Pork and Pineapple

I have many pleasant memories of my visit to Dimapur couple of months back. Today while on my morning walk, another memorable event flashed through mind. It was the lunch on Sunday during the retreat.

I had known that friends from the North East has the meat of pork on most festive occasions. Couple of doctors got up around 4 am in the morning to drive about 20 kilometres to fetch the meat from the butcher. They wanted to get the best potion and enough for fifty people. On our way for the retreat I happened to notice several stalls of pineapple on the road side; pine apples looked different in appearance and colour. Dr. Sedevi who was at the wheel described the pine apple in Dimapur as the best he has ever eaten.

At the retreat, the during coffee break, I heard people whispering to each other, that they have pork and pine apple for lunch. This aroused my curiosity even more. I have only occasionally tasted pork and pine apple is not my favourite fruit either.

At lunch time, everyone was talking abut pork and pine apple. When I served and sat down to eat, I realised why pork and pine apple were rather special. The pork vindaloo was most delicious with the meat melting in my mouth. It made the rice taste, even better. There was enough pork curry for everyone to have a second or third helping. The pine apple was soft, juicy and gently sweet without the usual fibrous feel in the mouth. It is much different from the pine apple we have in south India.

Everyone kept moving about and talking to each other, during the meal time which added to the specialness of the occasion. One of the doctors mentioned to me, 'food brings us together and the joy of fellowship we can have around the meal, is the reason why we make the meals special'. They seem to eat just enough because I did not notice much obesity among the adults.

What I remember about the occasion is, 'food is for fellowship'. I hope we will stop watching TV or listen to music during meal times; instead promote conversation and story telling!


M.C.Mathew(text and photo)