100 words
View(s):| The theme for 100 Words this time – Spices – has lead many writers down memory lane and nostalgia, unsurprisingly perhaps, given how much spices are entwined with our lives, especially lived traditionally. The politics of the spice smell is also touched upon here – familiar to anyone who has lived in the West. The theme for June is “Two”. Please send in your contributions before June 6 to Madhubhashini Disanayaka Ratnayake 100 Words The Sunday Times 8 Hunupitiya Cross Road Colombo N.B. Work sent to this page may be edited. |
Times have changed
Sachets of powder -
Varied hues, different sizes.
I choose some
And throw into my trolley.
How convenient!
Back home, my clothes
Go in the washing machine,
To rid them of the spicy smells.
In days gone by,
The powders were made
In a ritual at home
From seeds, roots, pods,
Bought in the market,
Washed, dried in the sun
And laboriously
Ground or pounded.
The stronger the aromas,
The happier we were.
Back then, we of the
Spice Land never minded
Them permeating through
The entire house
And everything in it.
Our love of curry
Hasn’t changed,
But something has.
D. de Silva
Chic and Sophisticated
The new spice rack
Added sophistication
To the modern pantry
It stood against the
Gleaming tiles
Quite “haughtily”
She mused in quiet
Contemplation
She receded to the past
When in a blackened kitchen
Her face aglow
Amidst orange flames
She concocted
Magical dishes
With varied spices
A sprinkle from here
And a pinch from there
The aroma would waft
To the street beyond
She needed no name tags
Nor cookery books
To be a Master Chef
Staring forlornly
At the old spice containers
Now heaped up
In a trash can
She wiped her tears
With her faded chintz cloth
Keerthi Wijekulasuriya
Spices
“So, you’re buying spices”
turning around she saw a girl
of nodding acquaintance,
peeping into her shopping basket,
why, oh, why, do some ask the obvious? She pondered:
although annoyed, she was pleasant to her,
having heard of the girl’s weakness of how
she tends to ‘spice up’ her life,
ruining others’ with dire consequences
in the process.
She had given her a wide birth….
Nalini Damayanthi Mahawaduge
Refreshing Spices
Sunrays win over the veils of mist
And spread its warmth over the well grown fields,
A bright day promised.
She steps out to her well swept yard,
Where designs of the ekel broom are still to be seen,
And spreads the mat and spices on it,
To be dried before being crushed
To excite tastebuds when used as condiments.
The strong aromas rise
As the mild winds blow,
She inhales deeply,
It refreshes her soul.
Maya Arundahti
Spices
Oh, you have come
after an age
and brought spices as usual.
But now I am poor.
And the food I have is not enough for two.
Yet, shall we cook what I have with your exotic spices
while relating those stories of long ago?
Lionel Senanayake