Meenu of Udaipur

She is extraordinary.  I got to know a little bit about her during our early morning visit to the spice market.  

She is beautiful and self confident and determined.  But she is a quite tired.

She has been living with her parents since leaving her husband's home.  She freed herself from an impossible situation...a mother in law that is cruel and maligning.  An Indian version of a Grimm's fairytale.  She and her husband get to see one another every other month or so.  With her two children she returned to her parent's home where she cooks devine meals in her Mother's small restaurant.  Clean, flavourful, vegetarian fare that feeds so much more than an empty stomache.

We talk about family and marriage and commitment and personal dreams. I watch as she interacts  with the venders in the market.  I get the impression that she is well liked and respected.  She also has high standards.  She uses a lot of mint in her recipes and chooses very carefully.  

We stop and cool down with a glass of fresh sugarcane and watch the activity in this lively market.  She is amused by the women from the country who are always dressed up in their fine clothes and makeup.  Whether they are labouring in the fields or working in the market, they are always dressed in their finest.  City women are much more modest in their wardrobe.  

We return to her flat which she is just getting set up.  Her kitchen is emaculate.  She prepares a delicious banana curry that I will try to make when I return to Canada.  It won't taste the same though.  The main ingredient will be missing...India.

When I think of Udaipur, I will think of Meenu, a woman who is extraordinary.  A woman who is trying to live life on her terms in a society that does not fully embrace the notion.