Vegetable trysts

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There is a thinking in many quarters that the potato and onion make a fantastic couple and often we find one cannot do without the other. In a way they are inseparable. I am assuming the husband is the potato and the wife, the onion. I know onions have the tendency to make others shed tears, but it is unfair to qualify her to be the wife for this reason alone. Like all husbands, the potato is dull, bland and boring and it requires the onion to spice things up a bit. It is her extra zing that would keep their relationship going merrily along. And their children? They must of course be the baby potatoes and the spring onions!

And if you ask me, the most unlikely couple must be the lauki (bottle gourd) and suran/jimikand (yam), if not for anything else but for their totally incompatible looks and demeanor. The bottle gourd is fair, with a firm and fine complexion and quite shapely as well. The yam in contrast is rough, course with a hard, stony exterior. Again the bottle gourd is soft and tender inside whereas the yam is hard and takes time to soften. For this reason, one cannot ever imagine them being together. If they would, it would be nothing less than disastrous!

But not to undermine the yam, allow it to soften, let it simmer slowly on a pan, and once you have a taste of it, the texture and burst of flavours will compel you to say, “Now, here is a man”!

Having linked the lauki (bottle gourd) and yam as an unlikely couple, was wondering who their offspring would be. Even though we have labeled them as unlikely, we know that opposites attract. It is a no brainer that the yam would find the lauki,voluptuous and luscious, but what about the lauki? Well, we also know that some woman find brawny, rugged, rough men their beau idéal.  So does the protagonist in our story, the femme fatale, lauki. I would imagine that no sooner both get besotted with one another and with one thing leading to another, the inevitable happens! So it comes as no surprise when one day we find that we now have an offspring!

Coming back to the original question, who would it be? I cannot imagine anyone else other than the sweet potato (shakarkand/ratale). It has got the shapely contours from the mother, as well as the smooth complexion. And the yam, it has given it its thick, hard rind, as also its  darkish skin colour and the whitish-copper like colour to its core. I would not hazard to guess its gender, but whatever it may be, it is a most adorable child, spreading sweetness and joy!

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