/* Milestone alert */
Last week, i changed the gas-cylinder in my house.
/* End of Milestone alert */
I started this blog to record the milestones reached by Baby Aditi. Little did i imagine that the first milestone i record will be mine!
If u know me u will understand how important this is to me - changing the gas-cylinder. It's a big accomplishment for me. Never mind that changing the gas cylinder in this country just involves just unscrewing a tube and screwing it to a new cylinder(of course after making sure the gas valves r closed), unlike in India where fixing the regulator is an art i can only hope to master some day. i would watch my dad, mom, mom-in-law,etc do this back in India and wonder how talented they are.
Changing the gas used to be such an important(and dangerous-looking) activity that only the most experienced in the kitchen would be allowed to do it. Forget it in my house, even when i got married, it would be Santosh or my mother-in-law who would do this. i mean, here i was, barely learning how to tell different dals apart - me changing the gas? Unthinkable!
Then Nidhi was born and 5 months later we shifted to this new country. Having no one else in the ktichen was a big plus coz this was my first chance for hands-on and though it took sometime, i started cooking well. But the gas-cylinder was still off-limits - coz most of the time the gas-cylinder guy would fix it himself.
Whenever i think of my early days of cooking i am always reminded of this incident when i was just married. The first time i made rasam, it didn't taste good. Santosh insisted i cook it again so that i could improve the rasam. i made it thrice before i realised my mistake - i was forgetting to add tur-dal(cooked and mashed). i gave myself the hon title of the-Girl-who-could-not-make-rasam. Step by step, mistakes after mistakes(though none as pathetic as the rasam), i progressed. Till today.... meal for 25-30 people? Bring it on, i say!
And last week, Santosh was at office, Nidhi had holidays and was helping me in the kitchen. Suddenly the gas got over and Nidhi started worrying how we r going to finish our cooking. Since we already had a spare cylinder there was no point in calling the gas-cylinder guy. So i literally rolled up my sleeves and started Operation Change-the-Cylinder. The only tool i needed was the screw-opener and a few moments of hard labour later, i changed the gas-cylinder. Meanwhile Nidhi was running all around me, shouting instructions and trying her best to help. Aditi also helped me by staying asleep during all that time. Seeing Nidhi so tense, i got worried myself and called up santosh. he offered to drive home immediately, but i had him take me step-by-step thru the procedure on the phone until i was sure i had not ignored any safety rule. Operation Change-the-Cylinder was deemed successful!
Nidhi was over-joyed and told me she thought the world of me. I realised the next generation is now here watching in wonder when her Mom changes the gas.
As for me, now i feel completely in-charge of the 'choola-choukha' of the house! Hooray!
Last week, i changed the gas-cylinder in my house.
/* End of Milestone alert */
I started this blog to record the milestones reached by Baby Aditi. Little did i imagine that the first milestone i record will be mine!
If u know me u will understand how important this is to me - changing the gas-cylinder. It's a big accomplishment for me. Never mind that changing the gas cylinder in this country just involves just unscrewing a tube and screwing it to a new cylinder(of course after making sure the gas valves r closed), unlike in India where fixing the regulator is an art i can only hope to master some day. i would watch my dad, mom, mom-in-law,etc do this back in India and wonder how talented they are.
Changing the gas used to be such an important(and dangerous-looking) activity that only the most experienced in the kitchen would be allowed to do it. Forget it in my house, even when i got married, it would be Santosh or my mother-in-law who would do this. i mean, here i was, barely learning how to tell different dals apart - me changing the gas? Unthinkable!
Then Nidhi was born and 5 months later we shifted to this new country. Having no one else in the ktichen was a big plus coz this was my first chance for hands-on and though it took sometime, i started cooking well. But the gas-cylinder was still off-limits - coz most of the time the gas-cylinder guy would fix it himself.
Whenever i think of my early days of cooking i am always reminded of this incident when i was just married. The first time i made rasam, it didn't taste good. Santosh insisted i cook it again so that i could improve the rasam. i made it thrice before i realised my mistake - i was forgetting to add tur-dal(cooked and mashed). i gave myself the hon title of the-Girl-who-could-not-make-rasam. Step by step, mistakes after mistakes(though none as pathetic as the rasam), i progressed. Till today.... meal for 25-30 people? Bring it on, i say!
And last week, Santosh was at office, Nidhi had holidays and was helping me in the kitchen. Suddenly the gas got over and Nidhi started worrying how we r going to finish our cooking. Since we already had a spare cylinder there was no point in calling the gas-cylinder guy. So i literally rolled up my sleeves and started Operation Change-the-Cylinder. The only tool i needed was the screw-opener and a few moments of hard labour later, i changed the gas-cylinder. Meanwhile Nidhi was running all around me, shouting instructions and trying her best to help. Aditi also helped me by staying asleep during all that time. Seeing Nidhi so tense, i got worried myself and called up santosh. he offered to drive home immediately, but i had him take me step-by-step thru the procedure on the phone until i was sure i had not ignored any safety rule. Operation Change-the-Cylinder was deemed successful!
Nidhi was over-joyed and told me she thought the world of me. I realised the next generation is now here watching in wonder when her Mom changes the gas.
As for me, now i feel completely in-charge of the 'choola-choukha' of the house! Hooray!
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