{"id":554,"date":"2022-12-15T17:52:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T01:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/?p=554"},"modified":"2023-05-02T16:01:52","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T23:01:52","slug":"waiting-for-curry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/waiting-for-curry\/","title":{"rendered":"Waiting for Curry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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< Back to Fall 2022 \/ Winter 2023<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Waiting for Curry<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n By<\/span>Tanaayaa (Tania Apshankar)<\/strong>\n \n December 15, 2022<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Each strand of the basmati was long and thin. Nani sprinkled some salt, ruby pomegranates and coriander. Finally, she squeezed a lemon over it and the rice was the most fragrant dish I had ever known. \u201cKadhi ke liye toh ruk.\u201d Wait till you taste the curry. But all my attention was on the rice.<\/p>\n

When I rubbed the grains between my fingers, a starchy web formed.<\/p>\n

\u201cChakh le,\u201d she probed. So I tried it, and it was more delicate than any other rice, as though each grain had been individually boiled in a special cooker the size of a fingernail. I smiled at the thought of a thousand tiny pressure cookers lining the counters of my grandmother\u2019s kitchen.<\/p>\n

Ma entered, elated to see her 7-year-old daughter taking an interest in cooking. She had worn her hair different, braided, with coconut oil keeping the stray strands in place. I was irritated that she had not braided my hair under the white tube light in the guest bedroom. I wanted her fingers on my scalp, smoothening the knots in my black strands. Here, in Nani\u2019s house in India, she wouldn\u2019t hug me the way she did in California. In India, she wore long \u201ckurtas\u201d \u2014 loose collarless tunics \u2014 the hollows under her eyes dark, scalp always smelling of coconuts and her skin of sweat. She asked me to help in the kitchen, and in the evenings, to play cricket with my cousins.<\/p>\n

Ma announced to Nani, \u201cLawyer\u2019s papers are in. We\u2019ll ship the last boxes here soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat paper?\u201d I asked, accusingly. I could sense that Ma was hiding from me, always texting on her phone in the dark when the lights were out. Pa had also disappeared during the vacation, without saying goodbye. My heart ached for him, the familiar woody cologne on my shirt after he hugged me, his mustache against my cheek.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing. Wash the other lemon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sulking, I turned my back to them as they moved to the living room, talking in hushed voices. My heart beat fast as I strained to eavesdrop. Under the faucet, a strong lemon scent released into the summer air thick with humidity. I rubbed at the slimy peel that gave way to a roughness.<\/p>\n

They returned to the kitchen with the \u201cchum-chum\u201d of Nani\u2019s anklets in every footstep. \u201cCan I eat the rice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCurry isn\u2019t ready,\u201d Nani said.<\/p>\n

I hovered, inhaling the rice aroma that was slowly disappearing into the room. It was the longest wait, the curry bubbling to my side, hot droplets flying towards the ceiling spotted with brown stains. I turned to see Ma\u2019s fallen face, wet streaks marking her brown cheeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cKha le,\u201d Nani said tenderly. Go eat.<\/p>\n

Ma bent down to wrap her arms around me, squeezing tight, spreading her warmth over my back.<\/p>\n

I put the rice in my mouth, the acidity blending with juicy pomegranates, coconut flakes in the curry, tangy \u201ckokam\u201d spice and a soft bark of cinnamon. Eyes closed, my tongue warm and a little sweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Introducing the Winner<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"ATania Apshankar (Tanaayaa), a senior majoring in creative writing<\/a><\/strong>, grew up in India and California. Hours spent helping her grandmother prepare food in her kitchen in India inspired her winning entry, \u201cWaiting for Curry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apshankar\u2019s interest in learning languages blossomed when she took her first\u00a0Spanish<\/a>\u00a0class during her freshman year at USC Dornsife. She now speaks four languages and is currently learning a fifth.<\/p>\n

Her love of languages also inspired her to help start\u00a0Trojan Bloom<\/i><\/a>, USC\u2019s only multilingual journal. Launched in Spring 2022 and featuring undergraduates\u2019 writing in 15+ languages, it is published online by USC Dornsife\u2019s\u00a0Center for Languages and Cultures<\/a>. Apshankar serves as editor-in-chief.<\/p>\n

A strong believer in giving back, Apshankar joined the\u00a0Joint Educational Project<\/a>\u00a0(JEP) as a tutor in its\u00a0ReadersPlus<\/a>\u00a0literacy program in her first semester at USC Dornsife. She now supervises a team of tutors at Vermont Avenue Elementary, a member of the\u00a0USC Family of Schools<\/a>\u00a0served by JEP.<\/p>\n

Apshankar says her goals are to write and to increase access for aspiring writers in under-resourced spaces. \u2014S.B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n Runners-Up\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n USC Dornsife Magazine 2022 Creative Writing Contest: Runners-Up<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[15,16],"class_list":["post-554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-creative-writing-content","tag-creative-writing-contest-winner"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWaiting for Curry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/waiting-for-curry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Waiting for Curry - 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