Roznamcha -Karguzari: This and that of the day

There is a large park which faces our building’s courtyard and verandah. Over the verandah on first floor there are balconies from another building and over our house. One of these balconies belongs to a couple who, each and every single day bring all of their quilts, bed sheets, blankets, pillows and durries outside to shake them out and then hang them to air.

Mom shelling peas in our balcony....getting soil/dust of the neighbor's shaked furnishings

The other day I looked up when my mom was shelling peas in our courtyard, saw this happening as usual, and thought to myself, people are weird. Also: what could they possibly be doing there to get so dirty so often?

That day I looked up from what I was doing, saw this happening as usual, and thought to myself, people are weird. Also: what could they possibly be doing in there to get so dirty so often?

Breakfast.Dalia /Porridge, I have it most days.

Naturally, I’m having this thought as I’m standing on my island kitchen taking a picture of a daliya/porridge. I know, right? People are weird.

Kasturbaa

NO they are obsessed with cleanliness. Once I was too developed an addictive fascination with tidying! “Mania for cleanliness”. It was developed after reading Kasturbaa’s cleaninliness habits. "I used to scrub, clean, polish, rinse, vacuum, shine, dust, and scrape! Then I start all over again. My whole life revolves around keeping our house clean. Those days my soap, surf bill was greatly increased. "

Now-a-days I'm not a weirdo who wears white gloves everywhere... I just hate seeing a dirty tub or toilet, won't use a public restroom, dont like dirty dishes in my sink and do laundry everyday. My idea of a clean house isn't just tidiness, it's clean walls, dusted corners, washed curtains, clean sheets, no litter under beds, etc. My biggest peeves are dirty bathrooms (water + germs + human waste= gross). I also throw out clothes that have stains and dont want my children (or myself or mom) to wear anything that looks previously soiled or tattered.

Are people weird.

You know what else people are up to? Shelling peas. Shelling. Peas. Why? Because Shelling peas gives you the most ridiculously bonkers green pulav you’ll ever have. And I’ll tell you, I was pretty upset the first time I made this pulav with Sheled ( not tinned) peas. Not because I had spent 15 minutes of my life peeling pods of peas, but because the pulav was So. Dang. Good. I knew I had sentenced myself to a lifetime of Shelling peas. Uh.

But! pea Shelling is fairly meditative work, and as I was midway though peeling a batch, cursing myself for even trying the technique in the first place, I remembered something that changed everything. Folks: SHELLED PEAS!!! Shelled peas are green pea grains. PEAS that are ALREADY SHELLED. You might be able to find a bag/tin of peas at your regular grocery store, but if not, a rehri walla/vendor (this is where I found mine) is a safe bet. Go get yourself a bag, cook ‘em up, make the craziest, green pulav you’ve ever had in your life, and roll your eyes at all the pea shelling weirdos in the world. But then be nice and let them know there’s an easier way. SHELLED PEAS for the win!

When I was growing up in my nanu’s house(only during vacations) , I knew spring had finally arrived when my nani started tossing young, freshly shelled peas just in rice fresh mint and a generous knob of butter. I loved the pure, sweet flavor of those peas in rice and their amazing tenderness, with just a hint of crunch. They were available for only a few short weeks, so we ate them almost every day until we could no longer find them at the store.

Fast-forward a couple of decades. Not much has changed now that I’m a mom. In May, when mounds of green pea pods begin to appear in local markets, I buy pounds of them several times a week so I don’t miss out on this rare spring treat. And while I admit that shelling all those peas isn’t my favorite activity, having lots of fresh, sweet, bright-green peas at hand to make tasty side dishes or to toss in salads or pastas is the ultimate indulgence of the season—and more than enough reward for a little time spent shelling.

the photographs that fallow are posted giving relevance to Baa? Kasturba Gandhi wife of The FATHER OF NATION M K GANDHI