Fried Tomato Sauce
The smell of tomato sauce frying wafted upto my nose as I walked by. It was the sauce for a stir fry for some meat – possibly some sausages. The usual club fare – devilled sausages with huge chunks of onion, capsicum and tomato sauce. Yum. But not healthy. Sigh.
I was en route to the gym. Cycling in to the basement of the Parkland building was a bit daunting coz it was like a dungeon – dark, lonely and with a few dim lights to illuminate the way. Parking under massive ducts that shake randomly with God knows what does not inspire much confidence either. But it is what it is – a secure space for my trusty Scott Mountain bike. I have been riding her for a good 5 years now and hence my fondness has grown along with my fear of losing her. So yes, the locks and the stripping of lights happen when I park anywhere. And yes, she’s a woman, just like her owner.
Today I was happily sauntering along while these delicious smells were assaulting my nostrils. It reminded me of days when I walked by the SSC kitchens to go play badminton. We used to joke about playing for 2 hours and then going to the club house to enjoy the food. Ha ha. All the burnt calories lost to the greed for hot butter cuttlefish, fries, pepper pork, corned mutton toast and the like.
These items flashed through my head as I walked along even now. I did not remember when I had last gone to SSC – just to eat and drink with friends. Clubs are always affordable – or so it seemed. When you overconsume items simply because they smell good and sound good and you feel you need them for an evening of loose thoughts, happy moments and drunken intellect. Those were the good days.
Now life was on a bicycle. Yes I am grateful I have at least this – some are stuck walking or being squeezed like toothpaste inside a rickety bus or train. I would much rather cycle. But this means no drinking coz drunken cycling would be a nightmare to say nothing of the safety factor. There was also the issue of time. I cycled only upto around 10.30pm, that too on well lit roads. But these days every Johnny is on the road like he owns it so cycling is not all that straightforward.
I wandered into the gym and greeted the instructor. The tomato sauce smell was still strong but I chose to ignore it and focus on my schedule. Some distractions in life need to be put aside if one is to achieve any goals. In this instance it was frying tomato sauce. Random yes, but very real.
