People come into our lives for a reason. Every one of them - be it our close family members or a random stranger or an author whose words reach us at the right moment.
In the past few days, as I connect the dots on why she came into my life, the reasons are evident in front of my eyes. My MIL, whom I call as Amma left this planet a couple of weeks back because of Covid infection. This all happened too soon and too sudden that we are yet to recover from the shock.
Amma was the first person, with whom I stood next to and observed how she cooked. She is my first guru when I was taking baby steps in cooking in 2006. She was a meticulous person, jotting down lists for everything and labeling every single box/container in her kitchen pantry. I have never seen anyone as patient as her.
We have had our share of difference of opinions, when it comes to food, health, lifestyle and parenting.
Her clear preference towards packaged foods is what pushed me to understand about food and health in the past decade. Many of my blogposts are based on conversations with her.
After she stayed with me for a few months last year, on the day of returning to Chennai, she told me, "unnoda samayal saapptu enga rendu per healthum nalla improve aayirukku. Appa insulin oosi rendu maasama poda avasiyame yerpadala" (After eating your food, our health has improved well. Appa didn't have to take insulin injection for the past two months). Though I felt the workload was unmanageable, her words that day brought a huge sense of satisfaction and happiness.
Rest in peace, Amma. I so wish that you didn't have any of those comorbidities that made the infection turn fatal.
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