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to eating with cutleries and did not enjoy (a flowy condiment preparation mixed
it. Over time we could get her out of her with rice) off a banana leaf (traditional
discomfort and convinced her to be her way of serving food in many parts of India,
natural self and eat the way she wants to. especially in the lower half of our latitudinal
Her companionship was more important to divide). Sports that they are, they try to, but
us than the accompaniments of cutleries. miserably fail in it. It’s hilarious to watch
After all, what’s food without a slurp? We them struggle to get that morsel of rice and
all do it in the confines of our homes, don’t rasam to meet their lips, palate and saliva.
we? The rice would end up being scattered all
Few like the summers due to the sun over and the rasam flowing off in rivulets to
giving us the heat treatment, but the the edge of the banana leaf and a struggle to
tropical Indian in me just loves it. Not for stop the rasam-fall crashing to their laps. A
the heat, but for the succulent mangoes typical South Indian will have no problems
that the summers harvest. India produces scooping off this flowy meld with a quick
a numerous variety of them and no one back and forth sweep of the cupped palms
can resist its juices, never mind the fears and fingers fused together to take it to their
of sweet and sugar in it. The best way to oral destination. My family is a medley of
eat mangoes is the traditional Indian way cultures and linguistics, but none of these
– soften the fruit by pressing it all around permanent guests into our culture have
and bite off the bottom edge of it and suck been able to master eating the south staple
in the pulpy fruit through that orifice. Or of a rasam sadam. No fork or knife can help
better still, peel off the skin with your teeth, you here. And eating rasam sadam with a
hold the bare fruit in your palm and bite off spoon is just not it!
chunks of the fruit, squeeze it more as your And is it any different with my non-
go along and end it with a slurpy sucking vegetarian friends and fraternity gorging
of the seed to denude it of any remaining on their meat meals. Not at all. I have seen
fruity pulp except for the hairy fibres. The their fingers hold the tangdi kebabs with a
finale to this ritual is of course the licking love and feeling that even their beloved may
of your fingers and surreptitiously licking not have seen and their 32s chew the meat
off the tiny stream of the juice that may run off with a gusto and relish that will put a
over the back of your forearm. These are carnivore to shame. Or for that matter, the
the ways most of us would eat the mango Nalli nihari where the piece de resistance
at home and relish it. I recall stopping over is sucking at the bone to relish the marrow.
at a village during one of my drives on a And lest the sea food be left out, the clams
holiday many moons ago. I had bought and crabs are devoured with both hands
some mangoes for some kids in the village and all fingers doing a waltz around
and had a shared experience of devouring to tango with the food. It had become
the fruit in this delectable way in the fashionable decades ago and continuing
company of beaming kids. Nothing could even today to take the ‘firangs’ on the
be more natural and fun than that. It has gourmand trails to eat our cuisines and
stayed etched in my mind. delicacies in our deshi way. The sheer joy
I often have fun challenging my non – of of being unshackled from their western
South Indian friends to eat rasam sadam ways of cutlery etiquette and descending to
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #62 | AUGUST 2024 23
