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Monday, August 06, 2012

Updates on Dad's health, and other stuff

As I write this on the evening of the 6th of August 2012, I am feeling a little depressed that I am not with my parents and family these days. It isn't that I was expressive about my love for dad and mom; I wasn't, and that is the honest truth. However, I did, and I do, love them. My dad is passing through his worst ever life year, and I am not there to help him or mom, who must be having to struggle with him a lot. Dad remains in hospital. Nishrin, together with Iqbalbhai Bhinderwala (our neighbour in Mazgaon), has helped clean up Dad's house as best as possible so that it is in a presentable condition when Dad is discharged from the hospital and brought back home. Not only did she orchestrate the selling of the old bed and mattresses, but also got the house disinfested with a professional pest control service, got a basic painting job done, and will, by tomorrow, replace the floor carpet etc., thus changing the topography of the house for good. In addition, dad's old newspapers, which had grown in bulk to take over large portions of the house, were all thrown away or sold off, so that a real change will have occurred. I plan to get photos of the new setting through the agency of my ever-willing daughter Hannah, and if possible, share them here with you so that you get an idea of what I am talking about.

My work here is going on as usual. There are hardly any challenges, and when they do come, most of the time, we refer the patient to T'aif. I plan to take a day's leave on Wednesday to go to T'aif and complete some pending bank work. In addition, I may stay overnight to be able to visit the Mall there and get some goodies back for later consumption.

I have been trying my hand at a few new dishes, as well as making old ones with a fresh infusion of instructions from a friend who has been inspiring me to experiment. I made rasam without using rasam powder for the first time last week. 
Rasam

Pasta and beans
Then, yesterday, I procured fish curry gravy from the south Indian restaurant on the highway and added cut pieces of thelapia fish to make it into a proper fish curry. Today, I made Penne pasta and added a can of fava beans and some minced meat to it to compose my lunch. In this manner, I am finding things to do in an otherwise boring way of life.

I would be erring if I said I don't miss my family. I do miss them terribly, especially in Ramadan - and I nearly cried when Nishrin told me on the phone that they are missing my energetic input of spirituality and of getting different foods from Bhendi Bazaar for the iftaar. I suppose I can live with their absence, and they, with mine, but it is a sad thing to happen, and it won't be a day too early when I finally exit from here and go back to my home in India.

In the end, I may as well add that when my blog goes back into the public mode, this post and several others before it may make less sense than when they were read in live mode, but I indulge my readers to read them with the same love and care they have bestowed on me before I went private a  month ago. 

Thank you all.

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