The past year seems like to go in a flash and sometime, I think its ok… the tough times should just blink while the good times should ideally go really really slowly..

Yeah and pigs would fly… the reality is that when too many things are happening we do not even realize how time flies… good or bad…

So anyway, in between I would like to take some food pauses… which kind of freezes some delicious moments..

Sometime, back, I thought that I was spending so much amazing time on the road, I must have been a truck driver in my past life.. LOL..

Now I spend whatever little free time watching food shows… and well, I am now thinking maybe in my future life, I would like to be a chef.. hahahah

So anyway, with Dad and Rocks here, I kind of did not bother to go to the fish market.. but Rocks and my tastes are quite the opposite when it comes to fish. Dad is like me, he will get the exotic and the routine, mixed.. and the pieces are good size..

Now why does the size matter here… I dont know maybe I am fan of fish and I like to have my fish big when I eat.. maybe its a bong thing.. I dont know.. but well my big and Rocky’s definition of big is way different.  :)

So off I went and today after a long time, got Boal fish..

Well, us living so far apart from home, we have kind of lost the seasonal delicacies which used to be cooked in the kitchen by mom and aunts. Boal, Ilish, Rui, Chitol, Puthi, Dry Fish..

Summer time, there would be some light  sweet and sour fish curry with seasonal veggies and we would also have the small fishes with some interesting spice mix..

Monsoon time, the fishes would change and so would the taste, the curries would be heavier intended to generate warmth. I remember having really exotic dry fish recipes which mom would make inspite of her heavy schedule of a 9-5 job. I have been ever so thankful for the same whenever I think of her..  When I was younger, I wanted her to make more fancy stuff but what she has left me with is legacy enough… and no one knows other than me how difficult it is to whip up a comfort meal which is nutritious tasty and well having variety.. Thanks Ma for that..

So anyway, winter was a time of fatty fishes..  and Boal Fish.  This fish has a lot of fat and is extremely tasty.   And I have had some really mouth watering recipes back home..

So well coming back to present, when I saw this Boal today, all the memories came back… and though I did not have the opportunity to  take recipes from Mom, I cook them up from taste and from what I used to remember helping mom and of course my aunts’ recipes..

Its funny how something so mundane… as a particular fish can infuse the memory bank with color of memories and forgotten tastes and the feel of winter.. back home in Shillong..  the home that was…

Sigh… so here I was re cooking a memory trying to recreate the same feel and it felt good..  the association was so warm….

And just yesterday evening, I was like looking up at the stars and asking the universe… ” how much longer ?? ”

And today connecting with the weaves  of the past, I felt alright again.. rooted, and the push to move forward..

Interesting… how we can associate with some really deep triggers and make lemonades of the lemons I am getting.. haahaha