I came to France on December 17, 2000, a week after my marriage and moved into an appartement meublé on the Left Bank in Paris. This was a completely new scenario for me: marriage (which happened suddenly), France (a country about which I had zero knowledge) and domesticity (of which I had, if possible, minus knowledge).
Our cute apartment with wooden beamed ceiling, uneven floors came with an assortment of wonderful furniture, pictures, lamps of all shapes and sizes, bedcovers, quilts, table cloth, serviettes and a fully equipped kitchen. I found crockery, cutlery that I have never heard of, let alone seen. A zester? To de-zest citric fruits. What in the world? Coffee mill – I didn’t even know how to make instant coffee.
Those where early days when I was battling situations like what to cook? And after spending half a day cooking lunch, I found it over within minutes with only a dishful of dirty dishes to show for it and back to question of what’s for dinner. What to buy? How much to buy? How to fit it all in our tiny frigo? Why does the same recipe taste so wonderful at times and so disgusting at others? How do I get rid of this grease on the range? Why do I find a soapy film on dishes after 2 hours of washing in the dish washer? Why is our house so dusty if I give dusting a miss even for a day? Why? Why? Why? And all this in a country where I couldn’t speak or understand a line of what any one was saying. It took me ages to locate anything in the supermarket and if by good luck, I found it, it took me ages to decide which one to take. I had no idea that there were at least 50 varieties of vinegar. All I ever heard of was white or black vinegar. Difficult days indeed.
To add to my woes, the year that I spent in that apartment was interspersed with me making four trips back to India, thanks to visa problems. So I didn’t have much time to settle down to domesticity or enjoy the wonderfully stocked little kitchen and house in general. That happened in my second sojourn in France, when we moved to neighbouring region Seine et Marne in mid 2002. This felt like the real thing. We did everything from scratch. Get a list of house agents, look at flats, select one and then buy everything…furniture, crockery, cutlery, other essentials like television etc and move in. It felt great to do up my first home, bit by bit, and all on our own.
I soon settled down to domesticity and surprise surprise, I was getting quite good at it. The only problem I faced was the lack of jars and bottles. I took to buying and consuming juices and jams (which comes in handy glass bottles and in interesting shapes). Juice is easy to consume. But jam takes time. Especially since A does not like jam at all. Here I was helped by the weather. Jam develops fungus and spoils if not consumed really fast. Hence in no time at all, I had a nifty collection of jam jars to store all my spices – French and Indian! Jeerey, dhoney, halud, jowan, radhuni, mouri, kalo jeerey, sorshey, posto, dal, rajma, chal, thyme, persil, laurier, romarin. Pretty herbs all in a row!! I could just spend time staring at the neat rows of jars.
Then of course came the other jars - little yoghurt glass jars with / without plastic caps, terracotta ones, ice cream tubs, tubs in which one could buy paella, grilled chicken from the marché, plastic pastry boxes. I found uses for all of it. Tomatoes stay fresh and really long in these plastic pastry boxes. Roasted spices (dhania, cumin) keep their aroma in the glass jars with plastic tops. Ice cream and paella tubs make great containers for leftover food. I sometimes do forget that I have some leftover vegetables in a small tub lurking somewhere in my frigo and discover it too late and have to throw it out. And once, horrors, I discovered some rui macher jhol that I had forgotten all about (this is, to us in france and so far away from India, is akin to wasting caviar or pate or something really gourmet in India). Little accidents apart, they have been of great help and have given me a great sense of well being – made me feel like a domestic goddess.
I browse through ‘Brocantes’ – garage sales – a fairly frequent phenomenon. One can pick up great bargains and unusual things from other people’s junks! I keep looking for jars. Once, I saw this great big glass jar with a dome shaped lid and hand painted going for 1E. Another lady had beaten me to it. She had looked it over and once or twice and then put it back to look for some tiny liqueur glasses hand painted with famous French monuments. I sidled up to her and smiled and said ‘ the glasses look great’. She said ‘ yes very kitschy’ and the minute she turned to ask how much they were, I pounced on the glass jar and handed out 1E to the owner. She looked at me and said somewhat ruefully ‘hmm….that’s very nice too’. Yes indeed!! Found another one, which I was told, was 160E, being part of a series of some early product and now of antique value. No, I didn’t buy it. But I am always on the lookout for brocantes and jars.
But only if it had ended there. Like a compulsive, obsessive collector, I keep collecting them.
I have run out of things to store in them. They are taking up precious storage space – space I need to keep things I really need. I know I should throw them out – clutter is the worst enemy of a housewife (not really…clutter was my worst enemy when I was a busy corporate person). I must throw them out today, I muse, as I finish the most acidic, yucky tasting yoghurt that I picked up yesterday….only because it came in a two-toned ceramic jar!
Glossary French Words
Belle - beautiful
Appartement meublé – furnished apartment
Zester – a cutlery to de-zest lemon, orange; Peel the white coating inside the peel.
Brocante – Garage sale
Frigo – French familiar for refrigerator
Glossary Bengali words
Rui macher jhol – Rohu Fish curry
Friday, January 30, 2004
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Phera
Whoooooooooooooosh and its over: Our trip to India. 1 month and 2 days. Just a little over 4 weeks. Not bad, but not enough after one and a half years.
After a long and tiring flight, full of delays, transit lounges and complementary meals, we reached Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, more than 24 hours after we left for Orly airport, France.
After one and a half years, bien sûr, things would have changed a bit. They sure had. But so had perhaps our perceptions! Calcutta suddenly looked so BIG. Cars, people, buses, roads, giant hoardings, new shopping malls, multiplexes, smart apartment blocks, hospitals, hotels, flyovers everywhere. It all seemed too much to us after our quiet, orderly little French town (big by French standards with a population of 50,000)! I found myself squirming in my seat when a car whizzed too close, despite our expert chauffeur Dinesh being at the wheels of our trusty but rusty ambassador car. How we used to laugh at baba who used to squirm on his annual trips to Calcutta!
Our apartment looked so big, so spacious despite so much furniture. Baba, Ma looked so old and tiny and frail, with the two of us looming gigantically over them.
Delhi too had changed. A got lost several times on the newly constructed roads, flyovers, his familiar landmarks having had disappeared.
It was a rush of grabbing the maximum in the little time we had. Family and friends – his and mine, cities - Delhi (for A) and Kolkata, for me; a short trip to Rajasthan, some sporadic shopping (fear of excess baggage).
The two main topics of conversation were - Weather and Food.
Weather
Okhaney thanda kemon? Must be used to it. India tey oto thanda lagchey naa right? Wrong. I had to wear thermal underwear, fleece jacket, sweater, shawl and socks to keep warm at my in-laws large airy bungalow in Delhi. The house, hemmed in three sides by tall houses was simply arctic. My brother in law spent most of his time indoors, under a thick razai, kitted in gloves and monkey tupi. Made us yearn for warm, heated European winters! Atleast we can pile on as much as we like when we go outdoors here. But a sweater and shawl is all that is worn by women in India!! (Admittedly, gloves and cap and boots would look silly with a sari or salwar kameez). Hot water which turns cold as it runs out of the tap. Grey skies, thick fog. Read in the papers that it was responsible for an increase in the rate of suicide in northern India. Something I remember a Swedish friend of mine telling me about Stockholm!
Food:
- Sabji nischoi pao naa?
- Phulcopi, bandhakopi, motor, sheem, begun, spinach, gajar, beet, shalgam, shojney danta, bhindi, kumro…
- O! Sobi to pao taholey.
- Mach?
- Tao pai.
- Taholey ki pao naa…
- Panthar mangsho. And home cooking. Even though I cook at home, mine doesn’t count. For me it is anything cooked by Ma, R and ofcourse by our temperamental but excellent K.
After some seriously heavy eating in Rajasthan, I suffered from indigestion for the remainder of my stay and couldn’t do justice to ‘home cooking’ served by Ma, R and K.
It was in a way a very full trip. Mid December to Mid January, France – Calcutta – Delhi – Rajasthan – Delhi – Calcutta – France.
Onek dekha holo, onek ghora holo, kora holo. But at the end of the trip, what remains is a long list of “Holo Na’s”.
Cinema. I had a huge list of hindi and Bengali movies that I wanted to see. Managed only one - the latest feluda and enjoyed it very very much.
Plays at the Academy – anyone would have done. But couldn’t manage even a single one.
Friends - Met a few of my close friends and relatives. Managed to fit most of them in. But Miffed loads of those whom I couldn’t. “Paris-er Madam kay to Paris giye ebaar dekha kortey hobey, dekchi”. That jomiye adda ta holo na.
Books – Ma and R had faithfully collected some interesting Bengali books for me. Managed to bring 4 of them back. Left several behind.
Flyovers – Didn’t try a single one. All my destinations where in between the giant legs supporting the flyovers and now darker, grimer because of them. No one except those who have lived in Calcutta for an extended period of time will understand this. What fun to cover in a few minutes the stretch that you have once spent hours on, in full blown summer and in a bursting at the seams bus (the conductor of which, was still pushing people inside insisting that bhetorey gorer maath)!!
Then suddenly we were on our way back to France. More delays, transit lounges, complementary meals, swollen feet (from sitting for too long), bleary eyes etc. But flights such as these serve an important purpose. Never have we felt gladder to reach our destination. And if we were glad beforehand, then it was surely multiplied mani-fold after it.
Its 2 am, we land at Charles de Gaulle instead of Orly. Thankgod. CDG is just half an hour from home. Our luggage arrives quite early. And hey presto, here is a guy offering us to take us home for only 50E. (Cheap). “Aap ko Urdu aata hai”? He asks!! He, as it turns out, is a tech guy who is currently unemployed and is therefore supplementing his income as an un licensed taxi-driver. ‘Pas facile’ he tell me. He informs me that it snowed the day after Christmas. Tous le monde était content. Mois aussi, I too am contente, having been to India and more so to finally reached our home (thanks to the seemingly never ending flight).
Glossary French Words
Bien sûr – Of course
Moi Aussi – Me too
Tous le monde etait content – Everyone was happy
Glossary Bengali Words
Okhaney thanda kemon? How cold is it, over there (France)?
India tey oto thanda lagchey naa – You must not be feeling the cold here in India.
Razai – Thick quilt
Tupi – cap
Sabji nischoi naa? Not surely vegetables ?
Phulcopi, bandhakopi, motor, sheem, begun, spinach, gajar, beet, shalgam, shojney danta, bhindi, kumro…Cauliflowers, cabbage, peas, broad beans, aubergine, carrot, turnip, okra, pumpkin
O! Sobi to pao taholey – Oh, so you get everything then?
Mach - Fish
Tao pai. – We get that as well
Taholey ki pao naa – Then what is it that you don’t get?
Panthar mangsho – Goat Meat
Onek dekha holo, onek ghora holo, kora holo – Saw a lot, roamed a lot, did a lot
Holo Na – didn’t happen / couldn’t happen
Feluda – Possibly the most popular of Bengali detective characters, if not one of the most.
Paris-er Madam kay to Paris giye ebaar dekha kortey hobey, dekchi– looks like we’ll have to go to Paris to meet with Madam (meaning me)
jomiye adda – Favourite Bengali pastime of conversing with close friends.
bhetorey gorer math – Literally, like the Calcutta Maidan ( a huge park) meaning Loads of space inside (the bus).
“Aap ko Urdu aata hai” – Can you speak Urdu ?
After a long and tiring flight, full of delays, transit lounges and complementary meals, we reached Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, more than 24 hours after we left for Orly airport, France.
After one and a half years, bien sûr, things would have changed a bit. They sure had. But so had perhaps our perceptions! Calcutta suddenly looked so BIG. Cars, people, buses, roads, giant hoardings, new shopping malls, multiplexes, smart apartment blocks, hospitals, hotels, flyovers everywhere. It all seemed too much to us after our quiet, orderly little French town (big by French standards with a population of 50,000)! I found myself squirming in my seat when a car whizzed too close, despite our expert chauffeur Dinesh being at the wheels of our trusty but rusty ambassador car. How we used to laugh at baba who used to squirm on his annual trips to Calcutta!
Our apartment looked so big, so spacious despite so much furniture. Baba, Ma looked so old and tiny and frail, with the two of us looming gigantically over them.
Delhi too had changed. A got lost several times on the newly constructed roads, flyovers, his familiar landmarks having had disappeared.
It was a rush of grabbing the maximum in the little time we had. Family and friends – his and mine, cities - Delhi (for A) and Kolkata, for me; a short trip to Rajasthan, some sporadic shopping (fear of excess baggage).
The two main topics of conversation were - Weather and Food.
Weather
Okhaney thanda kemon? Must be used to it. India tey oto thanda lagchey naa right? Wrong. I had to wear thermal underwear, fleece jacket, sweater, shawl and socks to keep warm at my in-laws large airy bungalow in Delhi. The house, hemmed in three sides by tall houses was simply arctic. My brother in law spent most of his time indoors, under a thick razai, kitted in gloves and monkey tupi. Made us yearn for warm, heated European winters! Atleast we can pile on as much as we like when we go outdoors here. But a sweater and shawl is all that is worn by women in India!! (Admittedly, gloves and cap and boots would look silly with a sari or salwar kameez). Hot water which turns cold as it runs out of the tap. Grey skies, thick fog. Read in the papers that it was responsible for an increase in the rate of suicide in northern India. Something I remember a Swedish friend of mine telling me about Stockholm!
Food:
- Sabji nischoi pao naa?
- Phulcopi, bandhakopi, motor, sheem, begun, spinach, gajar, beet, shalgam, shojney danta, bhindi, kumro…
- O! Sobi to pao taholey.
- Mach?
- Tao pai.
- Taholey ki pao naa…
- Panthar mangsho. And home cooking. Even though I cook at home, mine doesn’t count. For me it is anything cooked by Ma, R and ofcourse by our temperamental but excellent K.
After some seriously heavy eating in Rajasthan, I suffered from indigestion for the remainder of my stay and couldn’t do justice to ‘home cooking’ served by Ma, R and K.
It was in a way a very full trip. Mid December to Mid January, France – Calcutta – Delhi – Rajasthan – Delhi – Calcutta – France.
Onek dekha holo, onek ghora holo, kora holo. But at the end of the trip, what remains is a long list of “Holo Na’s”.
Cinema. I had a huge list of hindi and Bengali movies that I wanted to see. Managed only one - the latest feluda and enjoyed it very very much.
Plays at the Academy – anyone would have done. But couldn’t manage even a single one.
Friends - Met a few of my close friends and relatives. Managed to fit most of them in. But Miffed loads of those whom I couldn’t. “Paris-er Madam kay to Paris giye ebaar dekha kortey hobey, dekchi”. That jomiye adda ta holo na.
Books – Ma and R had faithfully collected some interesting Bengali books for me. Managed to bring 4 of them back. Left several behind.
Flyovers – Didn’t try a single one. All my destinations where in between the giant legs supporting the flyovers and now darker, grimer because of them. No one except those who have lived in Calcutta for an extended period of time will understand this. What fun to cover in a few minutes the stretch that you have once spent hours on, in full blown summer and in a bursting at the seams bus (the conductor of which, was still pushing people inside insisting that bhetorey gorer maath)!!
Then suddenly we were on our way back to France. More delays, transit lounges, complementary meals, swollen feet (from sitting for too long), bleary eyes etc. But flights such as these serve an important purpose. Never have we felt gladder to reach our destination. And if we were glad beforehand, then it was surely multiplied mani-fold after it.
Its 2 am, we land at Charles de Gaulle instead of Orly. Thankgod. CDG is just half an hour from home. Our luggage arrives quite early. And hey presto, here is a guy offering us to take us home for only 50E. (Cheap). “Aap ko Urdu aata hai”? He asks!! He, as it turns out, is a tech guy who is currently unemployed and is therefore supplementing his income as an un licensed taxi-driver. ‘Pas facile’ he tell me. He informs me that it snowed the day after Christmas. Tous le monde était content. Mois aussi, I too am contente, having been to India and more so to finally reached our home (thanks to the seemingly never ending flight).
Glossary French Words
Bien sûr – Of course
Moi Aussi – Me too
Tous le monde etait content – Everyone was happy
Glossary Bengali Words
Okhaney thanda kemon? How cold is it, over there (France)?
India tey oto thanda lagchey naa – You must not be feeling the cold here in India.
Razai – Thick quilt
Tupi – cap
Sabji nischoi naa? Not surely vegetables ?
Phulcopi, bandhakopi, motor, sheem, begun, spinach, gajar, beet, shalgam, shojney danta, bhindi, kumro…Cauliflowers, cabbage, peas, broad beans, aubergine, carrot, turnip, okra, pumpkin
O! Sobi to pao taholey – Oh, so you get everything then?
Mach - Fish
Tao pai. – We get that as well
Taholey ki pao naa – Then what is it that you don’t get?
Panthar mangsho – Goat Meat
Onek dekha holo, onek ghora holo, kora holo – Saw a lot, roamed a lot, did a lot
Holo Na – didn’t happen / couldn’t happen
Feluda – Possibly the most popular of Bengali detective characters, if not one of the most.
Paris-er Madam kay to Paris giye ebaar dekha kortey hobey, dekchi– looks like we’ll have to go to Paris to meet with Madam (meaning me)
jomiye adda – Favourite Bengali pastime of conversing with close friends.
bhetorey gorer math – Literally, like the Calcutta Maidan ( a huge park) meaning Loads of space inside (the bus).
“Aap ko Urdu aata hai” – Can you speak Urdu ?
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