Mothers are expert in various things in their own way and they teach a lot, patiently. I have also had my tryst with her teachings since childhood out of which there are a few which I remember very vividly. So let me take you through a tour of all those small things which she has tried to teach me, its been upto me that how much I have learned..
Teacher
Go back to my schooling days in 1992 in class 2nd. Apart from the fact that she taught me all about writing and all initially, the most memorable achievement came for me when I learned to tie shoelaces. I was dressed from home and the only thing which I used to dread then was the untying of shoelaces as I didn’t knew how to tie them back. It had come to numerous occasions when we all were asked to take off shoes for some rehearsal of some sort. After that got over, it was a pain to get it all back as the knot looked alien to me, how did it take the shape that it did when it started with two straight laces??
I did take the help of my teacher a few times and sometimes even my fast friends but I knew that this help train would not go much further for a long time so one day just out of the blue while she was cutting vegetable, I got down with my shoes and asked me to tell to tie laces. Initially she tried to talk me out of it but when I told her of the problem I faced she got down to teach me. Out of the 2 ways of one flower and the string method and the two flower way, she taught me the two flower method due to its relative ease ( where you make a flower each of the lace and then knot them together), although I had a bit of hard time learning and remembering the way the loop formed. So this was when I learned to tie shoelaces and atleast start my journey towards being a bit self confident. Although this method lasted just 7 days as I insisted her to teach me the faster other way to save time. Then just one that day I tried my hand at polishing my shoes (although while opening the polish box , the golden foil of the box did cut my little finger which had me scared for few days but atleast I knew 2 basic things about shoes- laces and polish).
Credit to this should also go to my school as in the same class , we used to have to a SUPW period which had stiching as the only work. So every student had a personal box deposited with the class teacher which had all necessary things for stiching – needles, scissors, coloured reels etc and a pink coloured cloth (matte). We were small students who would go very slow in our work so it was my favourite period in the whole week, I could get lost with needles and reels, those were the best 30 minutes for me. Later on mummy taught me how to put a new thread through the very small needle hole and put a knot at the end. In various schools over the years, I finished up with a total of 5 lady purses through my this stiching hobby, not to mention sewing buttons on my clothes at home. A favourite pastime for me has been spinning the handle of the sewing machine for majority of the years that I can remember. Whenever she used to sit with the sewing machine, I used to come up with , “ हैंडल मैं चलाऊंगा ” .
One thing which has remained unfulfilled is this. Ever since Anchor came up with their quick stitch kits, I have always wanted to create one (did see my cousin create numerous ones). So from the crowded lanes of Aminabad in lucknow to the posh mall outlets of landmark and the likes I have always searched for that one kit which I could make on my own. Sometimes baffled at my insistence even at this age my mother remarks, “
भगवान ने लड़की बनाते बनाते लड़का बना दिया तुझे. सारी हरकतें वही हैं”. What she might say but the little needlework I know is because of her.
She had to take up this role damn seriously and on a war footing otherwise according to her I would have had a major disaster. I love green, mean like really love green and if I had my way I would have had everything in that colour. She took charge in my clothing and started contrasting my colour patterns which were not green. So in came the softer colours like pink, orange and the like. The stronger colours like red and blue used to be eye sore for me. I did not like them too much. Her years of effort of putting me into other colours has meant that I am more into softer colours now ( although I find excuses to include green in any which way). At any day you can find me experimenting with pink, orange, green, light purple etc. in contrasts with each other. These work best with green.. Had it been left to me I would have still stuck on only green and would have never known the magic of the other colours.
Well she has tried this expertise quite well to some extent. Just some. Like Lord Rama got Ayodhya exile for 14 years, I am currently serving Kitchen exile for lifetime. Will tell you how. Her cooking ways helped me manage myself in cookery classes in school ( I wanted to learn about food). Quite contrary to my thinking the 1st time I stepped into a cookery hobby class in class 7th in school, boys outshone girls atleast that time. 95 % of us were boys. Whatever we used to learn in class I used to try that at home. Those 5 dishes that I learned have been permanently etched in my memory now. Gradually my mother taught me to try small things like making tea, omelette and few more other things ( basic to my survival in case there is no one at home).
When she tried to graduate me to full meal preparation I started my own experiments with spices and flavours in my food revolving around 3 things in general- lemon, chaat masala and काला नमक (rock salt). She was aghast to say the least while I enjoy the tangy taste. My so called experiments have put me into permanent kitchen exile while she is working. Her often said remark, “ तेरी पत्नी आ कर अपनी किस्मत को रोएगी जब यह सब देखेगी “. Only god knows that she would cry or help me teach me to prepare food- it’s a wait and watch.
As of this juncture, my current culinary skills are all because of my mother.
She has been my first expert in all these skills that I have.
This is written as a part of the Mother`s day contest by Godrej Expert Rich Crème . Visit this link to know more about them http://godrejexpert.com/single_used_pack.php
