This story is an amazing illustration of the variety and inclusion of the Shibumi kitchen. As the kitchen is always open to everyone, every time one goes to get a post snack snack or a pre-lunch bite, the questions “What’s there for lunch today?” or “What’s there for lunch tomorrow?” have to be answered quite regularly.
The Shibumi garden has generally been an able aide to the kitchen menus. The only small hitch is that sometimes the harvest doesn’t match the menu’s needs. It is a rare occurrence and that is what makes this tale all the more amusing.
There was a bumper harvest of greens that were being sent to different homes in the middle of the week. Naturally the question ‘Why don’t we use it for lunch tomorrow?’ was also asked.
Our Nagamma looked up from her snack bowl and said,”Nalege idu aagalaa?” (Can’t be used tomorrow).
‘Yaake?’ (Why?) was the obvious counter question.
‘Nale yenu ammandu-appandu maadtaidivi!’ (We are making some mothers’s father’s curry or something like that tomorrow), she said with a chuckle.
‘Yenu-yenu?’ (What? What??) the onlookers asked.
‘Aiyoo yavdo Taayi curry maadutha idare’, she said.
It was difficult for us to decipher this.
Next day we all had delicious Thai curry for lunch and Nagamma had a twinkle in her eye, almost saying ‘I told you so’. Taayi in Kannada means mother.
Nagamma has been at the Shibumi kitchen for the past 13 years. She has a quick wit and enjoys a good laugh. She loves a good meal but has also struggled to keep up with the names of all the cosmo-cuisine that the kitchen churns out. 
