Serenity

A month after my marriage, I went out on a trip to Mahabaleshwar with my husband and his friends. He had friends from all four corners of our country. And hence, we planned to prepare the dishes that were the specialty of our native state. We reached Mahabaleshwar by 11 a.m. It was cloudy but luckily there was no rain. Soon everyone got busy clicking pictures of the scenic place. It was fun climbing up the hills except for Anmol who started panting after a while. When it was lunch –time, we sat in a circle with our delicacies kept as a surprise.

“Let’s start from the North.” Anmol said, “Guptas, open your package please.”

“We have Daal makhani, Paneer- masala, Paranthas, curd and mango- pickle.” Darpan said.

“Now, let's turn to the west.” Disha announced, “here are the dishes - Pulao, Daal and Poori along with Dhokla and Pathra.”

“Awesome.” Ankita clapped happily.

“Let’s move on to the South.” Prateek pointed towards us.

“We have rice, Sambhar, Aviyal, Rasam and also Kheer.” Everyone cheered as my husband laid the dishes one by one.

“Great, let’s complete the circle with the East,” said Anmol.

“Ladies and gentlemen, get your taste buds ready to have a delicious combination of rice with fish – curry, and Paturi. In desserts, we have Rossogolla and Shondesh.” Malavika Basu proudly presented her dishes.

“Very well ladies, let’s begin the feast.” Anmol was impatient.

 We exchanged the cuisines and enjoyed a hearty – meal. Delicious dishes from various regions of the country reminded me of the fact that binds our nation as one - ‘Unity among Diversity.’

 After the lavish lunch, we took out our mats and lay down to take a nap. The gentle breeze patting on my face made me think how much peace and serenity will be there in our country if we all could forget about the differences of caste, creed, religion and region and live together as one big, happy family.