Aaloo Paratha aur Maa....

September 201X ,

Indore...the city of food where two kinds of people live. One who get up early in morning only to taste Poha and Jalebi and then there are other kind of people who go for a long jogging just to have a different taste of Poha. Sometimes I wonder if ever we had to direct somebody in Indore we would simply says that "Arey bhiya us pohe waale k paas mein or simply near to some famous food outlet". So this is Indore and everyone here feels proud to be associated with this different world. 

Getting early in morning was not less than climbing the Everest for me but early morning trip to Pool by Dad made my right eye open a bit. I sat there on bed and thought about the two options either to enjoy in pool with Dad or give some rest to my eye which took a deep pain in opening up early morning. Well I happily choose the second option and got back to my two best friends (my bed and pillow). They were looking like an innocent baby and all I could hear was their voice calling me back to them for 15 more minutes. Ye 15 min ki power nap bhi badi kamaal ki hoti hoti..but this power nap was broken by my mom saying "Ab uth bhi jaa..kitna sota hai...tere liye parathe banaye hai". My mom comes form the Punjabi family where her best friends are Paratha and Butter. Finally Mom came and wished me on Birthday by saying "Aaj Aloo Paratha Paneer k saath banaya hai...You would surely love it". My one face could have made different faces by hearing this...for a moment all different whatsapp smileys traveled from my right brain to left...yaar Aloo Paratha wid Panner..finally I was left with the sadest of smily. I thought today Mom would welcome my morning with some Chocolate Pastry or some Pineapple cake  but kaun apne birthday par Aalo paratha wid Paneer :-( :-( Seeing my sad face on breakfast she finally asked : 

"Kya hua? Paratha pasand nahi aaya..?" I wish I could tell her a big Noooooooo atleast not today Maa...but I kept silent.

Then she asked again "Aur butter ya cheese chahiye??"  I wanted to raise my head and show her my two big eyes which were sparkling with cake and chocolate but I used my weapon of silence.

"Huh"..she said in typical Punaabi way, "Pata nahi tum baccho ko kya pasand aata hai. Agar pasta ya pizza khila do toh din bhar thank you Maa..love u Maa bolte rahenge..!!"

Finally I broke my iceberg of silence,"Mummy yaar today is my birthday. At least today I never wanted to have this...Apko kuch Culinary sense hai ya nai?"

She raised her left eyebrow to ask "Kaunsa sense..??"

I immediately realized my sin to say this but all Moms have a God gift to hide their anger inside and convert it to smile. I thought I have won half battle and showed her that Paratha by saying "This round globe belongs to planet of oil and butter..it feels as if oil pipeline bypass our place". But I forget that this smile is most painful for them. She keep silent after this and only I could see some wetness in her eye. I realized I committed another sin by making a woman go in Silent Mode.

After this incident I went to have another power nap but this power nap always play Hide n Seek with me. I never understood the logic that how this 15 min of sleep gets converted into 4 hrs of sleep. But in this course of time my mom was out of home whole day. I checked everywhere for my mom but couldn't find her. I called up Dad to ask about her and he replied "What happened to mom...again you did something??" I was again reminded of those two sins which I did today. I preferred to end up the call. That day I realized one more thing about mom that for whom is she doing all the hard work in life..just to get one praise from her son. What wrong would have happened if for once I would have smiled at her for that Paratha. But No I had to complain her for her hard work. The feeling of guilt in mind was felt more in stomach. I rushed down to kitchen to feed my not so tiny stomach and saw that same Aloo paratha who acted as a villain in my happy day but still I was surrounded with guilt feeling. After having a bite I closed my eyes and felt a tear rolling down my eye...that was pure love given to me my Maa. I badly wanted to see her,hug her and tell her that "You are the most amazing cook Maa, bus itna hi toh woh sunna chahti thi. And what I did to her? I never realized what pain she takes everyday from morning tea to late night dinner...from washing clothes to dusting..she does everything perfect just because she is mom and just this is her identity.Yes she can be mom..mummy...Suveer aunty...Mrs.Suveer...but she can never be Seema again. And still she would smile without complaining, she would work everyday and cook her best dish just to hear one thing,"Mummy apne bahut accha khana banaya." This sweet tareef would end her tiredness for at least one more week. I sometimes feel one scientific research could be done to know the secret of every moms' energy. 

Pondering into some deep pond of thoughts for whole day it was almost 9 at night and I finally heard a door bell. I rushed from my room towards stairs. Escaping almost last 3 stairs I ran towards door to hug my mom. But the moment I opened up my arms there I found my dad standing. He stared at me as if he knew everything. Before he could ask or say anything I decided to have a Bi Escape. I rushed back to my room with double the speed I came. After some time I heard two voices coming from the kitchen. Yes it was my mom and she was back. I wanted to jump there and show her my happiness but I took a deep sigh of relief.My heart beat stepped down from running horse and came to its normal pace.My ears never felt so pleasing to hear that second voice as they were feeling now. I was there lying on sofa and saw my dad coming from kitchen. Another voice came from the kitchen asking me, "Surprise k liye ready ho beta?"

That time no surprise or gift nor any cake would please my eyes than just one look of my mom. I smiled with my eyes and said loudly "Haan Maa...I am ready". Before my empty brain could signal anything I saw my mom coming towards me. My eyes almost popped out seeing her. My mouth was wide open when I saw her wearing that white hat of a chef with an apren. She walked like a princess with one round magical dish and said,"Presenting very delicious Pasta Italiano....Mr.Aman are you ready for it?". Saying this she kept the plate on the table near me. I almost got frozen and went speechless by this act of love. My Punjabi mom trying to speak Italian.My eyes went from that table to mom. Thousands of words were battling in mind that time but I could not say anything. She smiled at me and saying that whole day she went to cooking class just to surprise me. All things kept running in mind which I said earlier that day and made me feel more guilty. I stood there frozen and silent. Never gave a thought that moms who have a heart of gold even they could feel bad. She finally understood my silent emotions and broke the silence in her Punjabi way by showing her bright smile. She folded her arms and kept one arm near chin and asked "Dekha.... ban gayi na teri Mummy bhi smart??"

I finally managed to hug my mom with my wet eyes and resting my head on her shoulder said "Maa....you don't have to do anything to be smart. Nobody could ever beat your cooking. I just love the way you are.And this pasta..it actually looks really good and tasty but Maa.....kya mujhe phir se waisa hi Aloo Paratha mil sakta hai.....??"