Cravings

My parents are pretty clear about food. It is a basic need for sustenance. Period. To the contrary,  I have had an intense long and ongoing love affair with food. The earliest hint, now that I look back upon it, was the way I enjoyed the variety my hostel gave us. We had days designated for different cuisines.  One day was a kerala breakfast,  another was a continental lunch, some days regular north indian, south indian and some days street food style stuff. It probably sounds very fancy, but it wasnt. It was a fixed menu of each of these cuisines that we got and most kids hated it. But that never dampened my appetite or my enthusiasm.  To add to this, a wonderful wonderful bakery.. even today, smell of freshly baking bread triggers major nostalgia in me.

Through the years there came a passing interest in joining hotel management course after school -something literally unheard of in those days.  But someone then told me that it involved a lot of chopping heads off raw fish and that instantly turned me off, not to mention that it was literally unthinkable as a career those days!

Anyhow, cutting to the chase, I couldn't be further away from a career in food than I am now, but the love of it has only grown. I have found that in my most trying times, the only thing that helped get my mind off things was to open one of my mom's cookbooks (she had plenty, having done a cooking course from PUSA Institute many decades back) and find a recipe to match the contents of our /pantry and delve in deep. I did this through boredoms, heart breaks, exams, and whatever things that trouble a teenage mind. Although time and my natural propensity for utter laziness has considerably reduced my cooking, every now and then, I cannot resist a craving and find myself scrounging the fridge for something to feed my itch.

Today, the bountiful rain brought with it misty clouds and a beautiful breeze. Going into our makeshift kitchen, i pulled out a package of sausages - which, believe it or not, I have had the opportunity to purchase after 5 whole years - mayonnaise eggs and bread. With the window of my kitchen overlooking the stony hills swathed in pashmina like clouds, I dunked a dollop of butter into the pan,, heard it sizzle, and smiled. Took out two sausages and caramelized them in the butter, seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper and pushed it to a corner. Swished some more butter in and whipped up some soft scrambled eggs (NOT bhujia). Two slices of bread with a thick coat of mayonnaise received the warm contents of the pan. With a splurt of ketchup, the two were sealed.

I sat in my balcony, with my sandwich and a cup of tea, feeling the cool breeze in my hair and the divinely delicious sandwich warming up my insides. My final word is, the world just ain't right without sausages.

One man and his goats.

One man. 4 goats. Torrential rain. Equals what? Equals to the man and his goats being stranded on a mini island created by incessant rain and the entire administration running around trying to pull him out of there safely. We were unable to with the resources available in my jurisdiction so we needed help from outside. Thats when I decide to visit the spot to see the level and kind of assistance we would need first hand. The flip side of authority is people dont want to tell you even if you are walking into a damn minefield, because it isnt appropriate to question a senior. Or maybe they kept quiet about what lay ahead just to get back at me for some shouting I must have done at some point or something.

Either ways, there I was, oblivious to the slush that lay before me, trudging 2 kms down to the point from where the stranded one could be seen. No one warned us that there is no route, proper or improper to get there. As we walked on, we stumbled through feet high water in clayey paddy fields, getting soaked to the skin in the rain and legs covered in mud.. it was a crazy crazy thing to do.. but I dont know why, it took me back to my childhood in a way. Even though I hadnt ever been in a situation as precarious as this, the constant drizzle, the cold wind and drenched clothes all reminded me of the many monsoons I spent in the western ghats. 

Maybe , if I had a better idea of what I was getting into I wouldnt have gone right to that spot. But Im glad I did. I realised that I love being 'there' when something is wrong, someone needs help. I need to see things with my own eyes, specially if its getting to be a bigger issue than what we anticipated initially. Another thing which probably compels me to go on site is that each time Ive been on such a scene, I have realised that while people gather around in troves, they are usually by-standers. Its only when someone steps up as their leader that they start contributing to the solution. Each time I have walked into such a situation, I have noticed that given my post, people immediately submit themselves to my leadership. They rely on this post to get things done, to sort issues out. And they willingly contribute the best they can as we ask of them. Thats why I have never found it a waste of my time or effort to go to the crisis spot.  It also creates a wonderful feeling of being in one team together. 

Anyhow, we reached the spot, realised there was nothing we could do for the man with the goat from there and trudged all the way back. Found another spot from where a boat could be let into the river. As soon as the rescue team arrived from the neighbouring district, the boat was taken up to the man and he was safely removed from there after being stranded for over 24 hours. Soon as the boat got into the water, I left my deputy in charge and rushed back home to get out of the mud soaked, wet clothes I had been shivering in for over 3 hours - which I didnt have a chance of changing in the village, with so many people thronging around, and of course, because I had no change either!

On the way back, I tried to think back to what precipitated it all. What I realised, Im still not sure whether to be angry at the man or laugh my guts out.. even as the water rose and he had a chance to get out, that man, btw his name is Bablu, decided to stay on that piece of mini island to safeguard his 4 goats! There was enough for the goats to eat over there without his supervision. Why couldnt he just get out and go back when the rain abated? What the hell was he thinking - that in the worst case, he will be able to swim ashore with his goats on his shoulders??? One man. Had about a 100 people on their toes for 12 hours thanks to his love of his goats.  The human race, never ceases to amaze me!