My friend, Shruti Nargundkar of Melbourne, sometime in 2012, wrote a post on the gracefully ambivalent potato, linking it with her childhood perception about Krishna.
It is so appropriate today, when we celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna on Janmaashtami. Read her blog here to see the connection.
I learn that potato is not native to India. But like so many who travelled and made India their home, and so many who travelled out of India to make homes elsewhere, I welcome the potato.
And i just wondered what one could say if asked to write a potato biography .....
Turns out, that I actually managed a poem, in Marathi and in English . The original was in Marathi, and some phrases unique to marathi are always untranslatable....
हजारो वर्षापूर्वी हि मंडळी
परदेशातॊन आपल्याकडे आली; पासपोर्ट नाही , व्हिसा नाही , नुसतीच एक जगप्रवासाची इच्छा . त्यांना आणणारे आपला फायदा करून निघून गेले , पण बटाटे लोक ते विद्वान, इथे जम बसवता बसवता , कृष्ण आणि अर्जुनाकडून खूप काही शिकून गेले … कधी आत्मसमर्पणी तुकडे रशश्यात शौर्याने उकळत, कधी वाफेत घडलेले महाभारत , कधी आयुष्याचे पातळ काप कढईमध्ये मागे पुढे फिरत , कधी गरम तेलात सोनियाचा दिवस बघत, पूर्णपणे स्वाधीन , कधी आलेले डोळे मिटून , अभ्यंग स्नान करून, आयुष्याचा कीस काढून कढीपत्ता मिरची दाण्याच्या कुटाबरोबर काढलेले खमंग क्षण, आणि मग अनेकदा कौतुकाने दोसाबाई आणि पावबाईन्नी दिलेले प्रेमाचे आलिंगन , दह्याच्या गावी मिळालेला सुंदर थंडावा ,; आणि आपल्या मानलेल्या मात्रुदेश्याच्या इतर भाज्यांशी मनापासून केलेले सम्झ्योते। कधी देवाची आठवण काढून उपासाच्या क्षणी सगळ्यात खुशीने भाग घेणे . कधी लहान मुलाचा हट्ट म्हणून . गीतेतल्या शिकवणी समजून कुठल्याही फळाची अपेक्षा न ठेवता आपले निष्काम कर्म करीत राहिलेले सर्वांचे प्रिय बटाटे …. |
They sailed across to us centuries ago, passportless, visaless, but with a great urge to travel the world. Those benefiting, vamoosed with the profits, but the Potato folks stayed on and settled down, eavesdropping all the while on Krishna and Arjuna. Sometimes, pieces in harakiri, bravely bubbling away in masala gravies, sometimes, participating in Mahabharata steaming in Kurukshetra cookers, sometimes, in thin slices of life, being shoved around in wild heat in a pan, sometimes, immersing themselves in hot oil, dreaming of golden futures, and sometimes, eyes closed, just shredding their thoughts to smithereens, as they contemplate some spicy times with kadhipatta, mirchi and peanut heroes. So many times, an affectionate embrace by Dosabai and Pavbai, Maybe a sudden calm and cool feeling at the thought of a life with Dahi, and always, but always, a peaceful coexistence with all the other native bhajis dying to make acquaintance.... Sometimes answering demands for fasts, and sometimes, demands of young children. They simply remain, an example of Nishkaam Karma, a Bhagwad Gita philosophy of working without caring for the fruits of your labor. Hail, the old Potato ! |
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