“Are you going to make pakodas now?” asked my ecstatic mom in law( Mil), when she found me with besan and water trying to make a paste. Time was 1:00 pm; my dad in law (Dil) just had his lunch. Me and my Mil normally have our lunch around 1:30 every day. That day it was no exception, only my mind tricked me into applying besan mask instead of regular soap. So while my in laws were busy watching Bengali soaps (mostly repetition), i took the opportunity and was setting my besan mask in the kitchen. But as they say, nothing evades Mil, where ever, whatever, whenever u try to do things without her knowing or with your own will, she will catch u instantly and ask thousand questions before she is fully satisfied that nothing is happening to make her look unimportant/insignificant, or out of her sphere of familiarity, till then; u r hanged. Anyway, my Mil sensed something is happening in the kitchen and that too without her awareness; she ditched her Bengali soaps to enquire why I am still in the kitchen and not taking bath. As she entered, a shivering effect rattled my spine; I didn’t know what to answer her. It’s not that I am scared of her; it’s more of like ‘space getting invaded again’ feel.
Nevertheless, she asked me “are you going to make pakodas?” Mil simply loves to eat, anything u name it. She has no hang-ups if the food is Chinese, Italian, Mexican, or Portuguese, unless it is food. That’s the best part of her. Her eyes twinkled by the utter mention of pakodas, just like a kid who gets both surprised and elated to have her favourite Barbie doll on her B day.
Then a flashback: a mother less 14 years old girl was married off , she looked back with tears walking away with her newly wed husband , towards an unfamiliar life awaiting for her. No one is going to pamper her, no one is going to attend her childlike needs, like making pakodas . A heavy life at 14.
I threw a smile, and said, “Yes, I am going to make pakodas only for you and me.”
She happily smiled at me, and whispered, “Yessss, so let me get you some chopped onions and u can fry it, but make sure u put lots of oils for deep frying, it needs to be crispy too.”
I indeed end up doing both. Onion Pakodas for lunch and also besan mask for me and also for my kiddo Mil.
The best part: when my Dil saw my Mil with besan mask on her face … ha ha ha !!!
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