Sunset Walks and Frozen Parathas

Appears in

Andaza: A Memoir of Food, Flavour and Freedom in the Pakistani Kitchen

Published 2023

About

After Nani Mummy died, I went nearly every day to see my mother, and one day she came over to me and put something in my hand.

‘She wanted you to have this,’ said Mummy, handing me Nana’s diamond solitaire ring that Nani Mummy always wore.

‘Oh,’ I said, looking at its glittering surface.

I slipped the ring onto my right index finger. It was loose, but I put another ring over it to stop it from slipping off. When I looked at it closely, I could still see some soap lodged in the setting.

Over the next few months I tried to cope with Nani Mummy’s loss in my own way. I’d ask Juni to take me down to the beach at sunset and I’d walk barefoot on the silver sand, gazing at the sky. As a ring of fire surrounded the huge tangerine sun and it slowly sank below the horizon, it reminded me of the Kino oranges Nani Mummy and I would eat together under the winter sun. I’d keep walking until the rays of light faded into the sepia shades of a star-studded night sky.