A DISTANT DREAM

Abhilasha tucks the loose end of her elegant blue silk saree into her waist and enters the kitchen, where the staff begins to sing the birthday song. Abhilasha blushes for a second but immediately says with a broad smile, “Thank you so much guys, but real celebration after we make today a success”. It is her 23rd birthday as well as her restaurant, Khidmat’s first anniversary. She has given special invitation for breakfast to her regular customers to introduce an exquisite dish. The dish is “The Subz Sandwich”, which has a unique blend of spices and vegetables. One bite of the soft sandwich takes you to a different world with a taste of sweetness, spice and sourness combined together. “Yummy” is how Abhilasha shrieked with joy when her mother made this sandwich, back when she was five years old. Today, she is opening this delicacy for the world. She quickly inspects the preparations to ensure a perfect recipe.

While looking at the table arrangements, her mind goes one year back in time when she had started the restaurant. It was a dream come true. Without realizing, a tear of joy slides down her cheek and she thanks God. Instantly, she shakes her head and gets back to work. Around 9:15am, her most loving customer, Rajendra uncle enters. She instructs a waiter to serve the special sandwich. As the sandwich arrives, she looks at him to see the first reaction. As soon as Rajendra uncle takes the first bite, he looks up with sparkling eyes acknowledging the heavenly taste to Abhilasha. She breathes a sigh of relief and looks gratefully towards her mother’s picture at the reception. Soon, the restaurant is full and she gets a lot of appreciation. She sees her customers off by giving a piece of Moti Choor Laddoo, marking the special day for Khidmat. As the breakfast marathon ends, she goes to the kitchen to thank her staff. All of them hug each other and shout out three successive hurrays for Khidmat. Saira, the youngest chef gets a cake for Abhilasha. After the celebration, she sits at a table and begins to think about her journey.

Abhilasha’s father, a useless drunkard used to beat her mother a lot and he died young because of ill health. Soon after, men of the slum where they lived, began to misbehave with her mother as she was young and widowed. Abhilasha was only six years old then. It was then that Sharmila behen, one of the mistresses for whom her mother worked as a domestic servant, gave them a space to live in her house. Her mother devoted all her time to Sharmila behen by taking full charge of the domestic chores. Abhilasha slowly acquired the art of cooking from her mother.

She remembers how Sharmila behen was kind initially but then she started exploiting her mother by paying less. But she kept quiet as she felt indebted to the mistress for saving her and Abhilasha’s life. When Abhilasha was 15, her mother passed away but she made Abhilasha commit her life in service of the mistress. Sharmila behen became very rude with Abhilasha after her mother’s death and made her overwork. Three years later, one fine day, tormented by this exploitation, she decided to run away. For a moment, she felt weak at the thought of her mother’s wish but then gathered her strength and ran away. She went to Parvarish, an orphanage her mother had taken her to for spending time with kids on her thirteenth birthday.

Fortunately, they accepted her as a cook and kids loved the food she made. For four years, she devoted herself completely to Parvarish. Zeenat, the founder understood the potential of Abhilasha’s skills and decided to support her in starting a restaurant. It took off……..

“Ouch”, screams Abhilasha with pain as Sharmila behen pinches her and shouts “What the hell are you dreaming about? My daughter is waiting for your stupid sandwich!”. Suddenly, Abhilasha realizes that all of it was a dream. The moment fills the 17-year old with grave sadness. But then, she remembers the beautiful dream about her restaurant Khidmat, gives a smile of hope and turns to Sharmila behen and says, “Sorry Madam. It won’t happen again”.

• Ujjwal Relan