It was sometime in February 2009 when my mind finally decided it was time to stop functioning with any sort of conventional logic.
Not that I am known for any sort of really sensible behaviour, but this time my mind decided to truly muddy things up. Literally.
I quit my job at MTV for the 2nd time (yes, but that story is not half as crazy as this one) and marveled at how my boss kept a straight face when I told him I'm off to get my hands muddy in Himachal Pradesh.
In a fitting sort of way, I reached Andretta on the evening of 31st March. On the eve of All Fool's day.

Mini met me at the door of the house and gave me a searching sort of look. 'Is that all you're carrying?' he asked gruffly pointing to my rucksack with his cane, I nodded cautiously.He broke into a wide grin and said 'That's lovely! You are here and you seem well. Who needs anything more anyways!' And, I didn't.
The next 3 months were possibly the happiest ever in my entire life.
I woke up every single morning looking forward to the day and usually with a smile playing at my lips.
And I fell asleep every single night content, pleasantly tired and rather satisfied with my lot.
Everyday was a happy day, and a happier day was made when Mary whipped up a super pudding for desert after dinner, or I teamed up with Sardarji to win at carom, or when Jugal looked at my work on the wheel and said 'Rohit today mitti is finally listening to you haanji?!!' And then he would promptly put me in my place by settling down on the wheel next to me to throw a large jug in seconds, as I struggled with my 'tall' cylinder...

The name by which Sardarji Mansimran Singh is known far and wide, Mini, is a massive misnomer if there ever was one, cause the man lives a life incredibly large! There’s possibly nobody in the Kangra region who doesn’t know of Sardarji. His father, Sardar Gurucharan Singh was the grand old man of studio pottery in India and Mini carries on the legacy. The Andretta Pottery conducts a full time residential course for pottery - mainly terracotta, since that’s what Andretta Pottery does.
I must confess here, that I didn't really go to Andretta to 'learn' pottery. My main objective to go to Andretta was to see if I could look at pottery not just as a passion, but as something I could do day in and day out, just like a job.
And since I wasn't looking to learn, I was thankful that there was no real 'teaching' at Andretta.
Nope. I don't think I was ever 'taught' anything at Andretta.
But I ended up learning loads.
I marvelled at the perfect lids of teapots crafted by master potters from across the world on Sardarji's bookshelf. And then spent hours trying to make sure the lids from the teapots I made didn't fall when the teapot was tilted to pour.
Milaap, the numero uno thrower at the pottery, made me feel rather ridiculous when he worked through the day on the wheel without a speck of clay on his clothes - unlike me, who looked like I'd had a mud bath by late afternoon!. And today I still end up looking like a construction site labourer at the end of a day at the studio. Milaap would NOT approve.
Sardarji's nonchalant way of chucking away almost all your day's 'egg bakers' (a rather British thing - a bowl with a straight handle to bake eggs. Read till the end of this article and you'll be rewarded with the recipe!) meant that you never became the wuss who get's idiotically attached to his work. It also meant you just went straight back to the wheel and made more.
And then there was Jugal - now we've made him our studio 'deity' - for all the nuggets of wisdom he passed on to me through never-ending rambling conversations about pottery, world peace, selling everything in stock... and keeping a look out for discarded upholstery and sofas to scavenge sponges - one can never have too many sponges in a pottery studio!

3 months passed in a happy almost delirious sort of blur. Apart from hitting the kickwheels every single day (including most Sundays, which were official 'offs’!) we also drove with Jugal to Bhuntar to build a kiln, visited his kids' school and masqueraded as 'teachers’, rediscovered the simple joy of going on a picnic - complete with sandwiches in baskets and juice in thermoses and, of course, hosted a big bash for Mini’s 70th birthday party - they still talk about that one!
It's been 5 long years since that eventful summer in 2009 when I landed up in Andretta with just a rucksack on my back.
I've finally co-founded a pottery studio. We hope to make good pots. And hopefully find a few buyers for our work.
But more than that, I think it's time for me to realize - I am here, I seem to be well and..."who needs anything more anyways!".:)
Oh and here's the recipe!
Baked Eggs. The Microwave Way.
What you need:
An egg
A little olive oil
Random salsa sauce (or half a finely chopped tomato with a little chopped chilly)
Cheese
Most importantly - A Curators of Clay egg-baker
(I learn my marketing from Jugal!)
How you make it:
Splash the little olive oil into the egg-baker - splashing helps coat more than just the bottom!
Break the egg in it. And poke the yolk with fork (or it'll splatter in the microwave - not pretty and is a pain to clean!).
Put in the salsa sauce or the tomato chilly mix on the egg. Don't mix it. Just sort of cover it like a topping.
Grate cheese over this. Dunk the egg-baker into the microwave for about 30 seconds to a minute depending on the blitzing power of your machine.
And there you have it, baked eggs, the microwave way.
Did I mention that the fabulous Curators of Clay egg-bakers are microwave friendly AND oven-proof? So you can do this in an oven too. Takes a little longer, tastes just as good!
