…that it is Sankranti tomorrow. Mom would get so worked up making lists of things to buy – so that we keep the Pongal Paanai on time. Not paanai actually, the pressure cooker substituted for it. So we’d make chakra pongal, venn pongal and prangikka Ired pumpkin) sambar. Well, we switched to vetha kozhambu because it goes better with the Pongal. I cannot recall a single Sankranti without Mom. Heck, I cannot recall a single anything without Mom. š
Mom would make chakra pongal on demand for Vidur when he was very small – he was particularly besotted with a movie called Kottai Mariamman where there’s a scene in which Roja offers Neivedyam to Amman. The plate has chakra pongal, venn pongal, thair saadam, puli-saadam, lemon saadam, etc. So for months after Vidur saw thisĀ movie (he was a big Amman fan) he would want to have a meal like this pretty often. We found it quite amusing. He would dance to all the songs in the movie with such gusto – we had the time of our lives. In particular this song – we loved the way he would roll his eyes and seem to capture every move!
I still find it so hard to believe that my Mom will never be back. I dream of her often – lovely dreams – happy dreams – and when I wake up in the morning, expect to find her in the kitchen busy pouring water in theĀ coffee filter. I’d go hug her and say Good morning and she’d say – kaapis? And we’d make and take our coffee to her room and enjoy it leisurely. In fact we got up half an hour early just to do it. Then we’d go back to the kitchen and together, start preparing things for lunch, etc.
Boo hoo, sniff sniff. I’ll be doing this alone tomorrow – the pongal paanai and all. I will especially miss her.
