Flawed Flour Grinding Poem by Bashyam Narayanan

South Indian cooking uses a range
of flours
It could be rice
It could be polished black gram
It could be Bengal gram
It could be a mix of spices, including
Red chili, coriander seeds, pepper
And others
Used in side dishes
It could be soap nuts
For to be grained into a fine powder

Those days we did not have kitchen gadgets
That could make the grinding done at home
Normally the mill would have three basic provisions
One for grinding grains and grams
One for grinding spices and the third special
One for grinding soap nuts
Which was done in a separate enclosure
With exhaust for throwing away the
Nostril-irritating fine dusts generated
Mill man used to allocate specific time for this

We, children, would be sent to a
Flour grinding mill situated far away from home
This assignment would be waiting for us
After our return from school
With the instruction that we should get the job done
Before it was dark
The apprehension with home-makers was that
The mill man would nab of a portion of the flour or the ingredients
We would be instructed to leave at the earliest
As usually we had to wait there in the mill for our turn

We would be given the materials to be ground
In a packed vessel
Would be told the quantity either in weight or measure
And given exact grinding fee as per their calculation
It was never a pleasant task, though
We would go with great reluctance
As we might miss our evening sporting event, often street cricket
We might have missed some runs that could have been scored
We might have missed some overs that could have been bowled
We might have missed some wickets that could have been taken
We might have missed some catches that could have been accomplished
We would go, however, to the grinding mill
With plans to quote less the quantum of materials to be ground
To the mill man and get a discount
The realized amount would help us get some edibles
On our back home

I came to know later that
My mother had already mentioned a less quantum
And gave us a fee that itself was less than actual fee

We were successful in convincing the mill man
With the figures we used to tell him
And on a number of occasions we enjoyed
The benefits of the discount

That evening when I came home from school
An assignment was waiting for me
With three vessels with materials to be ground
My mother briefed me the grinding specifications
And an amount according to weights of the contents

I refused to take all of them
Quoting handling problems
I suggested I would carry two vessels, not three
She insisted that I should get all the three done
I said, in that case, I would take a friend of mine too along
That was not her problem
She said 'do it, anyway'
I enthused a friend into this assignment of mine
With an intensive of some edibles after the job done
He agreed to go

We started walking with three vessels
I did some calculations within
And arrived at the quantum to be mentioned to the mill man
So that I retained enough money back for entertaining my friend
Reached the mill
Waited for our turn
Our turn came
I opened the vessels and mentioned the quantity as planned
The mill man showed signs of not believing what I said
He measured and weighed
And came out to say a sum which was more than what my mother gave
I said I did not have that much
Mill man suggested that he would get the things ground
And I would go back home to fetch the difference
And take back the ground materials
I was stunned and was not able to react

My friend made out what was going on in my mind
Came out to say that he would pay the extra
And did that to be great relief
We went back home with the ground matter
Told mother she was wrong
And asked her to pay the extra to my friend
Which she did

After this I stopped venturing manipulating
When it comes to flour grinding
And told my mother to be truthful
In mentioning the exact quantum of
Materials sent through me for grinding

Flawed flour grinding
showed me a new path of understanding