I must say that I am grateful to be here in Goa rather than in a big city somewhere. Yesterday evening I went out for a walk (after 5 days) and it is so beautiful all around. Many of the houses had people sitting in their balconies who greeted me with a ‘Good evening’ as I walked past. No, I don’t know most of them. My legs started aching within 100 metres of my house. So I went very slowly, stopping to talk to those whom I know. One lady sat playing with her grandsons and told me solemnly that Goans are dying; they cannot live without their fish and alcohol! And she laughed heartily at the joke.
Another told me about her search for Marie biscuits which is the only thing her toddler would eat!
A third asked me to come in and we sat a good two metres apart as we discussed the happenings around us. She said that this is the first time she has seen in action the phrase, ‘people continuing in spite of the government’. Extraordinary times indeed!
What was lovely about each interaction was the way they told me to ask if I needed anything. I reassured them repeatedly that as a single person, I did not need much and had more than enough. I am fortunate to be surrounded by such people - willing to help me even though they had their own large families to look after.
Mary, next door, had given me dhal for lunch. She apologised that it was only dhal, but she thought that I might appreciate another taste. True enough! To put it mildly, cooking is not a skill I have or an art which I practise. For the last few days, I have been reading a book or watching something on YouTube to distract myself when I eat. It was a relief to eat some freshly cooked food with flavours and spices that were new to me.
I am planning to put up recipes when this is over. The first recipe is “How to boil water”. No, don’t laugh. The trick is to turn off the stove before the water has all been converted to steam. I boil water, cool it and then drink it as I don’t have a water purifier. Earlier, I just drank straight from the tap. A neighbour saw me doing it and got quite angry with me - wasn’t I educated enough to know about water borne diseases? Especially in summer?
So now I fill up the vessel with water, put it on the stove, light the stove and then set a timer on my phone for 10 minutes later. Sometimes I get distracted and forget to set the timer. A couple of hours later I wander back into the kitchen to find an empty burnt vessel. Do you see now why it is not so simple to boil water?
I don’t take the risk with milk. I stand right there and gaze at it. Even then sometimes the milk boils over and I am left cleaning up the hot mess!
In normal times I take these things in my stride, but now, I am conscious of the rapidly depleting gas cylinder and I am not sure if I can get a refill on time. Yes, I have a spare cylinder, but but but…these are uncertain times.
P.S. This post is dedicated to my friend Anu F. At her wedding reception, I asked her husband if he could cook, since she couldn’t even boil water. It has come back to bite me now.
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