A friend posted a beautiful poem on Facebook which was then posted by noted poet Gulzar in Hindi. The gist of the poem was that nature is thriving without humans but humans are not. It is man who needs nature rather than the other way around. I hope that once this pandemic is over, we remember this and co-exist with nature without plundering it the way we have had till now. 2020 should always be remembered as the year when Nature reminded humans “Who’s the boss”!
I had planned the day to be spent engaged with yash. We started by cooking breakfast together. I made aloo bondas today and yash helped cook the aloo and then shaping them in the round bondas. He also made the besan batter. I have still not allowed him to fry but he was very happy having helped in cooking and showed off his skills to his dad.
I have stopped reading news. It is depressing me these days with very little good news in the papers. So I am catching up on my book reading in between planning and cooking meals. I find thinking and planning for meals more exhausting than cooking itself. Thankfully the demand for lunch was simple – Arhar dal and rice. In the cool weather and when you are feeling low, nothing beats the simple meal of dal-chawal. I made chilli ghee for add-on flavour.
Our evening was spent watching movies. We watched a family favourite “Mrs Doubtfire” and continued our Harry Potter marathon with movie number 4. As I was sitting on the couch watching telly, I had a feeling of immense gratitude for this time spent together as a family when there is no rush for early mornings the next day and no other priorities. It is a blessed, cherished time and I will forever remember it.