It was the month of April. Spring was drawing to a close. She was taking away my motivation to continue until the end of the semester with her. Just when a smokescreen was building up, an opportunity to clear it presented itself to me.
Ajinkya invited me to a potluck at his place – the guests of honour were Christina and Andreas. Yes, if any of you are thinking about the title of the post right now, you are in the right direction. They were our Greek guests.
Plans for making my favourite sweet dish to take to the party got spoiled. All because I didn’t plan it well. As Katherine Paterson said, “a dream without a plan is just a wish.” I had nothing, so I ended up taking a pack of sweets bought from the store. I felt terrible.
I walked to Ajinkya’s place and I was the last person to reach there. I saw him making Amrakhand and I realised food was ready as well. Everybody asked me what did I bring and all I could say sheepishly is I came to help you all. I could see eyes rolling but I had no courage to respond.
Ajinkya introduced me to his guests and as usual, it took me some time to explain how to pronounce my name. We talked briefly and then we gathered for dinner. There was Paneer curry and two different preparations of Chicken on the menu. Along with them, we had Jeera Rice and Rotis. Since I have been here in this country, the appreciation of food which was already there in my mind has somehow elevated itself. I loved the food, enjoyed it and I hope Christina and Andreas did too.
After dinner, our adda started taking shape. Everyone was curious about our new friends. So, all sat listening to them with rapt attention. We listened to Andreas’ medical school days, how he decided not to continue and dropout and about his love for trucks nowadays. He told us things about the human body which only people who have access to cut open bodies could know – things which don’t seem obvious from an external view reveal themselves on closer inspection. Isn’t this true for a lot of other things in life as well? Christina shared her stories about studying math, and how she shares her education by teaching other kids.
We looked at both of their native places in Greece on Google Maps – Thanks Google! We listened to the story about how one of their family members was a sheepherder and ended up losing all his sheep due to carelessness. Christina told me about her favourite Greek TV show. We learned how Greek letters are pronounced incorrectly by English speaking people and the correct way to pronounce them. One thing led to another and after a while, we were making requests to Christina to write our names in Greek on a piece of paper. It was really fascinating for me, learning about the intricacies of a different language. Who will forget those pictures of Santorini you grow up seeing. Andreas shared with us the story of his first attempt at deer hunting. The whole process of claiming a vantage point, patiently waiting and when the time comes, being adept at finishing.
We talked late through the night. It was well past midnight when they decided it was time to take leave. We bid our goodbyes. Christina invited us to a barbeque at her parents’ place later next month.
I walked back in the darkness – to home – the unopened packet of sweets dangling from my fingers.
