‘All that we have, is all a gift’

K is home for a couple of weeks; his semester holidays. Typical of his age, K is conscious about his looks and concerned about the broadening hips. He goes to his old gym and pumps iron every evening and comes back home ravenously hungry. Dinner is yet to be decided; P is at some meeting and I – well – I am surfing! Usually P would be tired to cook dinner- and I don’t do the mundane items, see. Only the special dishes.

So what is it to be? Dosas with the dough leftover from the morning? I inspect the ‘fridge. Morning chutney is not enough. K says- ‘Acha, lets buy Onion Oothapams and Ghee Roasts from Laxmi Narayana. Amma would be too exhausted anyway.’ ‘Call her, will you, its getting late’, I ask him. Then K said, ‘Ha! Speaking of the Devil!’ And there she was, at the door pushing Sancho aside.

The Dinner issue came up soon. I supported K; I wanted to smoke a cigarette badly. I am always on the lookout for such excuses to go out of the house. Just as she was about to give in, P said ‘NO! We will make Dosas.’ ‘What is this Amma, I am sooo hungry, by the time Dosas are ready, I would’ve died from hunger!’ P looked solemn - and I told myself - oh yeah, here it comes.

‘Today in college, we were making out list of students for scholarships. You know something, there are so many students whose monthly average family income is less than 2000 rupees. Students who have scored above 80% marks. Rakesh, my M.Sc student, goes to his brother’s flower shop after classes and helps him make garlands. During the Sabarimala season, he can’t afford to come to college, because that’s the time they can make some real money. There are girls who work as part-time maids, do you know that, K? And here we are, spending a few hundreds with no qualms, for a measly dinner’.

K and I exchange glances. He says- ‘ OK, fine, if not eating Onion Oothappams tonight will help the students, so be it’. I resign myself to a smoke-less night.

As I prepare to make fresh chutney I gently tell P – ‘Feeling guilty isn’t going to help anyone. We might be splurging on a 150 rupees dinner, but there are surely people spending several thousands for a dinner. We cannot do much about the misery and sorrow of the world; we can only help them in whatever way we can. You have to accept that. We can be grateful and humble for whatever riches or happiness we have and never be conceited about it. We can remind ourselves not to be wasteful. But we cannot deny happiness to ourselves just because of the unfortunate millions. There is no point in feeling guilty of whatever transient fortune that we may have now’. K agrees.

The gingelly oil-roasted Dosas and my coconut chutney with tomato, green chilli, coriander leaves, garlic, ginger and shallots exude a divine aroma. We eat sitting close to each other. Sancho pushes in among our legs and takes a quick nap resting his head on P’s feet.

Bless us Oh Lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive through thy bounty through Christ Our Lord, Amen!

Perhaps there is nothing more graceful of humanity than to express its gratitude for the bounties of nature. Let us partake of this life with all humility and happiness.

********* Balachandran V, Trivandrum 28.10.2010

See: http://psalm121.ca/praymeals.html

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