Veranda Tales-Lima bean pulao paves the way

Storytelling has been an integral part of my life since childhood. I grew up listening to stories during the hot summer evenings and nights with my cousins. Mothers and grandmothers would gather all of us children for story time. It was usually pitch dark except for a very faint light coming from the flickering candle. Power cuts were as frequent as the hot and humid summer days. We all spread out on a cool concrete floor or bamboo mats on the veranda intently listening to fascinating stories about kings, queens, princes, princesses, and peasants alike. Stories about love, life, families, and people entertained and taught us life skills. These stories transported us to distant worlds, strange yet familiar. Often the same story told by two people sounded different as storytellers added new twists and turns adding their personal style and flair to the stories.
Storytelling wasn’t limited to summer evenings and bedtime. I was surrounded by adults who didn’t pass up an opportunity to share their wisdom using the art of storytelling. These rich vibrant oral traditions include songs, poems, stories, and సామెతలు (Sametalu are proverbs in Telugu). Men and women sing songs as they work in the fields, grinding grains and spices and doing other daily chores at their homes. Stories are often used to teach important life lessons, interpersonal skills, and survival skills. These stories and the time spent listening to them made our lives richer leaving an impression on me. This series is all about reliving those memories as I share these stories.
నల భీమ పాకములు (Nala Bhima Paakamulu)
I landed with a few clothes and books in my early twenties in a foreign land. Everything around me was strange, new, and different. The contemplation to go back started as soon as the flight took off and continued during the entire 11 hours of layover. I kept hearing the flight announcements to India destinations as my heart longed to change my ticket and get on a flight back to India. I felt sad, anxious, and lonely. The world wasn’t as connected as it is today. There was no Internet to scope out the place I was moving to and check out every single inch of it on Google Maps. Even though I left home in my teens in pursuit of education, coming to the US on my own traveling ten thousand miles to the other side of the globe was overwhelming.
I resisted the urge to change my ticket and head back to India and made it to the US. I approached the Immigration counter and the office asked me for my papers. It turned out I packed them in my checked in bags. Being kind and Immigration don’t go together and that day was an exception as the Immigration officer took a good look at me and me and said, “Go find your bags and come back with your papers”. I was in panic as I headed to the baggage claim to find my bags. They were there and I rummaged through my luggage to find my sealed visa letter. I came back to the immigration counter and I was allowed in. There were a lot of what if scenarios. I don’t know what I would have done if my luggage didn’t make it.
In the new country, the air smelled strange, food tasted odd, everything around me was different and I was lost. I realized English isn’t English everywhere. I had to learn different phrases and words to make myself understood. I quickly learned in America, “You don’t post a letter, You mail it”, “You don’t shift to a new flat, You move to a new apartment", “Ground floor is called first floor”, “bathroom is restroom”, and so on.
There were so many little things to learn to navigate everyday life. On top of everything, I craved a simple Indian meal. It wasn’t like I had the luxury to eat out on my student budget. Even if I did, there weren’t any Indian restaurants in the small college town of 50 thousand majority white people. I had to rely on ethnic aisle at the local grocery store to find rice and a few spices.
The real tragedy was that I couldn’t make a cup of coffee or make a simple curry even if my life depended on it. అమ్మ (Amma is mother in Telugu) was so concerned about me hurting myself while working in the kitchen that she wouldn’t allow me in the kitchen. She refused to teach anything that was traditionally taught to daughters. There was no need to learn to make tea as long as her daughter is good at math and makes money. She can hire a cook. On the other hand she didn’t think I would need to learn to ride a bike either. She was afraid I would fall and hurt myself. The only thing I was allowed to do was apply freshly churned butter on a slice of bread topping it off with heaped teaspoons of sugar for snack. I watched her cook, but I didn’t really know any recipes.
I landed in America all by myself without any cooking skills and not knowing how to ride a bike. I walked everywhere in the rain, snow, and heat. I started to experiment with cooking. I managed to fix myself scrambled eggs and chicken in onion gravy over rice. If I wanted hot పూరి (Puri) with potato and శనగపిండి (besan) curry, good luck with that. I couldn't flatten a puri to be fried. I didn’t really attempt making పూరి (Puri) and చపాతి (Chapati) for a while. It took way too long to cook rice and dal at the altitude of 5000 feet. When I didn’t have time to cook, I improvised with creative recipes such as sandwiches with potato chips. It sounds horrible now, but it tasted great at that time. I would stock up on Tombstone pizza when it was on sale for a dollar each for dinners.
Luckily, I had a friend who was a good cook. He lived close to the campus and very close to the lab I practically lived at during the first semester. My apartment was farther away and I would crash on his couch when it was way too late at night to walk in the freezing cold weather. He would have Lima bean pulao ready for me when I popped in to crash for the night. My food problems were largely solved for the time being with these నల భీమ పాకములు (Nala Bhima Paakamulu). నల (Nala) and భీమ (Bhima) from the epic, మహభారత (Mahabharata) are known for their culinary skills. People use నల భీమ పాకములు (Nala Bhima Paakamulu) sameta to describe a man in their family who is a good cook.
భీమ (Bhima) was one of the పాండవ (Pandava) brothers and he was a good cook. The పాండవ (Pandava) brothers were exiled when ధర్మరాజు (Dharmaraju) bet and lost his kingdom, his four younger brothers, wife, and himself in జూదం (Judam), a game of dice. According to the terms of the game, the loser would be banished for twelve years of అరణ్యవాసం (Aranyavasam) followed by a year of అజ్ఞాతవాసం (Agnathavasam). అరణ్యవాసం (Aranyavasam) means “living in a forest” and అజ్ఞాతవాసం (Agnathavasam) means “living incognito in disguise. If he were to be discovered during the అజ్ఞాతవాసం (Agnathavasam) period, the twelve years of అరణ్యవాసం (Aranyavasam) followed by a year of అజ్ఞాతవాసం (Agnathavasam) would begin all over again. One has to question the wisdom of ధర్మరాజు (Dharmaraju) for agreeing and playing such a high stakes game of dice.
After losing the bet, పాండవ (Pandava) brothers and their wife, ద్రౌపది (Draupadi) lived in a forest for the first twelve years. The thirteenth year was spent in disguise at విరాటరాజు (Virataraju)’s court taking up various jobs. భీమ (Bhima) worked as a cook during their అజ్ఞాతవాసం (Agnathavasam). The story ends with the epic battle at కురుక్షేత్ర (Kurukshetra) with పాండవ (Pandava) winning their kingdom back from their కౌరవ (Kaurava) cousins.
Rishi Brihadashva narrated the epic love story of నల దమయంతి (Nala Damayanthi) in మహభారత (Mahabharata) to ధర్మరాజు (Dharmaraju) and his brothers during their అరణ్యవాసం (Aranyavasam) to console them and inspire them to presevere like నల (Nala) and his wife దమయంతి (Damayanthi) did to overcome their struggles after నల (Nala) loses his kingdom in జూదం (Judam) just like ధర్మరాజు (Dharmaraju).
నల (Nala), king of నిషద (Nishada) heard about దమయంతి (Damayanthi), princess of విదర్భ (Vidarbha) and her legendary beauty. He fell in love without seeing her and started to pine for her. According to customs in those days, నల (Nala) couldn’t make the first move. He had to wait for దమయంతి (Damayanthi)’s father to announce స్వయంవరం (swayamvaram), a tradition where a princesses selects her husband from a group of suitors who come to seek her hand. She might just choose one of them or choose whoever wins a competition of her choice. నల (Nala) sent a swan in his garden to carry his message of love to దమయంతి (Damayanthi) and దమయంతి (Damayanthi) promptly swiped right and fell in love with నల (Nala).
It would be inappropriate for దమయంతి (Damayanthi) to ask her parents to announce స్వయంవరం (swayamvaram). Thankfully her father announced స్వయంవరం (swayamvaram) and నల (Nala) headed to విదర్భ (Vidarbha) on his horse. నల (Nala) was a skilled equestrian.
Unfortunately for the couple in love, gods ఇంద్ర (Indra), అగ్ని (Agni), వరుణ (Varuna), and యమ (Yama) joined the competition for దమయంతి (Damayanthi)’s hand. They accosted him on the way to విదర్భ (Vidarbha). They asked for help and he promised to help with anything without asking for the details. He realized his mistake when they told him that he had to convince దమయంతి (Damayanthi) that she should pick one of them at her స్వయంవరం (swayamvaram). He didn’t have a choice. Using their godly powers, they snuck నల (Nala) into the palace to deliver their message. నల (Nala) kept his promise and delivered the message. దమయంతి (Damayanthi) recognized him, told him to not worry and that she would pick him the end. నల (Nala) wasn’t smart after all. He repeated his conversation with దమయంతి (Damayanthi) to the gods and they told him that his help was carried out in letter and not in spirit, hence they considered it a betrayal.
The four gods disguised themselves as నల (Nala) to trick దమయంతి (Damayanthi) into choosing one of them. నల (Nala) tried his best to sit away from the four gods, but they wouldn’t leave him alone and sat next to him. దమయంతి (Damayanthi) noticed five people sitting together looking just like నల (Nala). She didn’t know who was the real నల (Nala). She wasn’t intimidated as she figured out what the gods were up to. She carefully observed all five of them. She noticed that four out of the five were staring at her with their mouths open. The fifth one was blinking his eyes normally. She placed the garland around the fifth person’s neck indicating her choice. The true love prevailed as దమయంతి (Damayanthi) defeated the gods and picked the right guy. The gods assumed their true form and blessed the couple.
కలి (Kali), a demi-god who manages కలియుగ (Kaliyuga) and ద్వాపర (Dwapara), demi-god who oversees ద్వాపరయుగ (Dwapara Yuga) had designs on దమయంతి (Damayanthi). When they heard about the wedding, they got angry that they missed the chance to attend the స్వయంవరం (swayamvaram). కలి (Kali) and ద్వాపర (Dwapara) joined hands to make trouble for the newlyweds. కలి (Kali) started controlling నల (Nala)’s brother, పుష్కర (Pushkara)’s mind and had him invite his brother to a game of జూదం (Judam), a game of dice. According to the terms of the game, the loser would lose the kingdom and be exiled. In those days, it was customary for kings to challenge each other in a game of dice and it was considered rude to not accept. When the game started, కలి (Kali) continued to control పుష్కర (Pushkara)’s mind. ద్వాపర (Dwapara) controlled the dice. నల (Nala) lost the rigged game and lost everything. He left the palace with దమయంతి (Damayanthi).
After a few days of eating whatever they could find in the forest, they were both tired and hungry. నల (Nala) lost his loincloth, the only garment he had, while trying to catch a bird for dinner. After that నల (Nala) was roaming naked and దమయంతి (Damayanthi) shared her clothing to cover him when they were around people. They finally reached the outskirts of విదర్భ (Vidarbha). They decided to sleep for the night and go to విదర్భ (Vidarbha) in the morning. నల (Nala) abandoned దమయంతి (Damayanthi) as she slept tearing a small piece from one end of her saree to cover himself. He thought she would go to her parents’ place and be safe and he can work on getting his kingdom back. Along the way he saved a snake from a burning bush. As a reward the snake bit him and transformed into a celestial being. The celestial then told నల (Nala) that the poison would disfigure him so he could be in disguise which would help him in his quest to get his kingdom back. He gave him a magic cloth to use when the time came to leave the disguise to assume his real form. He asked నల (Nala) to go to రితుపర్ణ (Rituparna) kingdom to seek help from the king of రితుపర్ణ (Rituparna). The poison disfigured నల (Nala) making him short and ugly.
దమయంతి (Damayanthi) woke up to find a piece of her saree and నల (Nala) missing. She started searching for him and got lost as she moved further and further away from విదర్భ (Vidarbha). After a few mishaps and a long ordeal of serving as a court maid in a neighboring kingdom, she managed to make it to విదర్భ (Vidarbha). Meanwhile, నల (Nala) having impressed the king of రితుపర్ణ (Rituparna) with his wisdom, equestrian, and culinary skills became his charioteer, cook, and advisor.
దమయంతి (Damayanthi) continued her search for her husband sending emissaries far and wide. All of them came back empty handed. She then realized her husband could be in disguise. She then sent the emissaries to pose a specific question to anyone who could be a possible match. They were to ask, “What kind of man would leave his wife in the middle of the night taking a piece of her clothing with him?” An emissary came back with news of meeting a man in రితుపర్ణ (Rituparna) who gave him the right answer. దమయంతి (Damayanthi) announced second స్వయంవరం (swayamvaram) giving a very short notice to people so only suitors from neighboring kingdoms could make it in time.
King of రితుపర్ణ (Rituparna) asked his charioteer, నల (Nala) to take him to విదర్భ (Vidarbha) as fast as he could. నల (Nala) asked the king to teach him his జూదం (Judam) skills after learning that the king was an expert player. నల (Nala) became an expert జూదం (Judam) player and taught his equestrian skills to the king in return. దమయంతి (Damayanthi) was on the lookout for approaching chariots. She recognized which chariot was driven by her husband from the sound of the hooves under his command. She asked all the suitors to cook her favorite dish. As soon as she tasted the dish made by నల (Nala), she cried out in delight embracing him. నల (Nala) used the magic cloth to get out of disguise.
నల (Nala) won his kingdom back from his brother in a rematch of జూదం (Judam). నల (Nala) and దమయంతి (Damayanthi) lived happily ever after and they were forever thankful to the swan that brought them together.
The guy who made me Lima bean pulao during my college days, stole my heart and became my life partner. We didn’t need a swan as a go between. He still makes me Lima bean pulao, awesome biryani, and many other delicious dishes.
