I was playing sudoku online when her mobile rang. The call was from Deepak.
“Sarita, can we do a dosa evening for the kids tomorrow”, he asked. The ‘kids’ were the orphans at aasraa orphanage, where Deepak and I volunteer together. We teach and mentor the ‘kids’; we even counsel them, when needed. The kids were extremely fond of the two of us and were quite comfortable discussing their issues and pains.
I readily agreed. I had not met the kids for almost a week and was missing all their chatter; besides, one of the boys, Chethan, had just had an incident and needed counseling.
I called up father Joe of aasraa to discuss the plan. “The children will be back only at 9 PM, is it okay with with you?”, father asked. I said yes and began working out the details; Bharti, my friend and housekeeper, could make dosas in an hour. So we had to be there by eight PM; to do so, Bharti and I had to start from home, latest, by seven PM.
Well.. like all plans, mine also went a bit haywire. By the time Bharti and I took our homemade coconut chutney and reached the orphanage, it was eight thirty PM.
We quickly went about getting the masala ready. While we were half way through our preparation, the kids landed up. They crowded into the kitchen. “Please teach me aunty, I want to become a Chef”, Chethan requested sweetly. “Oh! I know how dosas are made; you just take a ladle of dough and spread it all over the pan”, quipped Karan, the smart alec. “Aunty, please let me know if you need any help”, offered Kiran, politely.
I made them all take their plates, sit in the room and wait for the dosas…
Soon it was dosa time. Bharti used both the burners and began making two at a time. I went around the room, filling the dosas up with masala and serving them; Deepak who had reached there, with cake and pastries, sat with the kids, talking about aspirations….
The dosa session was followed by that of lemon rice, whipped up by Bharti, from the leftover rice she found in the kitchen…
Fully sated, the kids had almost no place in their tummies, for the cake that Deepak had brought!!
After dinner, I began washing the dishes. Chethan came in to help. Seizing the moment, I discreetly discussed the ‘incident’ and counseled him as needed…
The dosa night ended with selfies and group photographs…
On their way back home Bharti sighed deeply and thanked me for one of the best evenings she ever had; I smiled and gave her a warm hug for making it happen!!
