Visit To a woman I admire - Also checking out Sneha Pappa's cooking Skills

It was 1988 when I was introduced to this lady I am writing about, I was in Thane in Geetanjali Housing society.

My Brother-in-law Gopal , having passed out in 1976 was staying with me, wife and kids having come to Mumbai from Vadodra in search of employment. I had managed t get him a job and he was gainfully employed,

My in Laws were still in Vadodra and I was given the responsibility of finding a suitable bride for Gopal. Having had no previous experience in such matters I was at first skeptical but as is my nature I took it as a challenge,

It was during this exercise I was introduced to Saroja , the lady I mentioned earlier. She had a beautiful daughter Jyoti who was the bride to be. After the initial screening of horoscopes it was arranged that we go and meet the girl's family for a formal "Ponnu Pakkal" at Jyoti's Athai's house in Ghatkopar.

That is when I learnt about how Saroja having lost her husband early , brought up her three children (Jyoti had two brothers , Paddu elder and Kitcha, younger to her). by cooking meals and supplying Dabbas to many bachelors who were craving for homely food.

My heart went out to her and I became her admirer, It takes a lot to face serious challenges in life with strong will power and determination. Today her children are well placed In society, happily married with kids and well settled in life.

Later on life she also successfully ran several small businesses like selling sarees etc. To keep the household running. Being a determined woman not afraid of hard work she never flinched from trying anything to support and provide her children with education and sustenance.

To cut the story short to the present 2023, Gopal and Jyoti are happily married since the last three decades and the elder daughter Sneha ( I call her Sneha Pappa) an MBA is in addition to her passion of travelling and trekking she is also an expert photographer (in fact the main passion). She works as a travel guide and looks after her grandmother (who has aged and is weak) as a companion. She also enjoys cooking having learnt from her dear grandmother who was an expert, So in short we have a multi talented young lady in Sneha!!!

The younger daughter Shraddha, and engineering graduate and an accomplished Bharat Natyam dancer is employed in the USA.

The dutiful son Paddu and the daughter Jyoti decided to celebrate the 80th birthday of their beloved mother and I was invited to the function,

The whole exercise was kept as a secret surprise and invitations were sent in the last minute. Unfortunately I missed the function since i was out of station having earlier planned my other social commitments.

After my return, I decided to visit Saroja and fixed up to go and meet them on March 24th. I told Sneha that I would like to test her culinary skills and she promptly invited me and my wife for lunch cooked by her,

After paying my respects to the elderly lady and doing "Shashtanga Namaskar" to her and obtaining her blessings we sat down to the eagerly awaited lunch cooked by Sneha Pappa.

I had asked her to keep it simple with normal south Indian cooking, nothing elaborate, I am quite old by now being at he rioe age of 78 going in 79 and though I relish my eating I "Eat to Live" rather than "Live to eat".

We sat down to eat and the lunch was served, It started with a "Lady Finger" Thayir Pachhadi" and "Beans Thoran" (or "Podutthuval" as some people prefer to call it) with plenty of cooked lentils and liberal sprinkling of grated fresh coconut (My favourite).

A drumstick and White pumpkin "molagoottal" was made for mixing with the rice followed by "tomato Rasam" again my favourite, The meal was rounded of with fresh home made, thick yoghurt.

The icing on the cake was the dessert "Pal Payasam" made by Jyoti

My grading of the items on a scale of 1 to 5 are as follows:

Thayir Pachhadi 5

Rasam 5

Thoran 4

Yoghurt 5

lagoottal 4

Payasam 5

The end result is that Sneha passes with flying Colours and thus has proved that she is not a "Pappa" any more. I upgrade her to be a "Woman".

I am sharing some pictures taken to remember the Memorable occasion.