Night Jasmine

Untitled Part 75

Hi all, do read my new story Aboli, one chapter is published already : )

Sanyukta had lived an insular life through her childhood, rarely interacting with people outside her extended family. She got her first glimpse of a different lifestyle when she began visiting Shekhawat mansion after having cultivated a friendship with Vidushi. Her love for Randhir drew her to Mumbai and after that her life changed dramatically. She had never dreamt of the myriad different experiences and the exposure that would reshape her existence in the country's largest metropolis. She loved the freedom and anonymity the city gave her, as long as she was careful and did not go looking for trouble Mumbaikars assimilated her as one of their own, never prying, asking meddlesome questions or invading her privacy in the city's indomitable spirit of live and let live. It also gave her the opportunity to acquaint herself with an eclectic mix of people whom she either cultivated friendship with or became indebted to for the support they provided her.

These included her music guru, her landlady, YoYo with whom she had moonlighted as a bartender on several occasions, Jiggy, who was her financial consultant and Polina, the exotic dancer and escort. Some others opened up their hearts and home to her, offering her a portal to Mumbai's hospitality. Rukmini belonged to Mumbai's native fisher folk or Koli community, whom she met at the local wet market and who took an instant liking for her, assuring her of a supply of fresh fish at the most reasonable price. When the hotel where Sanyukta was training decided to hold a Koli food festival Sanyukta eagerly suggested Rukmini's name as a culinary consultant, offering to act as a go-between to make communication flow more easily. 

One of the benefits Sanyukta reaped out of this was that she got a fortnight off from Aryan's company. He had never anticipated this move and could do nothing about it. The hotel management appreciated Sanyukta's enthusiasm and she got special permission to work in the speciality kitchen where the Koli recipes would be prepared under the guidance of Rukmini. Once the menu had been decided the hotel chef and Sanyukta were sent on an orientation tour to the wholesale fish market so they could order the seafood. Sanyukta was even invited to Rukmini's home where she enjoyed a rustic feast of stuffed squids, brinjals and dried shrimps, partially sun-dried Bombay duck fish called bamboo-chey-bombil cooked in a special Koli masala, fried fish, gaboli or fish roe pickle with rice flour rotis. 

What impressed Sanyukta the most was the position of Koli women in their society. While the men did the fishing or held day jobs, the fish wives worked very hard at selling the seafood in the local markets, earning them their economic independence and respect. They had a strong identity of their own and were a force to reckon with. Rukmini's two sons were highly educated, one practised medicine and another was an architect, though she has no qualms about continuing her hereditary profession. Sanyukta came to appreciate and admire the Koli culture with its distinctive cuisine, costumes, music, dancing and their festivals like Shimga (Holi) and Narali Punav which corresponds with Rakhi Poonam, when the Kolis symbolically offer prayers and a coconut to the sea to augur in a new fishing season after the fury of the monsoon recedes. 

Koli women wear traditional chunky gold jewellery and are renowned for their sharp tongues, their husbands and their customers both avoid confronting them. Nevertheless they were very hospitable to Sanyukta and plied her with sweets like baked stuffed bananas and coconut and jaggery filled gujiya called Purniyas. They told her about their worship of deities like Goddess Ekvira whose temple is in Karla near Lonavala, also Hinglai devi, Vithoba, Khandoba and Hanuman, although the East Indians converts practise Roman Catholicism. She even attended the fair of the temple deity in Rukmini's village, witnessing the palkhi procession and joining in the festivities, dancing and the revelry that followed.