As the sun prepares to set on Goa’s horizon, three ladies begin to prepare dinner for their families on the pavement leading to the railway station. On the menu this evening, is vegetable, chicken and chapattis.
First, the chicken pieces are washed, the vegetables diced, the spices set aside and the dough is prepared. As the women get into the culinary act, one man starts arranging the wood to light the fire, while the children play around.
They are happy kids, jumping around, hugging each other, laughing and living with no worries.
To most passersby, the meal before dusk will seem a routine before these families call it a night. To others, it is a way of life where money is not the key to happiness.
As they are being watched, one lady steps forward and says, “Why don’t you eat something. Come, sit down.”
To most passersby, the meal before dusk will seem a routine before these families call it a night. To others, it is a way of life where money is not the key to happiness.
Within an hour or so, the ladies have prepared a dish of chicken, something out of aubergine, nice hot chapattis and a red mixture in a glass that appears to be a version of sol kadi.
Just because they live on the streets, and perhaps have no place called home, they may be looked at or thought to be nomads. But, when one decides to join them for a meal, they serve you first, and therein begins a humane story.
Ramesh commands with his eyes and appears to be the head of the family. The women seem to understand what he wants, and service follows.
Food is laid on a metal plate and a lady, who appears to be Ramesh’s wife, starts to serve, always asking whether one would want another helping and seeing to it that after the guest, the kids are served.
Just because they live on the streets, and perhaps have no place called home, they may be looked at or thought to be nomads. But, when one decides to join them for a meal, they serve you first, and therein begins a humane story.
The aubergine tastes crude as it has been drowned in spices, and part of the crudeness is because it appears raw before it was poured in the pan. Yet, it is edible and with the joie the vivre shown by all seated around, crude tastes sombre.
The chicken served is spicy, but the children – some who appear to be two and three-years-old – do not fuss. Instead, they laugh as they eat, wanting to be part of the adult interaction.
The chicken dish is made of the parts of chicken left behind by customers at chicken shops – legs, skin and neck. The women mix some powdered spices, green chilies and coriander with lime sprinkled over.
Whilst the children are mostly fed vegetables, the rest of the family feasts on the other dishes, and as everyone eats, the males discuss their earnings, the females of what they managed to bring along.
Whilst the children are mostly fed vegetables, the rest of the family feasts on the other dishes, and as everyone eats, the males discuss their earnings, the females of what they managed to bring along.
As we eat, once in a while, someone stops, drops something and disappears without any interaction, and one of the youngsters quickly picks up what has been left behind – biscuits, rice, flour, over ripe fruits and clothing.
“Did you like the food?” asks Ramesh’s wife. And, before she can be answered, hands over a packet of Glucose biscuits.
“Have this,” she says, explaining that the mixture one had from a container was not a 'sherbet' but spiced water which was used by them as curry water.
The meal with this family, cooking on the pavement, is a lesson of how happiness floats all around and it’s for each one to see and decide when one wants to immerse in the emotion.
Happiness is free. It literally is, and it can be seen in the faces of the family that lives with no fear of tomorrow.
Ramesh, the other men, the women and the children live for the moment and they do so in their own way, seeing no contrast with the life of those who pass by.
It does not matter to them who drives which car or who wears what. Just like them, all those who pass by, have their own story, and it does not make a difference to Ramesh and the rest because, for them, death appears to be a feeling similar to life – don’t think about it either, just roll on and keep smiling.