not now what it would have been if finished then.
Many of the recipes, however, are those that Miss Singh gave us then.
Some of them she might not recognize, for they have become quite
Americanized, but they are hers nevertheless, and I hope that you will
not only try them and enjoy them, but that they will help you to solve
some of the problems of living and giving which are confronting us all
these days.
I have told this story before, but it fits in well here. A lady in India
once had an ayah, who from morning until night sang the same sad song as
she would wheel the baby in its little go-cart up and down the mandal or
driveway; as she would energetically jump it up and down; as she would
lazily pat it to sleep, always and ever she could be heard chanting
plaintively, "Ky a ke waste, Ky a ke waste, pet ke waste, pet ke waste."
The lady's curiosity was aroused. The words were simple enough, but
they had no sense: "For why? For why? For why? For stomach! For stomach!
For stomach!" wailed the ayah.
Desiring to know what was for why, and what was for stomach one day, the
lady called the ayah to her and sought the interpretation thereof.
"This is the meaning, Oh mem sahiba," said the ayah: "Why do we live?
What is the meaning of our existence? To fill our stomachs, to fill our
stomachs."
You may smile at this and feel sorry for the poor benighted Hindu, who
has such a low ideal of the meaning of life, but after all we cannot
ignore the fact that we must eat, and that much as we dislike to
acknowledge it, we are compelled to think a great deal about filling our
stomachs. This is especially true these days, when prices have soared
and soared and taken along with them, far out of the reach of many of
us, certain articles of food which we heretofore have always felt were
quite necessary to us.
The missionary on furlough is naturally regarded as a bureau of
information regarding the land where he has lived and worked. Many are
the questions asked. These questions are inclusive of life and
experience in general, but in particular they are regarding the food.
"What do you eat there? Do you get meat there? What kind of vegetables
grow there? What about the fruit of India? Why don't missionaries do
their own cooking? Do the cooks there cook well? Aren't you always glad
to get back to the food in America?" These and similar questions are
sure to be asked the missionary and others who have lived in foreign
countries.
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