Sunday Dinners are mostly very light. But that wasn’t true that evening. My wife had already bought some chicken and it was in the freezer. Unexpected of me, that evening I had this urge to eat homemade chicken curry. My request was granted and my wife got down to business. My elder daughter’s and my only requests were ” Please make it less spicy“. Her culinary skills are well known and so it was not much work for me and my daughters. At least that is how we stay away from the kitchen unless we are pressed into service. I didn’t have to check whether she was in the kitchen. The noise from the Chimney was just the sound we needed to ensure that we will be treated well that night. If the chimney is on everyone is speechless. There is nothing my wife can hear if we speak from the dining table which is hardly 10 meters away. In a way, I used to wonder that is her solitude moment in the middle of Bells, whistles, and hot air. I used to wonder why they have made it with so much sound and fury. I remembered Shakespeare’s words “Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Good food, Good people, Good times…
Time flew as we were all in our respective rooms and she never had to call us to the table. The aroma drew me to the kitchen. Dressed in her green apron my wife asked me to taste and tell her if all the ingredients are in the right proportion. My mother in my memory would never ask me to check when I was young as she knew I will start eating from that moment. That little quick tasting opportunity was enough to get the energy to set the table as soon as possible. I called my daughters and in no time we were in the middle of our dinner. We were chatting and discussing and slowly I noticed that the prime dish was placed far away from me and close to my daughters. Like a well-behaved father, I decided to jump and get one more piece from the curry. In vain I left it as we were in the middle of some good conversation. It also reminded me of the dinner talks I used to have with my mother.
As we were enjoying the curry, my younger daughter said, ” This curry is very nice ” to me. I smiled and told her to say that to her mother. She did it instantly. My daughters were still enjoying the food. I had washed my hands as I found the conversation between my wife and elder daughter very engaging. Meanwhile, I decided to attend some leftover reading on the balcony. As I was reading my wife came down to the balcony and showed me the empty vessel which had the chicken curry. She said, ” I get fulfillment by seeing this, it’s beyond praise”. This is something I have noticed with my mother as well. I tend to agree that people who cook food get their utmost appreciation if we are finishing the food without wasting. That was a RICH moment. I enjoyed this quote, ” Growing up, I learned life’s important lessons at the Dinner table“. So that was Sunday Dinner evening where I discovered a new taste in my wife’s cooking. My discovery was as they say, ” Good food, Good people, Good times” and there is a place for that discovery in these Covid times.
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