124) The Cook

Meera is an ordinary cook but an extraordinary character. I learnt it only yesterday.

First things first, Meera has me in my employ for 6 months now and she has proved handy. For a bachelor working on Internet jobs, I have little or no human company. I gotten into a habit of exchanging a few words and air my grouses with the world. As a cook, she wasn’t bad but just about sufficed.

I used to eat out of hotels before it became to take a toll on my health. I scouted in the neighbourhood and was referred to Meera when I queried the neighbourhood temple. I was looking for a “Brahmin” cook; neat and hygienic and on that score Meera fitted the bill. Once she joined then I had to go buy groceries and vegetables on a daily basis. A much needed activity from the stupour I had fallen to.

A home-made food is a million times better than a hotel one and slowly both my mood and health began to improve.

I would keep the rice and dhal in the steam cooker and she would come in like an expert and make my sambhar and curry. Once she started making chappatis on a daily basis, I knew she had more than earned her pay.

I would gossip about the issues at work, bitch about my relatives, and she would listen patiently. She appreciated my keeping the rice ready as it would help her finish cooking in less than 40 minutes. She would always refer to her son with fondness,” He had done Vedic parayanam for over a decade and at 17, he is a bright kid. He has already started earning and so affectionate at home”.

Since my grandparents too were traditional Brahmins, I related to this aspect better.
Moreover, I grew up listening to the sounds of vedic chants and not some bollywood number.

Yesterday, I was talking to her about my recent brawl at work and that I felt that it would be better off if I quit that assignment. Meera would patiently listen and that kind of listening is quite invaluable.

She got into talking as the rasam was boiling on the stove. She said,” my mother stays with us”.
This got me interested. I said,” normally parents are supposed to stay in the son’s place. Does your brother give any money for mother’s keep?”

She smiled,” No, my mother can’t stand the son’s place and so I keep her”.

It is hard to imagine the earnings of a cook. She makes Rs.1500 at my place and she works in two other places and so her monthly earnings can’t exceed Rs.5,000. Plus of course what the son and husband bring in.

I asked,” You rarely talk about your husband. What does he do? Does he earn enough?”

She demurred and said,” I have seen my husband for the last 12 years. He just borrowed a lot of money and simply vanished leaving me and my then five year old son”.

I was shocked and no one expected this to happen to such a decent and upright person.

She continued,” Sathya, normally I don’t ever mention this to outsiders. But you are a decent soul and I know that men can nasty at times. A lone woman is particularly vulnerable.

I have really suffered so much. For a decade, I was working in the house of a Brigadier like a dog. My son was put up in a residential vedic school for I had no money on schools. In addition, I had no home too”.

As she cleaned the vessels, she brightened up,” What is the use of worrying about troubles? God, I brought my son wonderfully well and I have survived the dark years. Today, I can support my mother as well. What can be more wonderful than that?”

I would always crib about her cooking but since that day I don’t. If I can summon an ounce of that fortitude then I could thrive as well.