"I will pack idly for you"
"No, chithi. I am fine. I will buy some sandwiches if required."
"Hah! Sandwiches! These will be nice and soft. Everyone likes idlis."
"Of course they will be good, but I am not sure whether we have time now and..."
"It will take only 20 minutes" and off she went.
I watched the clock tick slow enough for the white disks to steam. Idlis were never my favourite but I'd rather say yes to this than have her prepare something new and lose more time.
"I will put milagai podi on it. Or do you want chutney?"
"Anything, as long as it doesn't leak out. I really think I need to rush."
"Its done, its done."
And in a few minutes I got hot idlis securely wrapped in layers.
"Don't forget to have it" and then she added her nonchalant bit, "If you want you can still buy the sandwiches, but have this first. Its better to..."
"I will chithi. Thanks. Very sweet of you to prepare this in a hurry."
"What is there in this? On one stove I had this and ..." she went on to detail the entire exercise while I tied my shoe laces.
She smiled as she waved out to me while she watched me leave with a part of her; the part which she thought was her best and the only that she could offer in this world...
The satisfaction that you get when someone does something so mundane, so plain and normal, that its simplicity is so beautiful in its own way.
ReplyDeleteAnd all I have to offer you is my best wishes for your writing. Your writing is fantastic.
Cabbage.
hit me on the head for reading the first sentence as idly(as in idleness) and not as in idlies.Is the singular form of idlies, idly or idli?I love home made idlies with milagai podi.yummy.I dislike idlies in restuarants.
ReplyDelete"She smiled as she waved out to me while she watched me leave with a part of her; the part which she thought was her best and the only that she could offer in this world... " beautiful.
ReplyDeleteDear W,
ReplyDelete:-) Thanks. I shant change the spelling in order to maintain the validity of your editorial comments... ;-). Glad you liked that line...
Dear C,
You are very generous with compliments. Thank you. Glad you liked it.
All of us have some chithi character somewhere.......but just then,when you are in a tearing hurry,the thought behind those idlies hardly strikes you!!
ReplyDeletenicely done!
This is a sweet post..These are the little things u wud miss if u r away from home :)
ReplyDeleteDear m,
ReplyDeleteYup. So true. Nicely done? You mean the idlies or the post?
:-o
Dear LW,
Genuine care is fine, but sometimes these are the only things some people think they can do and hence want to do them often enough. I would tell my mom that I am off to a dinner party and she would ask me to have something she made just before I leave!! I don't go to a party on a full stomach!! Glad you liked the post.
Dear P,
Long time no see. I really didn't know what to comment on your reviews. Glad you remembered your way here ;-). Glad you found it sweet.
Nice post
Good post
Sweet post
I don't know whether that is increasing or abating appreciation!! :-(
:-)
Haha, idlies are my least favorite too along with pongal, but at the moment I would give a hand and a leg for a nice soft idly and milagai podi.
ReplyDeleteThat was sweet. and the way you had put it down...
ReplyDeletewhite disks?!? LOL...
Dear DV, (this is my 3rd comment today which starts off like that!!)
ReplyDeleteThanks. White disks they are. To me idli meant someone was ill. :-o
Dear SS,
Pongal is fine, esp. without salt (I prefer it that way. Mom makes it like that during Dhanur masa and on Shravana nakshatra thithi). I am sure it must be tough without decent Indian food there! Don't worry, I won't discuss anymore about my food, online! :-)
Aha another short tale..reminds me of ammani's quick tales..pretty interesting piece this one..simplicity rules..mind you I am not repeating what other's already said...I guess simple things in life are more valuable than the more pompous one's ..not that I prefer Idlis to sandwiches or anything just that they might remind us ..how much someone cares for us!
ReplyDeleteHi A,
ReplyDeleteGlad to have you back. How do you like the new city? :-)
You are quite right there. It takes very little to show that one cares but requires great perception to realise that someone cares for you...
dear E,
ReplyDeleteI interpret the last sentence in a very, very different way ;-)
I had a dad's friend's daughter as a good friend... who was beautiful too. she was, in fact, the only woman I fantasised about.
However, all that she thought she can offer me was food!
abhi
Dear abhi,
ReplyDeleteGlad you stopped by... Food and fantasies seem inseparable, or so I thought happened only in my life!! Glad to find a comrade. ;-)
@Eroteme: None of your commenters, except maybe for Abhilash Warrier, seems to have noticed that you don't care much for the idlis nor the sweetness and simplicity of her nature that it symbolises. I find your tone throughout the post very patronising toward all the components in it.
ReplyDeleteAnd the last sentence - "She smiled as she waved out to me while she watched me leave with a part of her; the part which she thought was her best and the only that she could offer in this world..."
Poor Chitthi. Her nephew doesn't say "the part which to me was her best, and the only that she would offer anyone in this world", instead he writes out the above.
A strain of sarcasm, even bordering on mockery, and a definite attitude of "The whole idli issue is totally a matter of no consequence", seems evident in this post. Am I seeing things, or am I?