Casement

I am yet to recover from the shock of getting warned by a cop. The offense is no more than the sinless appetite for 'idlis'. Idlis and dosais are my staple diet. I have this natural ability to smell sambhar from a distance of a couple of miles. Long story short, I am a typical Tamilian. Most of my friends/acquaintances here are north Indians who ask me to make idlis/dosas for every get together, be it weekend travel, potluck, dinner party or just-like-that. So, for our tomorrow's travel to San Antonio too, my assignment is fifty idlis.

Grinding the ingredients with the blunt Black & Decker blender could be more painful than grinding them with the conventional "kal ural". While I was doing the painful preparation, which took approximately an hour, I heard sturdy knocks on the door in-between the din made by the blender. I was caught unawares by the cop who showed up on the door. Even though I was sure that he had knocked the wrong door, I froze at his stiff upper lip smile and a brusque, "How are you doing?" "Good..." I said, clearing my throat. He didn't wait too long to announce the purpose of his visit - "your neighbours have some problem b'cos they feel you are too loud. "Me, loud?" I thought in utter disbelief. "Noisy vacuum cleaner or blender or..." he paused meaningfully. Unsure of how to react, I said, "could be the blender. But, I don't think it is so loud that it disturbs the neighbour..." He outspoke me - "well, you don't think so, but your neighbours do." He smiled a 'look-I proved-a-point' smile and I returned with a 'should I-or-should I not' smile and bid adieu.

While I have made up my mind to stick to rava idlis henceforth, I still cannot help thinking about who to blame - the fussy neighbours, my loud blender, the jobless cop or my appetite for idlis. Thus started my New year. Puthandu vaazhthukkal to you all!:)