When we had invited the University Drama group to dinner, in return for the splendid feast they had provided for us a couple of weeks back, we had not known that I would have to manage the hosting, cooking duties alone, since Val would be in Dhangadhi. Still, I do know how to cook, and wanted in any case to show off some English cuisine. A shepherd’s pie, I thought (alongside a vegetarian equivalent). We did have some difficulty sourcing the meat, but Aparna was able to make enquiries in Hindi at Lulus, and mutton mince was purchased (at some distress to Aparna, her being a strict vegetarian. But a friend in need… is a pain in the neck.)
I left the purchase of the veggies until today, so that they had no time to go mouldy, but was mildly disconcerted when, on my initial foray, the usual stall was not there. But when I looked at my watch, it was 7.30, so not entirely surprising. But a second outing was successful, which enabled me to spend the entire morning cooking; I am a competent, but very slow, chef.
Our cleaner arrived during the morning, and was impressed by my culinary prowess; her husband could not do anything in the kitchen, she told me. She was even more I pressed when I showed my rudimentary plumbing skills to unblock the sink (which she’d been poking at with a thin stick) by using downward pressure on the plughole.
Val arrived back from Nepal at the same time as Kaveri, the first of our guests, so brought her up to the apartment. Five more arrived in dribs and drabs over the next couple of hours, so it was quite late before we sat down to eat. But the conversation throughout was lively and interesting, and there was even an exchange of songs. Lopsided, in that Vikash sang one song and I sang three alone, plus Hole in my bucket with Val.
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The meal part of the evening was not quite the triumph I had hoped for, but everything was fine; even the apple and mango crumble (with bullets of small apples and mango which could not be cut, only squeezed) was declared very good. (They liked the crunch.)
When it came to an end, and it was discovered that I had some spare time over the next couple of weeks, it was more or less arranged that I should do some work at the university. I would need to provide a profile, they told me – a CV, more or less – which could be presented to the university authorities for approval.
Another door opening?
