Pasta On Dussehra
Updated: Dec 7, 2022
By Aayush Kukreja
It was the festival of Dussehra and it was a Wednesday. The air around was filled with the excitement and the hustle bustle of festive preparations. Outside, the evening sky watched over the huge idols which were to be lit in a few hours. Inside, Aarush was pacing up and down the lobby of his house. Not because of the excitement of the festival , but because his mind was occupied with something. This is how Aarush gets when he keeps on thinking about something , he can’t sit still. He walks and walks and walks. Back and forth, in the limited space of his house. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t discuss it with the people around him, but keeps on walking and wondering. He had to come to a decision, he had to make a choice and he was running out of time.
It was the festival of Dussehra and it was a Wednesday and Aarush’s mother had cooked today the creamy, licious white sauce pasta. It wasn’t the pasta itself which took hold of Aarush’s mind, but something this pasta represented, someone this pasta reminded him of. A plate full of pasta dipped in white sauce which almost always spreads all over the mouth of anyone who eats it, with bits of carrots and capsicum and little golden sweet corns in it – always reminds him of someone . Her name’s Anjali.
Anjali loves pasta. Everytime Aarush's mother would cook some, he’d sneak some of it in a small box, carry it to Anjali for her to eat it. They’d sit together, chat and laugh together and eat the pasta. A plate full of pasta meant all this to him – the sneaking, the chatting, the sitting and laughing together, even more, Anjali herself. Of the words used here, perhaps the most important one is ‘together’. After being with each other for years, Anjali and Aarush had parted ways only about a month ago. It didn’t mean that they stopped talking to each other. They would talk to each other and hang out with each other. They were only not together anymore. And that is why Aarush had been pacing up and down the lobby of his house. This desire that she should know that there is pasta cooked at his home today, this desire to sneak some of it for her and this new change in their relationship were at conflict with each other. He desperately wanted to sneak some pasta in a box and rush to her. But now that they’re not together anymore, should he do it? He doesn’t really want to give her any wrong hints? He doesn’t mean this gesture to imply that they’re getting back together?? Won’t taking pasta to her imply all such things?? This was getting all too much. He’d been thinking only about this since past few hours and now the clock was ticking. He has got to make a decision, now! It is already 5 in the evening, the sun would soon start setting and it would be too late to call her out of her house, even the pasta will get stale, he won’t be able to do anything….aghhhh!! He’s gotta make a decision! Suddenly, his phone chimes out of nowhere and without looking at it, he could tell who it was.He knew it was Anjali. It happened with him so often. The mere ringtone – the dead, mechanical notification sound of a message would come alive at times and he would somehow instinctively know that this one might be hers. And so it was. She had texted him, this is such a boring dayyyy! All of Aarush’s thoughts vanished, all of his dilemma seemed to quiet down for a second and all his energy rushed into his fingertips which typed Up for some pasta?
All his rationale went straight into the bin. He thought why shouldn’t he put all his reasons and logical thinking to a side and just go by his emotions for once, why not? And there he was, climbing down the stairs of his house with a little carry bag in his hand which had in it a little plastic box filled with pasta along with two forks. Anjali was going to visit a Dussehra meal near her house in some time to see some of her friends and they decided that they’d meet there only. They’ll sit together for a while, she’ll eat the pasta and then she’ll go to her friends and Aarush will come back home. And so he ran… ran to see his baby, to see his love…
It was a festive evening and the roads were filled with people. Under the bright, blue, open evening sky, you could see parents holding the hands of their kids and walking around, you could see groups of friends walking and laughing around, you could see various jhankis carrying people dressed as different deities, you saw children with toys of bows and arrows and Hanuman’s gadaas in their hands and you could hear the frenzy of loud music playing in the bakground. Amidst all of this, you also saw, under the same bright-blue-open evening sky, a lover carrying some food for his beloved.
Aarush couldn’t control his feet. He felt such a rush, such an excitement. The excitement and the energy of the atmosphere matched the excitement and the energy Aarush felt within while walking up to her. He felt as if somehow everybody had come out to celebrate and accelerate their meeting. He wondered why he was feeling this rush of excitement which made his feet want to go faster and faster and faster, so he could see her. But also slower, so he could savour this rush and this anticipation of seeing his love. All through the walking, the rummaging through the crowds, he kept thinking why is it that taking this pasta to her is making him feel so happy….and then…it occurred to him. It’s love, isn’t it? It's love. It was the excitement of feeding Anjali with her favorite food. It was the excitement to watch her get excited and happy upon seeing her favorite food. It occurred to him that how often does this happen, that we want to feed the people we love, to make them the dishes they like, sit them down at a table or a chair, serve them with the food and see them have it. It’s a love language,no? Feeding those you love….food is, after all, a love language. He realized it was all his way of expressing his love to her – in the packing of the pasta in that box, in the covering of the box with its lid, in heating the pasta a little before packing it, in carrying it in a bag with two forks - all of it, was done with love. This realization made him feel a deep joy within him and he paced on to the meeting place.
The Dussehra mela was almost there. The road leading to the entrance of the mela had crowds of people dancing and walking around several chariots (jhankis) which sat people in them dressed as different gods. There were horses, loudspeakers, drums, bands and trumpets and people all over the road leading to the entrance of the mela. He called Anjali but they could hardly hear each other on the phone. He began searching for her in the crowd. Walked a few steps here and there looking for her…. panned left and right… until there! There she was! Making her way through the crowd and walking up to him. Aarush looked at her, she was laughing with the joy in the atmoshphere and was almost in awe of the huge setups of celebration around. He immediately started pondering over how much Anjali loves these melas and these loud celebrations with people around. He was wondering about it while she came up to him and met him with the shine of this excitement in her eyes. They kept chatting about random things while walking, together, through the crowd to enter the mela where they found themselves a table.
The table was rather peaceful. There were children running around and people greeting each other, well still some music playing somewhere far in the background, but it wasn’t as noisy. Aarush takes the small box out of his bag, puts it onto the table,opens its lid, puts a fork in it and very gently, very softly pushes it in front of her. And there he sees it. Oh! The glow on her face. Anjali’s face lit up instantly. A big, broad smile came on her glowing face exposing her beautiful bugs bunny teeth. She looked at him with the glitter of love and longing in her eyes. She took out her phone, first clicked a picture of the pasta, then a picture of Aarush and only then she began eating.
This was it. Aarush and Anjali sat together in the middle of a mela, not bothered about anyone but each other, enjoying the creamy, licious white sauce pasta. She ate the pasta while Aarush kept talking about something or the other or kept cracking some joke to make her laugh and watched her eat. He was watching her and a thought crossed his mind. So much of life seems meaningless unless it is seen by our loved ones. So many of our daily life experiences gain some meaning when we talk about them with our loved ones, when they lend their ears and hearts to our lives. Had Anjali and Aarush not shared it together, it could’ve been just one of the days when pasta was cooked and it would have passed and he would easily have forgotten about it. But now, the pasta had a meaning because Anjali knew about it. Because she had a taste of it. He was lost in his thoughts until he noticed that the box of pasta had been emptied. It was pure joy! To see the little box empty with only leftover tidbits of pasta and vegetables here and there and some of the white sauce stuck onto the base of the emptied box. It had been a while since she had finished it and they sat chatting and laughing. And they could very well go on for hours. But it was time for them to go now, Anjali had to go see her friends waiting for her further inside the mela and Aarush had to walk back home now.
It was still the festival of Dussehra and it was a Wednesday and Aarush had brought a box full of pasta for Anjali and she ate it. They were not really together anymore but they could sit and see each other and share some pasta, at least for now. Anjali looked at Aarush with the same longing and yearning in her eyes as before. She took his hand in hers and they sat there for a while like this. Anjali and Aarush, hand in hand. They were still surrounded by the frenzy of loud music and lots of people, in the middle of which, they got up, gave each other a hug and said endearing byes to each other with heartening smiles. Aarush’s eyes teared up slightly. His throat choked up and felt a little heavy. What was this? Maybe it was the saddening hit of the thought that they’re not together anymore. Had he brought this pasta for her a few months ago, things would have been different. Maybe this change felt a bit overwhelming. Or maybe it was just the loud music. Or maybe it was all of it. Aarush turned around, with a glimmer of tears in his eyes, looking down at the road and moving forward. The restless Aarush who was pacing up and down in his lobby now felt content. He had made the right choice. Bringing her pasta was the right decision. This time he didn’t rush back home, instead his walk was slow and calm, enjoying everything that he saw around him. There was a bit of sadness but he was happy. Not because it was the festival of Dussehra, or a Wednesday but because he had an empty box in his hand with which he had served, fed and loved his Anjali.
By Aayush Kukreja
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