkins And Books!

I had to text her and say I was running late – by at least 15 minutes. Knowing her, I know she will be ready. As expected, she is standing outside the garage door and waiting for me. I pull up, admiring the trees that have decided to provide a canopy to her driveway. She hops in, excited to see me as always. I don’t know what it is she likes about me, but I am grateful. She could easily be my mother's age, you know. She has been married longer than I have been alive!

I am excited too, for I found out that there is an Indian restaurant close to her house where they serve her favorite Indian dish – bhatura! Go figure! This past summer, when she came home dying to see my yard, I wanted to give her some Indian food first. The look on her face told untold stories. So I decided instead to give her teaser Indian food – one small piece of dhokla, a small piece of patra, etc. I watched her with curiosity as she tried to decide whether she liked it. I know she was eager to see my yard, and I decided to drop the food talk and walk into the yard, and there she broke loose in joy, wonder, and excitement. After admiring my backyard for over a couple of hours, just standing here and there, offering me ideas, and admiring what I had, she decided to go back home.

Later that week, I got a call from her asking about an Indian store. I send her an address but am bombarded with text messages – her disappointment and frustration at being unable to find the stores. I am in the middle of a teaching day. I calmed her down by suggesting I would happily take her soon to the stores. She seems satisfied. The next thing I know, I get a message from her explaining how much she is enjoying all the frozen Indian food she has, her favorite being bhatura, of course! She had found another shop. I am thankful.

So, here we are today, me wanting to treat her to a proper Indian dinner now that she has been savoring all the frozen foods for 4 months or so. So, after she is seated and belted, she turns around and tells me that she has something and asks if she can read it to me. I look at her lap and the contents, and not wanting to be distracted, tell her that we can do that after we are seated. She agrees; I pull up in front of the restaurant. As we enter, we are told that the restaurant is open just to buy sweets and not for lunch. Disappointed, I called my friend to confirm I was at the right restaurant. I was! It is Deepavali, and the restaurant is focused on selling sweets! Okay! I pulled a screen up, figured out that my favorite place is about 15 minutes away, and asked if she was open to going there. She assures me that she trusts me and is happy to do what I suggest. Since I am there and it is Deepavali, I buy a pound of Jilebi, getting packed into two separate boxes.

We pull into the full parking lot of our next restaurant, and as soon as I walk in, I see a line longer than Hanuman’s tail! I know the owner, so I walk to the front to ask her how long the wait may be, and guess what, they too are closed for lunch, and we can either do a take-out or stand in line to buy sweets – for Deepavali! I see the cloudy skies and know we have nowhere to sit, eat and talk. I apologized profusely and decided to take her to the next best restaurant about 5 minutes away!

I pray fervently that this place is not crazy, and I am relieved. It is a buffet, and as soon as she sees what’s on the buffet line, she squeals with joy. She brings her full plate to the table, and the sheer joy on her face with the first bite of bhatura….well, it is better seen than read! She timidly dips her spoon into the tomato soup I had insisted she try, and she is surprised. Surprised that it is so tasty. Then she confessed that she didn’t like tomato soups but had taken them only because I insisted and was glad she did. As we went through the buffet items, the joy I saw on her face was worth all the running around trying to find an Indian restaurant instead of settling for a different cuisine. Once satiated, she asks again, “Shall I read it now?”! I nodded yes and asked her if I could record. She nods and begins reading, reading the book to me - a thoughtfully written book on gardens. It takes all of 4 minutes to finish reading it for me. She continued to say that that was her go-to book, and that morning, she woke up at 4 am and was reminded of me. So she prayed for me and then felt that she should 'read' that book with me.

I am misty-eyed. She could have bought that book for me or asked me to read it myself. But she wanted to read to me - like a parent reads to their child or a teacher to her young students. I tell you, no one, no one has ever read a book to me…..ever! Oh, the joy‼

We continue talking, sharing stories – mostly her sharing and me laughing my head off. I am fascinated with American lifestyle from so long ago that she is from. I am grateful I took her to lunch. I drive her back home; we hug each other and promise to see one another again. After spending another hour in her garden, I give her a box of jilebi and head back home. I have a text from her even before I park. Her DH is not able to keep his hands off of the jilebis‼ We both know how hesitant he is to try new cuisine, but the jilebis….well! I asked her to welcome her DH to our world, a world of people like us who toggle cultures fairly easily. I sen her a picture of my Deepavali-themed Halloween pumpkin that we had carved … to just lots of hearts and smiling emojis hearts as response!

 

Dear Radhika, @radv

So nice to see you here after a long time!

I had to laugh! But then we all know ho popular chicken tikka masala is! I am glad she enjoyed

Agree with you! Indian food is getting popular by the day! And when I think of all the delicacies we prepare at home that is not available in restaurants .....

Thank you for your words! Hope you had a fabulous Deepavali!