Day 1

Day 1 Breakfast:

Menu: Idli sambar, coconut chutney; upma; chai; chickoo

I take my first bite of a chickoo since 2003 and I’m home.  It’s summer and I’ve raced my cousin up a tree in my Naynamma’s yard.  All the way back to 1984.  The memories like the taste are crystal clear.  I slurp it down in a hurry gripping it all.  Mom’s Saturday morning upma, Atha’s Idli and coconut chutney. It here just a bite away.

So I eat fast, then slow, then fast again.  Unable to moderate myself, I eat it all, knowing I’ll never have it back in the States.  I savor each bite of nostalgia, the sweet layers mixing on my tongue; eyes blurring.

Day 1, but it feels like I never left.