THE VIRTUAL DOSA
THE VIRTUAL DOSA
Sujata, my brother in law's wife, is an affable lady and a great cook. She
enjoys making good food and loves to share it with everyone around. She
does not expect even a thank you for what she gives. She loves people. And
shares her happy moments with all of us. Good food for her is just an
addendum.
My grand children, when they visit us in kerala, make it a point to spend
most of their time with her because she makes excellent dosas. She can
spread the dosa batter like a saree on the floor; as simple as that. Like
what they do in restaurants, she does not turn the dosa over. And the razor
thin dosa comes out, crisp and light brown. She has coconut chutney and
dosa podi to go with it. The children eat them by the dozens; no
exaggeration please.
Now to 'VIRTUAL', the title.
Technology goes through the roof every minute, so to say; especially in the
field of information technology. Everything that is new and trendy today is
obsolete tomorrow. And this is where I came across the word 'VIRTUAL'. The
computer scientists have invented so many virtual things; you can virtually
feel the smoothness of a saree; you can virtually smell a rose; you can
virtually touch a film beauty. A never-ending line of virtuals. At 64, it
is mind boggling to me. It amazes me as to how these scientists bend
backwards to invent 'believe it or not' wonders. Not that these are
commonplace now, but they are on their way to become as common as chapatti
and dal or rice and sambar.
Now that was virtual for my dear readers from what little I know of VIRTUAL
in scientific terms.
Back to dosa. My daughter sapna makes excellent dosas too. And she has a
dosa kallu [pan] that has a convex curve good enough to hold a litre of
water. Dosa pans are generally flat. The kind of curve that my daughter's
pan has is unusual and funny. And I picked up a quarrel with her once over
her pan. "You could do with a new pan, young lady", I said. And she glared
at me, the intensity of anger 'virtually' crushing me to smithereens. "You
know appa, this is my life line. You say I change this pan. Will you
exchange me for a younger daughter". And she flared up. Very fortunately
my wife walked in and she calmed our daughter. Attachments, affection, love
and sense of belonging are different in the eyes if different persons. My
daughter sapna froze me to a chunk of ice that day with her outburst. She
was right, anyway.
Now we go for the bull's horns.
My wife and I went to her place last month in vizagapatnam. Her children
have grown up. They have school from 8am. Her husband goes to his office at
9. She herself goes to school at 8.30. That was the time I saw her
elegantly completing her pack lunch job her children, her husband's
breakfast and her own pack lunch. Dosa reigns supreme in her menu even
today. She takes a few dosas. Her children eat a few and carry to school a
few. Her husband sits down to enjoy a few dark brown dosas. Dosa
everywhere.
And I experienced a strange phenomenon. She still owned that dosa kallu
over which we quarreled many years back. With regular use it was shining
inside, the gleam of metal showing affection to my daughter. There was a
certain amount of grandeur about that piece of metal She, I believe, even
talks to that dosa pan.
She was making dosas. She half filled the ladle with dosa batter and
spread it right round the pan, a bit more than a foot in diameter. She
spread the batter fine and even. When she finished it the batter was well
spread and it gave a hissing noise. And she emptied only one half of what
she took. Goodness me, can this happen. I have heard of virtual smell,
virtual touch and virtual feel. But can there be a virtual dosa; a dosa
without batter. My daughter proved it possible. One. Two. Three. She went
on and on and on. Everyone had his stomachful. They also packed their
Tiffin box with dosas. When she left the kitchen I quietly opened the
container to see what was left in the container. It was half full when she
started it, ALMOST half full when she left.
Today I say sujata makes excellent dosas; but she needs batter. My daughter
sapna can make equally good dosas even without batter.
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