The Unforgettable Khichdi

During the lockdown, it was a challenge for everyone, especially for the homemakers, to keep the homefolks happy and satisfied physically, emotionally and gastronomically with limited available resources. How creatively you can spread out a meal using the same ingredients over and over again. At times, you have to push yourself to venture into new culinary areas. It’s often a win-win situation.

One fine day I just went for the humble Khichdi. But, instead of the regular dal and veggies Khichdi, I decided to cook green moong Khichdi. I had been thinking to cook it for almost a decade. Not that I cannot cook it, I had just been procrastinating without any particular reason. I realised that it has been a decade of procrastination!

After the Khichdi was prepared, the look and smell of the food took me back to that unforgettable night and why I wanted to try green moong Khichdi in the first place.

My son was then four years old. My hubby was attending a training in Mumbai. I and my son were staying in Chennai. We both decided to join him on a long weekend with a holiday on Monday. We planned to go to Lonavala and Khandala- a popular tourist destination and hill station nearby. Hindi movie song, “Aati kya Khandala,” has made the place even more popular. It’s a small beautiful place with a greenery around. It probably cannot be compared with other hill stations of western ghats in south India. We wanted to give it a try, nevertheless. After two hours of train journey, the small bustling town of Lonavala welcomed us. The place is also famous for chikkis.

We checked into the holiday home. It had 3-4 cosy guest rooms and a small kitchen. There was a caretaker who cleaned the rooms and bought grocery if a guest wanted to cook. I made breakfast and we had lunch at an eatery nearby before going for local sight-seeing. After returning, we had dinner early. We liked the food- chapatti with some veg curry. A small Gujarati family was running that eatery in one portion of the house. Limited menu, but the food was tasty and healthy, I believed. The place was mostly crowded for lunch. The menu changed each day of the week. We ate our two dinners there. But, we were in for a shock on the third evening. 

We went for an evening show movie as it was raining. The movie at the small theatre was enjoyable. The movie was over by 8:45 pm. We went to our regular eatery near our holiday home. 

That evening we took an auto and reached there by 9:05 pm. The lights outside were turned off. We hesitated for a moment. As lights inside were on, we walked in. A boy who was a helper there, came out and informed us that they were closed for the day. We stood there and took a moment to think what to do at that time. The auto that dropped us had already gone and finding another auto wouldn’t be easy. The other eatery was about half a mile away and we were hungry. The owner of the eatery, clad in Gujarati robe- Dhoti, a small kurta with a choti on the top of his head, came out and switched the lights on.

“Arrey sir, you are a bit late. But, don’t worry, we will not send you back hungry. We may not be able to serve from the menu. You are our guest and we can offer you the green moong khichdi prepared for our family dinner. You have come here with a kid. Please be seated and have green moong khichdi.” Then he asked the helper to serve us. We sat at the table washing our hands. The boy served us the green moong khichdi with pickle. That simple food tasted divine that night. He reluctantly accepted only one rupee for the food. We thanked him and left. He had a hearty smile on his face and my eyes were filled with gratitude tear.

Years have since passed, but I have never forgotten the incident that touched the core of my soul. The generosity of that man, the philosophy and spirituality behind his action had left an indelible imprint in my memory. I don’t know whether balance the food was enough for his family. May be, they had to cook again. The philosophy of feeding the hungry guests is among the biggest lessons I have learnt. The incident still stirs me and fills me with gratitude. I always try to replicate it in my own way by offering food to the hungry maid, driver and tired neighbours.