How to Conquer Chutney

by Don Mihsill

Don Mihsill’s poem uses food as a central trope to explore the inherent “issues” in cross-cultural relationships. It contextualises this in an exploration of a scene of ‘meet-the-in-laws’.

At dinner,
your mother said: “no”.
How she wishes

we listened
but we were caught-

up in building
love to a crescendo.

This is a fragile end-
eavour for people

like us: I worship
idols and you pray

at Wittgenstein’s altar.
We are different:

cement and brick,
yet your mater

(and pater, for that matter)
insist on a sameness

for your husband. Funny
that coming from a chutney-

consuming connoisseur,
the queen of other cuisines.

I would settle for your biryani
readily (and you would pair it

with my doh nei) we’d eat
spoonfuls of love and devotion

adjusting our taste-buds
to each other’s salt.

Yet, on this fateful dinner,
I, who can’t tolerate heat,

am served raja mircha
by your dearest mother

as if to drive home the point:
differences can’t work.

You laugh at my cheek
(how they flush when you kiss me!)

when I say I’m alright,
I’d love some more

so I won’t forget the taste
or sensation of this night.

Your laughter harks a hollow:
cutlery, and jaws move

the conversation killed before
it commenced (that’s what happens

when inherent questions are dismissed).
After the plates are piled

in the sink, I’ve cooled
down, you bring the frost-

ed dessert. You sit next to me,
flaky lemon meringue pie

in hand, you slip
your hand over mine

and we eat – for seconds –
the look on their faces.

Glossary

Wittgenstein – a philosopher who made significant contribution to both logic and the philosophy of language

Chutney – a condiment often served with rice; amongst the Khasis, chutneys are often marked by the level of heat delivered by use of various kinds of chillies.

Biryani – typically a mixed rice dish (with meat or vegetables) popular in the Indian sub-continent.

Raja Mircha – also known as “King Chilli” is one of the hottest chillies in the world. Typically used in chutneys as well as when cooking meats such as pork.

Doh Nei – a traditional Khasi dish wherein pork (the meat or “doh”) is cooked in a black sesame (“nei” = sesame) sauce/paste

Don Kitbor Koshy Mihsill is from where the clouds live. He whiled away his early childhood sleeping on the grassy fields of Patkai, Nagaland. His English teacher ignited a love for “poetry with a purpose”. He lost that purpose somewhere en route to becoming a lawyer. And then the purpose found him. Or he found it. Or something along those lines. But they’re together now – the purpose and the craft.