There are many good things of having an active imagination. The most important of them is that space and time cannot contain you. You can mentally float away anywhere and during any time. I don't know if this is my genes or a result of gorging books, maybe a combination of both, but I like to dream of different places and imagine how life would be if I stayed there.
When it rains, Bengalis, irrespective of their current geological location, start craving khichuri and ilish machh. As a Seattlelite, I should by now be placidly indifferent to the rains but as we had a really hot and dry spell for the last couple of weeks waking up to dark cloudy skies and heavy rain (not that irritating Seattle drizzle) actually made me feel very good this morning. The good thing was that I was to work from home today so I had enough time to space my work out and to cook khichuri during lunch. The ilish I had to do after logging off from work though, as it is quite a delicate dish and that I had to clean the fish.
Rainy season in Bengal is beautiful. Dark gray clouds cover the sky and they look especially awe inspiring over the rivers. Accompanied by thunderstorms heavy rain lashes down, coconut trees bow down and stand up, the wind howls through bamboo bushes. Farmers anticipate a good crop and fishermen bring us our favorite silver colored ilish, the heavenly fish.
Monsoon in Calcutta reminds me of a bunch of things, some of them may not be nice, like waterlogged streets, pot holes, mosquitos bearing malaria... but looking back I don't think of them as bad things. Well the malaria part is not funny, but with mosquitos, Calcuttans have a love-hate relationship. We also haves jokes about them :) Anyway, we used to get khichuri and ilish and also a very famous kind of mango during this season. That is the monsoon I personally know of. Those waterlogged streets are much closer to me than the rain over rice fields.
However, as I love my roots and I always feel a connection to Bengal through books, poems, songs and of course food, I want to keep on cooking the traditional food as much as I can. Today I made ilish with mustard paste and coconut milk. It turned out very well.... now I am dreaming of the torrential rains while listening to rainy days Rabindrasangeet :)
When it rains, Bengalis, irrespective of their current geological location, start craving khichuri and ilish machh. As a Seattlelite, I should by now be placidly indifferent to the rains but as we had a really hot and dry spell for the last couple of weeks waking up to dark cloudy skies and heavy rain (not that irritating Seattle drizzle) actually made me feel very good this morning. The good thing was that I was to work from home today so I had enough time to space my work out and to cook khichuri during lunch. The ilish I had to do after logging off from work though, as it is quite a delicate dish and that I had to clean the fish.
Rainy season in Bengal is beautiful. Dark gray clouds cover the sky and they look especially awe inspiring over the rivers. Accompanied by thunderstorms heavy rain lashes down, coconut trees bow down and stand up, the wind howls through bamboo bushes. Farmers anticipate a good crop and fishermen bring us our favorite silver colored ilish, the heavenly fish.
Monsoon in Calcutta reminds me of a bunch of things, some of them may not be nice, like waterlogged streets, pot holes, mosquitos bearing malaria... but looking back I don't think of them as bad things. Well the malaria part is not funny, but with mosquitos, Calcuttans have a love-hate relationship. We also haves jokes about them :) Anyway, we used to get khichuri and ilish and also a very famous kind of mango during this season. That is the monsoon I personally know of. Those waterlogged streets are much closer to me than the rain over rice fields.
However, as I love my roots and I always feel a connection to Bengal through books, poems, songs and of course food, I want to keep on cooking the traditional food as much as I can. Today I made ilish with mustard paste and coconut milk. It turned out very well.... now I am dreaming of the torrential rains while listening to rainy days Rabindrasangeet :)
1 comment:
amar baba borshar theke shitkaal onek bhalo lage - bristi te na jae kapor shukono na jae barir baire jaoa - koto aar gaan shunbo? ha,khaoa daoar byaparta oboshyo bhalo. now you can enjoy best of both worlds - chalie jao
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