Skip to main content

Trying Munro

I had ChatGPT render an Alice Munro version of my recent blog post. Not sure it was able to strike the Munro notes but it made something out of my writing that it was not. Reading this feels experiencing writing as color by the numbers. I can't decide how I feel about it but it lacks personality and soul to my taste even if the writing has some stylistic flourishes mine does not. Its like the fanciful calligraphy on sign-boards in India. It grabs attention, has some artistic quality but it is not memorable.

In the realm of culinary recollections, the notion of a food memoir strikes a chord within me, resonating with an intrinsic understanding. For it is true, the foods that hold the deepest significance in our hearts are intimately intertwined with the memories they evoke. These stories unfold in various settings - perhaps within the familiar walls of a cherished home kitchen, beside the bustling stall of a street-food vendor, or upon the hallowed grounds of a restaurant table. Yet, it is not the location that takes precedence, but the narrative that unfurls and the profound connection one forges with the food.

In this essay, a captivating proposition emerges: the idea of performing a recipe, rather than merely adhering to its rigid dictates. A notion that imbues the act with a sense of spontaneity, allowing for the exercise of creative liberty. To perform a recipe is to embrace improvisation, to dare venture beyond the prescribed boundaries. Why confine oneself to canned tomatoes when fresh, vibrant ones may offer a superior essence? Why limit to solely fresh basil when a dash of invigorating cilantro lies readily at hand? And what harm could a few diced jalapeno peppers bring, even if the recipe itself does not demand their presence? The performer shall leave their stylistic signature upon the culinary canvas, akin to the diverse interpretations of Othello portrayed by varying thespians upon the stage of the theater.

Observing the manifold interpretations of a character and script by different actors, one delights in the nuances and individualities they bring to the role - a similar phenomenon graces the art of culinary performance. Reading this treatise, a wave of relief washes over me, for it provides solace in my own inadequacy to adhere strictly to any recipe. In the realm of culinary endeavors, faithfully following a recipe proves to be an arduous task, for my mind instinctively begins crafting alternative pathways even as I read the words on the page. I mentally shuffle the elements, discerning what I wholeheartedly embrace, what I decidedly reject, and what leaves me indifferent.

In this musing, I find myself reflecting on the profound influence these considerations wield, affecting the metamorphosis that unfolds as I journey through the culinary process. There lies, however, a realm I dare not traverse with my experimental spirit - those cherished dishes that I learned by observing my grandmother's deft hands in the kitchen. They were not bound by written recipes; instead, I played the role of her assistant, basking in the enchantment of her culinary wizardry. To meddle or tamper with these sacred creations seems sacrilegious, as if it would compromise the very essence of the person she was and the image I hold dear in my heart, one I yearn to preserve for eternity.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Part Liberated Woman

An expat desi friend and I were discussing what it means to return to India when you have cobbled together a life in a foreign country no matter how flawed and imperfect. We have both spent over a decade outside India and have kids who were born abroad and have spent very little time back home. Returning "home" is something a lot of new immigrants like L and myself think about. We want very much for that to be an option because a full assimilation into our country of domicile is likely never going to happen. L has visited India more often than I have and has a much better pulse on what's going on there. For me the strongest drag force working against my desire to return home is my experience of life as a woman in India. I neither want to live that suffocatingly sheltered existence myself nor subject J to it. The freedom, independence and safety I have had in here in suburban America was not even something I knew I could expect to have in India. I never knew what it felt t...

Under Advisement

Recently a desi dude who is more acquaintance less friend called to check in on me. Those who have read this blog before might know that such calls tend to make me anxious. Depending on how far back we go, there are sets of FAQs that I brace myself to answer. The trick is to be sufficiently evasive without being downright offensive - a fine balancing act given the provocative nature of questions involved. I look at these calls as opportunities for building patience and tolerance both of which I seriously lack. Basically, they are very desirous of finding out how I am doing in my personal and professional life to be sure that they have me correctly categorized and filed for future reference. The major buckets appear to be loser, struggling, average, arrived, superstar and uncategorizable. My goal needless to say, is to be in the last bucket - the unknown, unquantifiable and therefore uninteresting entity. Their aim is to pull me into something more tangible. So anyways, the dude in ques...

Carefree Wandering

There are these lines in Paul Cohelo's Alchemist that I love about the shepherd turning a year later to sell wool and being unsure if he would meet the girl there But in his heart he knew that it did matter. And he knew that shepherds, like seamen and like traveling salesmen, always found a town where there was someone who could make them forget the joys of carefree wandering. What is true of the the power of love and making a person want to settle is also true of  finding purpose in life. If and when a person is able to connect their work to purpose they care about, the desire for change disappears. They are able to instead channel that energy into enhancing the quality of the work they are already doing. As I write this, I remember S a brand manager I used to know a couple of decades ago. He worked for a company that made products for senior citizens, I was a consultant there. S was responsible for creating awareness of their new products and building awareness of what already ex...