The Samosa Sandwich Story

 The Samosa Sandwich Story :

Lisieux Higher Secondary School was an all boys school in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. This was quite a mouthful to expalin to the Delhi co-education school mates in Delhi in the bitter winter of 1979. 

I arrived in the cold winter and yet ill equipped to battle the Delhi Winter, its rough rude and abusive folks. I found warmth in the Hot Samosa Sandwich at The School Canteen during the Short Break.

It was basically a Hot Samosa dipped into a pumpkin tomato sauce and slipped between two  large slices of Modern or Brittania Bread. It was  heaven and blissful few minutes when the crunch of the samosa met the mush of the filling with the gooey sauce and the dry soft  white bread. The Duo Dayal and  his son Satish owned the Canteen and a staionery store in the school. They also ran a stationery store at The M Block Gk-1 Market after the School hours.They would do brisk busines by briskly and brusquely chirning out a few hundred in afew minutes of the break. For us the world could wait

The Canteen had Samosa Sandwich, four days a week and an option of a Bun Samosa two days a week, which was the oder cousin of the bread sandwich and was a tad more expensive. The Trendy beverage to go along was Campa- Cola, the Nerds had tea, they all became Doctors or went to IIT. We the Outlaws were happy with Samosa Sandwich and Campa Cola which in all cost a rupee and a half.

The Canteen was the Social hub where the who's who of South Delhi would meet and delicately nibble on the Samosa Sandwich and Stylishly Swig on the bottle of Campa Cola. Remniscing this on a rainy Day.

The Blue Bedspread

 The Blue Bedspread:

It was the Monsoon of 1982, it was early August in Delhi and it hadn't rained as yet. My brother got married amidst a lot of celebrations and it was a posh wedding. Then arrived,my sister-in-laws trousseau, we were awestruck and amazed at the  packing, neatness, quality, care and affection which went into everything. I was most awestruck by the enviable clothes my brother got apart from the formals, the casual wear was interesting (Wrangler, Levis, Nike the works) , it was a big deal, remember, it was India in the early 80s.

Amidst all the finery there was this blue bedspread, which found its way to me. It was my bedspread in the graduation years. I carried it along when I joined the Army and travelled with me for 6 years as part of my tour of duty, Madras, Pathankot, Ahmednagar, Amritsar, Sonmarg, Srilanka and Mhow. I adorned it on my bed in many rooms and brightened up the drab surroundings. It served the country along with me and was robust and received many compliments from fellow visitors.

A year of education, Post- graduation, the tour of duty over, I was back to my parents home and the bedspread was back with me.... slowly , life turned a new leaf and I was married and bed spread became one that many my wife brought and bought in. I met the fellow far and few times as there was a wide variety. Twenty years of marriage and togetherness and the bedspread made a guest appearance in the three homes we lived in, sorry a fourth home too (was our weekend home for a while). The came the daughter, and she played and grew from a toddler to nearly a teenager, meeting the bedspread.

Then Boomerang,nearly 10 years ago, I was back to my parents home and somehow the bedspread followed me. By now over the years, with hundreds of washes it had become so soft and smooth that I prefer it over any other. While I write this piece in the Monsoon of 2021, it's my Brothers and Sister-in- laws 39th Wedding anniversary that's coming up and that makes this bedspread that old with me. I understand it has American Origins and looks store bought, but what a bedspread it has brought joy to me in all situations and circumstances. Thank you Poonam and your parents for this lovely gift amongst others that came my way in my life.

The Tadka Story : United by a Pan

 The Tadka Story: The Tadka Gang 

The humble Tadka, tempering for any Dish , Dal, Curry, Tagine … is the final transformation to make a simple dish an extraordinary dish.. the Midas touch of the cook ,chef and master chef…But this story, is in the cold rainy winter night of Chakki river near the Mamun Cantt near Pathankot  at the foothills of Himalayas in Northern India.… night of flash floods, wet, damp, cold ..you couldn’t feel your toes. Tucked under a bivouac or tarpaulin we had made a cozy shelter between two Vijayant tanks…

That night I was introduced to The Tadka Gang ..grim gangly and now cheerful Gang of Four sometimes Five soldiers , buddies brothers in arms , would bring Dal from the cookhouse and one of them who was off duty .. during the evening  or lunch time would turn this humble Dal  to an exotic dish, Ghee brought from home  (village) onions tomatoes green chili etc. (picked up from afield, or a farmer, or previously bought and carried) made in a exotic Tadka..and mixed into and reheated on a hidden stove.. as cooking in the lines( living quarters )or operational areas wasn’t allowed.

The Tadka Gang usually indulged in a casual cocktail hour prior to devouring this exotic meal of tadka Dal and rotis onions and Canteen bought pickles. They chatted, reminisced about home, bitched about bosses. They were a band of brothers who bonded over tadka. They covered up for each other in peace or at war. Very close informal group which we often see in the corporate world, a bunch of guys who eat together, party together and generally hangout.This tadka gang then started tempering every dish to make it more palatable, and one would need a party ticket to join this gang or an invite.

How can a humble , modest, pan of tempering unite people from different communities and backgrounds, its an interest group. Maybe the internet needs to learn a lot more from such simple stories.

United by the Pan.