Girls in the 'Hood, Part 2

Girls in the ‘Hood, part 2

We all, (the girls, that is) sort of entered into a mutual cooking agreement, taking turns cooking an evening meal, usually something simple like vegetables and rice, or naan (yummy pan fried bread almost like a pancake, but not sweet) and vegetables.  (Side note here: Vrindavan is a vegetarian city, not an ounce of meat nor fish anywhere to be found, and that includes eggs, though I’m told if we go the right place, we can buy some eggs.)  More often than not, we are cooking in semi-darkness as the electricity is out and the only light source is from a generator driven bulb in the hallway.  We sit together outside on an open-air balcony taking our evening meal as the night turns to total darkness.  We are serenaded by the never-ending cacophony of auto horns, buffalo bellowing and blaring Hindu temple music.  This evening meal is also part of my Hindi class, and they talk to me in Hindi and point out things in Hindi; we all get a good laugh at my attempts at new words, especially when I say something I don’t mean to say, or really mess up the pronunciations.

Last night, I walked by the closed kitchen door and knocked….the door cracked open and Johena reached out and pulled me into the tiny (5 x 8 ft) crowded kitchen where Mena and Ganga were preparing the evening meal and closed the door quickly behind me.  The closed space was heavy with the pungent smell of sautéing onions.  They all broke out in fits of giggles when they saw the  “ah –ha!” look dawn on my face – Brahmins cannot cook or eat onions or garlic and the smell can’t even be in their house.  So anytime they want to cook with the forbidden vegetables, they must do so on the sly so the Brahmin landlords below don’t come to find out. 

Our evening meal on the balcony was followed by a special treat of sweets – “soon papri” a fantastic concoction that had the taste and texture of really good homemade fudge without the chocolate – and extra butter!!   We were celebrating because Johena’s Indian passport had finally arrived!!  Her next step…American immigration visa.  She thinks she’ll get it by the end of the month!  Oh! to be young, and in love!