Routines

Monday: Bland rasam rice

Tuesday: Somewhat palatable dhal

Wednesday: Take out food. (We believe in not eating refrigerated left overs - so we eat out!)

When I put the salty sour rasam, I cursed myself for not waking up a five minute early to bring a snack or a small treat along. I could think of a hundred things sleeping in the fridge that got in as part of our "intelligent grocery shopping" but failed to enter the bag. And by day 3 of a 5 day week we had given up cooking and cleaning.

From kindergarten through my MSc excepting a brief hostel period, there was not a single day that I had not taken - A lunch, a healthy snack, a salad and a container with yogurt in it. All most all of them. Every single day. I have no clue what the other three in the family took. I was the picky one. I wouldn't eat my food with a scrunchy vegetable on the side. Not a single day went when we did not have food at home.

After consistently picking amma's brains, she gave away the secret - Routine. Get used to it and fall in love with it. Apart from our "Evening tea" and our friday "evening out" aka our date, we dont have any routines. Slowly the salad on the dinner table has creeping in (sincere efforts to make it stay). I hope we get better than that. Hoping some of the healthy habits I had as a kid like yoga, reading and waking up early show up again. I don want to become a fat, stressed out and irritated aunty too soon.

PS: Amma is God.