by Manasi for ‘Five things to eat before I die’. Thanks Manasi! Given a choice I would rather say – ‘Five things to eat during my lifetime’. It means the same thing, you may say. But hey! in my defence I am not the only person who has said so! At least 5 of my fellow bloggers have said they dont want to die so soon. My mothers food is the first I can think of, but I know this is a list of specific food items and amma’s food is a list in itself. So, apart from my amma’s, patti’s and now my mother-in-laws food, these are my favourites:
1. Pani poori at a lorry-stall called ‘Jai Hanuman chat bhandar’ at a bus-stop near my school in Hyderabad. I have missed buses to eat there with a good friend of mine. Those were days when we used to get 12 poories for a Rupee.
2. Masala chai at a small stall outside our college in Baroda. Our department was on the Baroda highway and apart from our gang of friends, the only other visitors the stall had were lorry drivers.
3. Elaichi Doodh at a small store (I dont remember the name) at Baroda in Fatehgunj. My best friend and I have many fond memories of our time spent chit-chatting there.
4. Mushroom quesadillas at Trudy’s in Austin, TX. Located on 30th street near the UT campus, they serve the most amazing Mexican food. I can just live on their chips and salsa.
5. Item number 5D on the lunch menu at Thai Kitchen in Austin, TX. My room-mates and I were regulars at this restaurant. It is basically fried rice with indian curry flavouring, some veggies and tofu. All four of us were vegetarians and it was funny how we all went to the table and were ready to order as soon as we sat down. The waiter would go around the table asking each one of us what we wanted, and he would get the same response 4 times – ’5D and a spring roll’.
I travelled down the memory lane while writing this up and this has brought back memories of time spent with all my friends in different phases of my life. They have moved on with their lives just as I have. I am in touch with some of them and hope that I would meet the others sometime, somewhere. I will cherish these memories forever. I wish I can eat these five things with my friends just the way we used to. I really wish I could during my lifetime.
I tag Maheswari.
