“I don’t do atta” I had proclaimed a few years ago. I still don’t . For some
reason my friends found that hilarious. They still do. But over
three-and-a-half years later, I came close to doing it. I had a lump of
pre-prepared clay in front of me and I had to knead it till there were no air
bubbles in it. So I did knead. But not atta.
Small saving graces.
I’ve been meaning to learn doing something
constructive with clay for years now. I thought my first class would be
learning how to make a small little cup on a wheel. And at the end of that
class I’ll come home grinning with a little, badly shaped cup, all smiles and
happies in place. But no. It wasn’t. It was about kneading right. And also, about
making coils. It did make me happy though. But it also made me realize that I
pretty much suck at making thin coils of clay or placing them in any order. But
then again, the last time I played with clay I was in primary school. Plus,
first class and all that jazz. It was still awesome though. And the second
class was even better.
So yeah, I finally have the time to learn
pottery. Never thought it would happen this way. So many plans didn’t work out
and then suddenly life throws you a really raw lemon and you play with “dough”,
weathering the Bombay monsoon, while you wait for it to ripen and see what to
do with it. Well, in this case I could keep it basic and stick with lemonade
eventually. But then, that’s boring right. I am thinking lemon cupcakes. I’ve
never tried those before. But no harm in trying, right? Couldn’t get worse than
this.
Now some lemons have hidden wheels and may
take you far far away from where you are right now. This one might not just
lead to some botched cupcakes but a move back to Delhi. Not that I am closed to
that. So yeah, lemon on the side, play with the clay as the rain comes down. It
has to be ripe before I can even set out a plan of action in motion.
All in a limbo. Now. Just before I make the
age meter add a one after a three and a perfect repeat of where I was at just
this time, just after finishing Manki’s story, four years ago. Maybe this is a
sign. The first book was a story set in summer. The next is slowly kneading
itself in my mind. This will be set in a space and time when the skies open up,
the rains come down and wash everything around but just never the parts that we
wish had been washed away.
Lemons you
see, they get around everywhere… Tiny little round buggers. Oh well! For now
the kneading goes on and the lemons with their blindsiding ways wait. To
strike. Lemons are them ill-timed monsters that we never want to see. Now what are the chances of that
happening…
