Imperfect Mumma

Shreya is hurriedly packing up her children's lunch bag. Dot on time .

Shreya has a set routine .She has been getting up at the same time for years now. Whether it's any day of the week or a no-school day -nothing deters Shreya from responding to her 5'O' clock morning alarm. She feels like an achiever to be able to get up routinely at the same time and cook , prepare for the rest of the day in the silence of the morning. Singing , thinking ,planning for her work at office -morning was the most productive time for her.

She has packed everyone's lunch and heads to her children's room -well gearing up for the tirade of questions . She gently wakes the children up and ,zoom-comes the 1st question-"What's there for short break?" , "What's for Lunch?". " Whatever is it , you finish it ?", replies Shreya with a naughty smile. She knows that her children do not enjoy her food at all, neither is she a fan of her cooking. She manages a palatable food , which can score a B+ grade at best in taste ; and does slip to a C -effortlessly on a few occasions. The only parameter where no body could fault her was nutrition & meal times. Once when her daughter suffered a fracture and had to undergo a surgery on her foot , she was instructed by the dietician to follow a food -chart. Shreya's daughter had looked at it and said gleefully to the dietician," Aunty, this is regular with us. My mom serves us diet food through out the year. Don't worry she will come out with flying colours ". 

Few days later Shreya's daughters had a fireless cooking competition and the girls found out the recipe themselves , and Shreya supplied all the ingredients scouring the local markets and the big stores. The girls had the supplies ready, they had their mumma teach them how to carry each ingredient to school and in which order to add the ingredients. The recipe was handled totally by her confident girls because they knew that their mom was not an expert in kitchen -so they went through the recipe in detail.

The competition in school was great fun. With all the students excited about tasting exotic dishes delivered from myriad kitchens .But lo! Who won the prize -Shreya's daughters as they were able to narrate the history of the dish , the cultural background and the nutritional value of the dish- idea suggested by their mom -apart from making a finger licking dish.

When the daughters were asked during the prize distributing ceremony as to who would they credit for winning the competition- they said, " Of course ,our mom the -the IMPERFECT one !!