"Appadalu should not be dried in the scorching sun. They just need a gentle dry", My grandmother was educating me while asking me to move the traditional wooden folding cot, on which she placed all the appadalu, into the shade.

"Why is that so?", I asked.

"Harsh sunlight dries them rather very quickly and damages the shape. They need to slowly lose their moisture so that their shape and colour are retained!", she explained.

"Grandma, should we put so much effort into preparing something that we finish eating in a minute?", I asked. I was not philosophical at all when I think back. It was a genuine question as I saw her struggling since morning to roll the papads into the right shape and then dry them to meticulous perfection.

"Come here and sit", she called me with a smile on her face.

"Food doesn't just fill our tummies, it gives us pleasure, it relaxes and soothes our senses and at the end remains as a memory forever. So, do not measure it by the time you take to 'finish' eating it. Measure it by the amount of time it stays in your memory. If you want the food to stay in your memory for a very long time, then you need to put in this kind of effort".

My 9-year old mind did not understand the depth at that time, but I loved the way she explained it. The only good thing I did was, I remembered her words verbatim. And they kept on ringing in my head on each instance I cooked a meal.