The Chemeen Chor

I have always been fascinated by the story of Abhimanyu and how he learned to enter the Chakravyu by listening to his father discussing it with his mother while he was still in the womb.

That must have been some major first memory to retain. For me, as I enter mid-life and the gray cells within get replaced with gray hair outside, my memory isn't what it used to be. I used to be able to remember telephone conversations, dates of significance and things that happened years ago very clearly. These days, I can barely remember what I had for breakfast anymore by the time I come down for lunch! 

As a child the first memory in my mind is of a day back when I was a kid in Dubai. It had to be a Friday because everyone was home for lunch that day. I don't think I had reached UKG yet. My mother had made rice with some curry and prawns fry. Now, prawns are only my most favourite dish ever since the time I was a kid. I clearly recall the plate of prawns being placed on a green plate upon the dining table and my mother going back into the kitchen to get the other curries while dad was watching something (possibly wrestling) on television. When she returned back, my dad was still in the room watching TV and the rice bowl was still sitting in the center of the table. The plate of prawns however had disappeared.

A part of me can still hear her asking aloud in Malayalam where the plate went. Sitting in the bedroom at the other end of the house,struggling to balance the hot bowl in my tiny hands while I ate each fried prawn from that plate till it was all over, I couldn't care less.

Click here for the recipe 

That's the first memory I have of myself in life. Roshan, the prawn thief / chemeen chor (being a 'makhan-chor' was obviously too old-fashioned for a guy like me!).  

What is the first memory you have of yourselves?    

Author's note: This is my take on the theme 'FOOD' for Write Tribe's Festival of Words 2.