Culinary trends at home
When I think of food at home, I remember my grandmother’s fiery curries and my aunt’s cooking. Those flavours became part of family itself, and stayed with me especially during my years away at boarding school.
When I think of food at home, I remember my grandmother’s fiery curries and my aunt’s cooking. Those flavours became part of family itself, and stayed with me especially during my years away at boarding school.
I remember Samyel first as the formidable school watchman who rang the bell, guarded the grounds and frightened us with his cane. Looking back, I see a far more complex man behind the figure we feared as children.
I look back on the teachers who shaped me—not only through what they taught, but through encouragement, discipline, personality and the confidence they gave me at different stages of my life.
An examination-day assignment unexpectedly takes me back to my own school years—to examinations, anxieties, teachers and the people whose presence quietly shaped those years.
I once thought of Sankranthi mainly through Bhogi fires, sweets and my mother’s enthusiasm. After my parents were gone, returning to my father’s village made the festival feel more deeply connected to family, ancestry and belonging.
I remember how a meal from home, or an occasional Andhra lunch in Madras, could suddenly reconnect me to my roots. Perhaps food tasted different because affection was as important as flavour.
I still remember my first hostel dinner in Chennai, the unfamiliar food and the homesickness that came with it. In time, those same Tamil dishes and small street treats became part of my growing-up years.
I remember Mona Madam as a cheerful, generous teacher who loved children instinctively. To me, she was never merely a teacher; she showed how naturally learning and affection could belong together.
Deepika’s Mother was not keeping well. Deepika had been asking her mother to see a Doctor. It was the same today. “Mummy, please go to the Doctor. You are not well”. “No Deepika, I will be fine. It is just a headache. You get ready for college. Pack something for your evening. You have your…
“The rains are here at last “ said Grandmother. ‘Yes the weather forecast yesterday said there would be heavy rain for a few days’ I said setting aside all my books to look at the rain drops falling on the garden roses. It had been a very hot summer. We knew it very well. Our…