Aaj raat ko aap kya bana rahi ho?

If someone asked me to name that one thing which makes me an immature kid and not a grownup man… what is it? A jubilant me watching my favorite Argentinean football team on a rampage, holding back my urine for hours in the traffic jam waiting to reach home and rush to the bathroom or prospect of me replacing my Department Head... All are valid choices, but I am going with my mom's home cooked food... Finally mummy is here and no more baahar ka khaana… Yipeee…

If I look back into my daily routine… Early morning I used to slap together two slices of bread with some store bought mayonnaise and jam for breakfast or an apple with strawberry milk… then eating half cooked chapattis neatly surrounded with different vegetables in tiny bowls for lunch and consuming anything from chocolate-bar to daal chawal for dinner.

But now… Baiju Samuel; simply has to open his eyes in the morning and even before the haze has been cleared from the mind, the essence of home brewed coffee invades his nostrils. And when he goes to bed at night he has to loosen his pyjama's naada to accommodate a stomach that is fultu full… After decades of pampering me with various types of dishes varying from idlie to appam… from maggi to baingan-ka-bharta… from palak paneer to sambar… mummy is back and this time to pamper the grown up… thanks a lot Mummy :)

Everyone will agree that Mom's home cooked food; rather ones own Mom's food is the best. Just because my mom is a super cook, doesn't mean that everyone's mom automatically joins the league… but consideration for someone else's Mom's home cooked food is extremely useful when we are staying alone… thousands of kilometers away from home...

As a kid I was a fussy eater. You could say that I would consume food only when it is prepared the way I like it and that too when I am in the mood. For instance; I was never a fan of those healthy vegetables… so my mother made sure I had only the vegetables I liked. Pappa, like most Indian fathers; believed there were only a few vegetables fit for a young boy and those were… Bhindi and Karela… because if you eat them… you will be good in mathematics; which meant that you will study Engineering from a reputed college and then get into a Master's program from any international university, and finally land a job with one of the most prestigious scientific institutions in the world. In other words… Bhindi and Karela are ticket to NASA. Potato… on the other hand would only give you gas...

Mummy had packed my favorite aaloo ki sabji and parathas for lunch. I am over with today's lunch and was eager to know about the dinner. I called up mummy and even without admiring about the lunch I asked… "Aaj raat ko aap kya bana rahi ho?"