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| Sunday, 12 June 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Life with William : William the world's best cook! by Carol Aloysius Vesak may be over, but for Man Friday William, his maiden effort at organising a dansala is still worth talking about. It all started when the usual list collectors called at my house a week before Vesak to ask for a contribution towards a dansala they were organising at the Mariakade market. When William spotted them and saw me giving them a 200-rupee note, he waited till they left and then asked me permission to organise a dansala down the lane. He could do a better job than those Rasthiadukarayas he said reminding me that he was after all Lokaye hondama koki (the world's best cook), a frequent boast I was all too familiar with and which I never took seriously. "It will be a special dansala which everyone will remember, and nona will receive extra merit for supporting me", he added cunningly. Knowing Man Friday's persistence in getting what he wants, and determined to avoid being pestered by him every morning, I let him have his way. As soon as he received the green light to organise his Vipulasena Dansala as he called it, William began disappearing from the kitchen for several hours in the morning and in the evening as well. Asked where he had been, his reply was, "Nona, I am now too busy organising this dansala to remain in the house." But who is going to do the cooking and cleaning in your absence?", I demanded to know when I saw him getting ready for another of his lengthy meetings with his five friends, Pancha, Dias, Gamage, Piyadasa and Simon who comprised the organising committee of the Vipulasena dansala. Pausing for a moment to pick up the large flask of tea he had made for their meeting in my garage, he looked me in the eye and said, "Nona I know you want to attain Nirvana soon, If you take over my chores for this good cause, you will acquire so much merit that you will achieve your goal VERY SOON"! Having mapped out their mode of operation, and armed with lists similar to his rivals at Mariakade, William and his friends went out collecting 'donations in cash or kind'... Followed by dozens of little urchins like the Pied Piper of Hammelin, to whom Man Friday had promised twenty five cents for each contribution they brought in however small, William and his help Karayas would return triumphantly late evening carrying their bounty of cash and kind: bags of rice, sugar, tea, chillie powder, raw condiments and even bottles of Achcharu. Naturally, the residents of Vipulasena Mawatha headed the list far from previous experience, as there was little they could do to resist William when he was pleading for a Cause! Yours truly was cajoled into giving three bags of rice, several kilos of onions, and twenty five coconuts - all for a good cause, Man Friday kept repeating when I refused to part with anything more when my larder became empty as Mother Hubbard's cupboard. William and his friends worked through the night before Vesak Day dawned. Our garden was full of noise and clatter, of coconuts being scraped by William's two former girl friends Ariyawathi and Gnanawathi who giggled, chatted and sang to their former boy friend and his pals as they cooked the meals. The air reeked with the pungent smell of dozens of raw onions being cut up and chillie powder. To make matters worse, William had decided that the best place to do the cooking of the Kiri Hodi and Ala curry was in the open garden outside my bedroom. Not even closed windows could keep out the smoke and strong smell of curry and I bore it all patiently, praying for the dawn of the Thrice Blessed Day, and counting up my merit points for the promised state of Nothingness. When dawn arrived I served tea to the bleary eyed crew of workers, and went inside to begin what I desperately hoped would my last day of household chores. After today, Man Friday would be back in the kitchen and all would be well I fervently prayed. The dansala turned out to be a terrific success like all Man Friday's undertakings. It was held at the Kopi Kade near our house, whose owner couldn't refuse William's request for a free dansala hall in exchange for a short cut to Nirvana. The food was a spread of curries, pickles and sambols and all those who dropped by (many out of curiosity) went home acknowledging the fact that Man Friday was indeed Lokaye hondama koki. As for William, now that his fame as a cook has spread, is busy holding me to ransom. Either I give him a pay rise or he goes. Naturally I will opt for the former. After all, who am I to deny this small request from the world's best cook?
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