I Must Learn How To Make Chapatis!

As a non-foodie, one of my core childhood memories is about chapatis, weird?!

When my mum stayed home, there were two possibilities. 

The first one: 

She’d put on a pair of shorts or capri leggings and a vest or t-shirt. The time this happened was crucial, but not as much as the playlist she’d put on. If she played Westlife or a '90s R&B playlist, it was definitely a general cleaning kinda day. If it were in the morning, rest assured, she’d turn the house upside down! As a smart child, and having learnt from experience, I knew what steps to take to be, in no way, involved in this. First, be as unproblematic as possible. Two, out of sight, out of mind, so go and play. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t come back home unnecessarily, but also let her know you are around so she doesn’t worry. It was a weird balance. If you accidentally went back home, you’d have to do the weirdest things, like washing the gate or making sure the fire she lit somewhere doesn’t spread. Just something that was not as fun as playing. 

The second possibility, and my preferred one: 

She’d be in workout leggings as well, but as I said, the playlist was very crucial. If she played a Don Moen or Will Smith playlist, she was making chapatiii! If she felt very inspired, we’d get carrot or even pumpkin chapatis. On this day, you really didn’t need to hide from her, at least not the entire time. Just until the jiko was lit. You could come back to the house to say hello as you waited for the first chapati, but that mostly came out as disturbing her, so she’d hit you with a ‘Kwani napika niuze?’ She’d still give us the first chapati and even leave a small piece of the dough for you to roll and cook. I always either made a thick mini chapati or something so light and weirdly shaped.

I wonder, though, what our children’s core memories are going to look like! Children still play, but for the majority, it is video and phone games and generally just indoor things. Now we have machines that literally do everything. Innovation is good because it saves us so much time and energy. It is, however, also robbing us to some extent. Think of it! We have machines for cleaning everything, cooking nearly every food, robots and even self-driving cars. This means that we’ll have a generation that probably will not even need to know how to drive, meaning dads teaching their children to drive will be a tale once told. Oh, also, more and more people are embracing ‘gated community culture’ with everyone sticking to their home and children not getting to play together! Soon, social skills will be something you learn in school!

My mom taught me how to wash clothes. Best believe she’d wake me up at 6.00 am on Saturday to wash clothes, and I hated it! I still remember the conversations we had while washing clothes and all the laughter and storytelling. Of course there were times when she’d be angry at me because I am a yapper and she perhaps wanted to be silent, but still, I think she lowkey loved it!

You know it doesn’t have to be making chapatis or washing clothes, but it is important to retain some of these activities at the very least for bonding purposes. You know? Like something that you can do with your loved ones that has you plugged all in and completely detached from the world. Things that shape your memories and inform your value system. 

My grown self, who has never been a foodie or a kitchen girlie, until recently, still remembers these chapati days so vividly. And I must say, my mum makes really great chapatis. She is not as enthusiastic about it now, but still does really great ones. Meanwhile, who said chapatis have to be circular? I’m determined to perhaps make oddly shaped chapatis with my children — that’s if I don’t figure out the shape on time!

Well, that’s it from me! Remember to like, share, comment and subscribe to my blog! See you in the next post!