Jaundiced learning

What can be learnt from a bout of jaundice?
How about some philosophy, independence and responsibility?
No, am not a philosopher or writer, so let me keep this short.

I had jaundice when i was in my 30s and had to rush home longing for that motherly touch. Well, even a dose of 'love tinged' scolding along with some home cooked meal served by one's mum is good treatment, isn't it?

At that time, i didn't know how to cook, having stayed at hostels for a long time. So, after recuperating, I had to go back to that very same environment.

Tension and worry was wriiten all over my grandma's and dad's faces. "Should we arrange a cook? How will she take care? Any of our relatives nearby? How can we be sure that the cook will indeed cook food which she likes? Somebody needs to train the cook. Can we get an already trained cook?"
So on and so forth. All these amidst a flurry of phone calls, rustling of pages of the telephone books.

My mum sat through all this with a godly calm and a benevolent smile on her face. She could have been mistaken for a yogin.

After all the helter skelter, when gran and dad started breathing normally, albeit worriedly, mom decided to drop the ball. She says, "barnowl will cook! She will learn in a month."

You could have struck me down to the ground with a feather. "Cook? Me? I don't know what the name of the daals were and i'm gonna cook? C'mon ma! Stop kidding. " Her mind was made up. She decided to go for the kill.

Yogin's next statement - "owl, you'll learn sambhar, rasam, dal, thogaiyal( sort of a chutney) , sabzi with and w/o coconut, making curd."

Was this some sort of a post jaundice hardening up bootcamp?

Finally....

Yes, i did learn. My mum was/is not one to take any dissent lying down.

After a couple of years, when i cribbed to her, what good the jaundice did, she, with a twinkle in her eyes, adds - "ullu, it taught you to be independent, no more taking life altering decisons based on food. As long as the raw materials are available, you'll cook. Second, even in that 'bad' scenario, there was an upside -- cue philosophy, namely, you learnt to be responsible to and for yourself. And it always comes in good stead. Life is a better teacher than I, a school teacher. "

I had to agree with her after giving her a hug and a tumbler of freshly brewed filter coffee.

 

So true, RGS. Thanks for chipping in with your thoughts.