Kamal Maushi - a pure and a simple soul

Kamal maushi.

I don’t know why I suddenly remembered her. I wanted to cook some rice today and was bored of the usual dal bhat. I was thinking of making some type of rice that won’t have garam masala and that would involve less effort. One such rice was a simple yellow rice that Kamal maushi used to make, adding onions, green chili and potatoes. I would come running from school and demand the cooker to be opened even before it cooled down!

Kamal Maushi was my mom’s elder sister. She was a calm and demure person, who usually stayed out of crowds and chaos. She was also the only child out of my grandmothers eight kids who was unmarried. She was thin and had an average appearance that was accentuated by the fact that she stayed in plain clothes, hid herself from the family, and felt sad that she was alone in life.

As a child she helped her mom a lot in their kitchen, helping to cook a meal for 14 people at least thrice a day. She loved reading and was sharp in studies but could peruse her academics only till the 9^th standard because her specs broke one day, and her parents didn’t have money to get a new pair! Kids sacrificed a lot back then! They didn’t mind owning only a pair of clothes and didn’t mind stitching and wearing the same old ones.

After my granddad passed away and in the years that followed, somehow marriage slipped Kamal maushi and she had to stay single. She hated it – to be dependent on brothers and sisters for daily bread and butter. My uncle and others tried but couldn't find the right match for her.

Maushi and Ajji stayed with us for a few years at our Pimpri house. Although my dad didn’t talk much to them, he didn’t fight or cause problems to them either. Even then, it was natural for Maushi to feel like she was imposing her stay. She felt helpless. I rarely saw her laughing and smiling, but sometimes I caught her laughing when our family used to crack jokes on each other. She might have be missing this family feeling, but she didn't let us know.

Of all kids (my cousins), I was her special! She knew that I loved garam garam varan bhat and I loved dal served right after it first comes to a boil! 

At my cousins wedding in Mumbai, among so many guests, relatives and my cousins, she would find me and serve me the steaming rice and dal! I always thought that I was her only favorite, but later knew better, when my other cousins also narrated such incidents!

As a teenager I wasn't very sensitive to her feelings though. We didn’t know what she needed, like clothes or wanted to eat something different. I remember that she kept saying she wanted to eat kebabs and that I should ask my dad to get chicken kheema one day. She said she would make it for all of us. A simple wish! But I was too involved in my own world. I didn’t know what kheema was and wasn’t interested, so never told my dad. She couldn’t tell anyone herself. So she never had it in our house.  

Mom also said that Maushi mentioned to someone that my mom never bought a Saree for her while she stayed in our house. My Mom had her own problems taking care of 3 daughters, balancing her husband’s mind while keeping her mom and her sister at our place! No one is blame. My mom took care of them for years, provided for them and never ill spoke to them!  No matter what we do, we always feel that we could have done more. 

Later Maushi moved to my uncle’s empty house with Ajji. One day she came home to meet us and she showed me a swelling under her ear saying she has gotten it tested and the results are awaited. She wanted me to say something but I was shocked! I told her not to worry. That day she also told me that I should get married someday (In my late 20s I was dead against the idea of a marriage). She told me that marriage was very important in life. It allows you to have someone to take care of you, to rest your head on someone shoulders, to have kids who will call you mom. She said that she wanted to get married. Her elder sister’s husband had even brought a few prospects for her but somehow it didn't work out, so she had declined. She felt that now anyone would have been ok. She told me that parents do not last forever…. I didn’t know what to say. 

She was wearing a red saree the day when she was leaving. I went to the building gate to see her off. I told her to come back again the next week. She replied that she might not get to make it back again. I kept waving until she turned around the street corner. While waving I sadly thought ‘what if she really cannot make it to Pimpri the next time’!

I was in final year engineering and had just submitted my last exam paper in college, when I came to know the diagnosis on phone. She had limited time with us! I sat there and cried my heart out not knowing what to do. I didn’t want her to leave us!

We visited her a few times and I was a bit afraid to see her each time. The illness was taking its toll. I sat near her, talked to her, avoiding the illness subject. She wanted me to sit near her but I was afraid. It all feels so foolish now. She might have felt so sad knowing that I was afraid to look at her. She liked Maggi and my other maushi use to feed it to her (why not?). 

When I was leaving that day, I cried. Does a dying person know that probably she would see me the last time? From her balcony, did she watch me and my mom walking to the main gate thinking that this is the final time she can see us?

After a few weeks we got the news that she was no more. All her sisters, relatives and us cousins were devastated. Funny how you dress a person in green with all bangles and all after they are no more, while never giving them the respect a married lady gets their whole lives.

I saw her in my dreams later a couple of times and had asked her how she was. I also asked her why she was here. No answers…

A pure and a simple soul she was…   

Diversion - Breakfast and tiffin items for kids

I am pretty disturbed lately with behavior of some people around me. And there is always a post-argument thoughts whether I was right or should I have just let it go? 

So rather than sulking tonight over these thoughts, I feel that it is better to write something positive. I am not a great writer but I can pen down my thoughts, just like everybody else.

Now tonight's topic can be - breakfast n tiffin items for kids.

I am a working mom and do not have much time to make breakfast. I sleep late (reading books, or reading online books, or reading some article on phone etc.). There is also this new soap that I watch called 'Ratris Khel Chale' on Zee Marathi, but more about that later.

Ok.... working moms too want to give their kids healthy breakfast. In fact, they innovate to make it in lesser time. Arya does not crib to eat plain chapati bhaji for breakfast or lunch, but I still give him some variety. Here are a few items I make in the morning for breakfast cum tiffin.

1) Vermicelli upma or India Maggi - This is Arya's all time favorite dish, guaranteed to bring me an empty lunch box. We call this India Maggi 'cause Arya used to want Maggi from the packet but I thought, it is good to give something home made instead and healthier too. I began calling it India Maggi and he thought that it is no less than the real Maggi. I use roasted Vermicelli (get Bambino roasted vermicelli for saving your time). 
a) For every cup of uncooked Vermicelli, almost 1 cup of water is needed (probably lesser). 
b) Bring this water to a boil and add chopped carrots/french beans/capsicum in this. Go for whichever vegetable is available. Chop veggies overnight for a quicker job. 
c) Heat a wok and add oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chilies, onion and fry this, after some time add tomatoes. Let all this lose water. 
d) Now directly add the Vermicelli and some salt. Stir this for some time to coat the semolina with oil and spices. 
e) Use a perforated ladle to pick veggies from the water and add in Vermicelli. Pour water little by little in the semolina to make sure it is not soggy. (Some people boil Vermicelli first ensuring it is not soggy and then do the rest of the stuff. This is also a good method. In fact you can cook semolina overnight and just give a tadka the next day, but we do not like this way of cooking it somehow.)
Done. This dish needs about 10 min of cooking time.

2) Thalipeeth
a) I have prepared a mixed flour of all whole grains (wheat, sorghum, channa dal, moong dal, whole rice, urad dal, little coriander seeds etc.) But you can buy thalipeeth bhajni in any kirana store in Maharashtra. 
b) Before sleeping at night I knead the dough by adding some chopped onions, tomatoes, any green vegetable leaves (methi, palak etc) or coriander leaves, some salt, turmeric, chili powder. Add water and knead. Keep this overnight in fridge. Onion and tomatoes lose water so make sure that you knead using as little water as possible. It is ok if the dough seems to be breaking at places. It will look better in the morning. If you are making it immediately though, you can add more water and make the dough pliable. 
c) The next day take a old plastic bag (milk packet bag, or dal packet bags) and make a square plastic out of it. 
d) Take  a palm sized ball of the dough and pat on this plastic. Make this roti about .5 cm thick. Now lift the plastic and gently remove the thalipeeth on your other palm. 
e) Place this on a hot tava adding a little oil. Cook on both sides. This takes some time to cook. But in the morning you only need to do the patting and roasting, so it is faster. 
Serve with some tomato sauce.


Coming up someday... Green Moong dal dosa, Mixed vegetable parathas, Aloo parathas, thai vegetable rolls, fried rice, and more ;)