“My good old quarantine days and Italian Paneer Parantha!”
You know sometimes I feel, I was much better off during my quarantine days. No rush of going to bed in time. No rush of getting up on time. No fight for television channels. No cooking. No botheration about the menu for the day. No cleaning up, except for my own room and my bathroom. No screaming at the family for not listening to you. Though honestly I did scream a couple of times through my door and most of the time, standing at my door with my double masks on because I could hear the father and the son fight like mads over who would do what (although at the end of the day, hardly anything got done) while our dog snored away to glory. Even he has understood for so many years that humans are beyond repairs. Especially his humans.
Moving on with the list of things that I did not have to worry about while I was in my quarantine- No answering the doorbells. No haggling with my family about what they would like to eat or what they would be forced to eat. Simply because I have made it. Koi refuse to kar ke dekhe. Agale do din wohi khaane ko milega! No sabji phal grocery errands! It’s an endless list and a testimony to how much even stay-at-home moms have to do on a daily basis!
It was plain and simple confinement. A true bliss! However, the harsh fact of life is that happiness and good days do not last for long.
Son comes back from his biking and asks for breakfast. There’s no shying away from the fact and admitting it also that food and money are the only time when your children remember that their parents are very much in this world.
This is what transpired…
“I am making paneer paranthas with Italian seasonings today. Would you like to eat them?” I ask my son (I think asking kids what they’ll like to eat is the biggest mistake we Indian moms ever make. Actually it’s the biggest blunder we commit. It’s a crime we commit against us only).
“Yeh to pehlee baar sun raha hoon. Who makes paneer paranthas like that!!” Son says in a shocked tone.
“Arey, it tastes exactly like a pizza and it is done in butter. What is pizza after all? Parantha is topped with cheese! I can add mozzarella cheese also to it. It tastes yumm!!! You loved it when you were a kid.” I say.
“Mom you have made enough fool of me when I was a kid. No more now. Please just give me normal Indian paneer paranthas and thanks for describing pizzas. Italians would be very proud of you today!.” Son rolls his eyes once again.
Kabhi kabhi to Mann karta hae isko sun glasses pehna doon. Ya khud pehen ke ghar mein ghumoon. As a matter of fact, Mann to bahut kuch karne ko karta hae but I rather reserve my comments and my intentions. Nahi to Zucker Bhai naraz ho jaayenge!
“Tu biking pe jaata hae na? To kabhi kabhi biking karte karte padosiyon ke yahan breakfast ke liye nahin jaaaa sakta!! Roz aa kar mera sir khata hai! Ab to khali bhi ho gaya hai!!I scream.
Anyways, I finally make peace with myself as I always will have to do and make him his Indian paranthas. Make the Italian kinds for myself and I deliberately eat them in his room. You know why!
Aaaand dude is not able to resist. He asks me for a bite…”achaa zaraa taste to karana aapka so called Italian parantha.”
He tastes it and loves it. He goes back to watching his Netflix, pretending that he does not care. Which is when I ask him, “khaayega?”
“Haan de do. It is nice” he says in a mellow tone.
And I walk back to my kitchen with towering confidence and a grin. The ultimate feeling of a mother’s triumph. Huh huh huh!!
#hummaahain
