The Taste of Memories

 What’s a good way to spend a lazy-busy Sunday, after you are done with packing your things for a tropical getaway? You look outside the balcony, only to see the sun play hide and seek with dark clouds , pushing the weather into identity crisis mode, and head right back into your drawing room! I did just that, and decided to watch TV ‘differently’. I decided to look  on Youtube for shows that I watched in the past. Soon, one thing led to another, and I tuned into a cooking show that holds a place of pride in my core memories.

Throwback to the year 2012, when I was all of seven. I was a foodie in the making  with a long term goal of trying out different cuisines, my overworked senses notwithstanding. Late evening was the time when we would get done with dinner , oftentimes consisting of crunchy dosas and comforting curd rice , and my mom would tune into the show , ‘Vicky goes Veg’ on a popular lifestyle TV channel. A show that was designed to transport the viewers into the land of exotic ingredients and dishes that were only found in the menu of upscale restaurants, ‘Vicky goes Veg’ was hosted by the portly chef Vicky Ratnani, whose passion for cooking stood out in every sliver of vegetable , every shred of cheese, every drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and in statements like, ‘Rosemary and mushrooms is a marriage made in heaven.’ I would watch, spellbound, even as I kept adding to the bucket list of dishes I wanted to eat.

As I sat watching the show today, fourteen years and a few dishes off the bucket list later, I realised that the sheer joy that emanated from the chef as he cooked was the secret ingredient that set the show apart. I know that feeling , because that is exactly how I feel when I unleash rain and thunderstorm in the lives of protagonists created by me! Whether you cook or write a book, passion and joy in doing what you do is what will make your work superlative.

Talking of books, stay tuned to this space to know more about the launch of my new novel- Feet on Ground, Head in the Air, in the last week of July. Published by Bookosmia, the book is crafted with lots of love and is guaranteed to be ‘unputdownable’ from cover to cover.