Often my aji (grandmother), who had her summer home in the same town as the school, would arrive a month or two early to escort us to the plains of India or Nepal for the holidays. While she was there, we were given permission to become day scholars. This meant we could indulge in being fussed over by my grandmother and the servants while they got the house and all our boarding school clothes and paraphernalia readied for winter. We were escorted to and from school. Before supper, we were allowed to play in the garden or in the corridor and rooms on the ground floor. The days were short. We were hustled indoors for a wash-up and then had to settle down to do our home-work. The kitchen closed early. The enormous cast iron wok (karai) filled with small “baking” baby potatoes from the vegetable garden would be covered over with sand and hot coals and brought to my grandmother’s bedroom. Rugs and carpets would be laid out. My grandmother and the “senior” household staff would sit around with cups of tea, samosas, knitting and the days gossip from the community. My younger siblings would be tucked in. I would be assigned to my grandmother’s bed close by to study for my exams. An electric heater was installed on the side table along with some Ovaltine and a plate and fork just in case I wanted to partake of the delicious baked baby potatoes or samosas. My studies were to take precedence and I was not to pay attention to all the juicy gossip and stories. I don’t know how I ever passed those exams! I remember one evening; I was thoroughly bored with whatever I was studying and started rocking back and forth over the text book. Forward on my head, back on my knees, forward on my head, back on my knees. I started a steady rhythm of rocking and mugging for my exams. When… oops, I bent forward more than I should have; did a complete summersault; rolled end over end and landed on my grandmother! My aji had no time to move. I clung to her back… her knitting went flying across the room… those who had gathered around the karai scattered.. the younger servants rolled over in fits of uncontrollable laughter. I was promptly relegated to another bedroom by myself to study, and they were taken to task for laughing. Before lights off, my aji came to “cluck” over me with a plateful of samosas and chutney to make sure I was indeed studying. ********************************************************** “Summersault Samosa” (Recipe)
Samosas are a light pastry filled with vegetables or meat
and deep fried in oil. It can be served as a light snack or an appetizer.
Enjoy,
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