It rained all night, filling the streets with puddles of water, croaking frogs and slithering snails. Heer, like most children her age was not very fond of the rains and neither was her Granny, whom she called Nani. Nani and Heer loved spending most of their time outdoors –watering plants, feeding dogs and sleeping in the sun post-lunch. Apart from playing with her friends after her homework, every evening Heer accompanied her Nani to their neighbourhood temple to light diyas. A rainy day meant none of the above.
Heer’s parents both doctors who worked for underprivileged people in the remote parts of Nepal, so Heer lived with her Nani. Practically inseparable, Heer and her nani were both very fond of each other. While they both had their quirks and were not always liked by others, they somehow managed to always like one another.
Nani began her day like any other, she did her chores, made herself a cup of tea and switched on the radio to listen to her bhajans (hymns). While this often annoyed Heer as it would wake her up earlier than she would like to, she had made peace with it.
After having her cup of hot milk, Heer sat down to do her homework, while Lakshmi, their cook, made them breakfast.
The rain brought with it a gloomy day. Heer did not need to water the plants, it was the sun that they needed, just like her.
The dogs hid under the cars and didn’t come to get food that morning.
And Heer spent most of her day mulling over how miserable she was.
While Nani tried to console her, they even saw a movie after lunch, but spending her holiday indoors wasn’t Heer’s idea of a good day.
It was 4pm and the rain had not stopped, and the sun never came out.
Heer spent her entire day praying for the rains to stop. She spoke to her mother in the evening and shared her disappointment with her. She was still hopeful to be able to visit the temple in the evening with Nani.
Temple visits meant a variety of prasad sweets from her neighbors who visited the temple. But to her dismay, the rains did not stop. Nani wasn’t too happy seeing Heer upset but she knew that nothing could be done but to hope for a sunny tomorrow.
It was dinner time and every Saturday, Heer and Nani ate khichadi for dinner. Heer, who usually liked Khichadi, was not very excited to eat. This made Nani sad.
Nani felt she had to make this day better for Heer and to be fair she wasn’t really having a great day either. Lakshmi, who cooked the Khichadi for them, did a good job, however, wasn’t doing its trick that day.
Nani never wasted food, and decided to do something with the Khichadi. Up-cycle it into something fun and delicious. She added some potatoes, onions, green chillies, coriander leaves and gram flour to her khichadi and whipped out some pakoras (fritters). Heer’s excitement held no bounds – from the moment the batter was made till the hot pakoda landed in her mouth. She was ecstatic. She hugged her Nani and thanked her for cheering her up.
Nani told her that it was upto us to make the best of what we have. A rainy day is great when one eats pakoras. Not only did the day get saved but khichadi pakodas became a regular snack at their home on Saturdays.
