Idle thoughts in relaxing lockdown!
In my hey-days, I have had the opportunity to travel a lot in various countries around the world. On many occasions I traveled to Japan--- the land of rising Sun. With assignments, although I was stationed in Tokyo for months as well as passing my leisurely evening amount of time in the exotic regions of downtown Tokyo like Ginza, Akasaka, Ropongi, Shibuiya, Akihabara etc and traveled other big dazzling cities like Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama Hiroshimat; equally I have had the ability of visiting far more sleepy towns of prefectures in rural ambience across Japan and received hospitality of japan hosts on occasions.
In another of such occasions, in a single sleepy town of a prefecture, I was invited as a guest of honor for a dinner in an exquisite and traditional Japanese restaurant. It was an expensive restaurant nestled in floral bush replicating wooden Swiss chalet to host just a few special guests in several settings in a big chamber designated for an individual party or an organization consisting guests not exceeding 7-8 in numbers. With a setup of low lying Japanese style dining room table placed in the center of the hall meticulously crafted with a cooking facility in the guts, guests sit in the decorated cozy comfortable cushioned wooden floor around the table.
It is obviously, at this time, that traditional Japanese dinner occupy an extended drawn time about 3-4 hours with host/cook preparing dishes live of different Japanese culinary delight draped in traditional Japanese attire. Guests were also necessary to wear traditional Japanese sartorial temporarily supplied by the restaurant owner in a such exclusively arranged dinner.
A skinhead couple and owner come cooks of the restaurant , when were asked about the reason why of their being spotting bald head, said that it had been due to maintaining absolute hygiene and cleanliness in cooking. According to them, contrary to saying of an old adage widely spoken in this area of the world, "J raandhtejane , sechool o bandhtejane",(She who knows how exactly to cook, may also make her hair); spotting thick forest of hair on that scalp may call for a possible hair loss in food making the dish unhygienic and spoiled.
As handful of us in our team set for supper, to my much pleasure, I had pointed out that a few beautiful Japanese females draped in colorful and stunning kimano, set beside each folks intimately with clay pots packed with welcoming Japanese Saake---a exclusively distilled rice drink. As the cooks wereoccupied in preparing dishes, the beautiful damsels in waiting meticulously garbed in kimano sitting very closely and intimately beside each folks started their exotic episode of hospitality and entertainment by feeding us lovingly Japanese Saake in small clay plot with warm kisses on our cheeks in ethereal smiles.
I was naturally much enchanted and felt special at the hospitality and entertainment of the girl in waiting engaged with me and was pleasantly sipping every drop of Saake to my heart's content that experienced my system with pleasant burning sensation. The more I was drinking Saake from the tender hand of the charming lady, the more I was feeling delighted within without knowing what I should did in response to the type gesture of the lady as per Japanese tradition!
At the crux of the problem which was slowly turning a little embarrassing for both host and guest, my host signaled me about something by blinking his eyes that I should also in response, feed the lady with Saake in tender care as japan culture and tradition demanded.
Having duly grasped the importance of the signal of my host I felt little embarrassed for my being ignorant of culture and unfeeling conduct of not duly reciprocating the type gesture of the girl such a long time, I immediately returned to my sense of decency as demanded by Japanese culture and tradition and extended my hand with a Saake pot to feed the lady with the elixir of life that warm Saake contained.
The lady drank Saake from my hand in million dollar smiles and continued the exchange of drinks by feeding each other when the night was still young in the midnight with sparkles of fireflies obvious across the window, in giggles and laughter until such time the gourmet skin headcookswere prepared to lay the live cooked food starting with a bowl of Octopus soup followed by sizzling Crabs, Sushi-Shasimi, Shukyaki,ShabuShabu and lot more other delicious Japanesefoods to mention of gastronomical splendor to support the hunger pinch brewed from Saake rolling inside with last bottom up in midnight frenzy.
A solid rice drink almost similar to our make of rice drink like 'ekchuani' and 'dochuani' (single and double distilled) indigenously distilled at home by the indigenous people at the Chittagong Hill Tracts, JapaneseSaake has the capacity to kick you hard when it slowly travels through one's body and cause you to stumbling on your feet before you feel that either you are a little tipsy sufficiently to sing a sad song of tragedy of a lovelorn hero in the old Hindi movie or transformed into an emperor of the night time completely guzzled to see you on the highway if not in the drain amid barking of dogs in the pub.
Following the dinner was over with Saake spree and exchanging Sayonara with beautiful females in waiting,I realized that I could still continue my feet not because of any bravery I had as that of a brave hearted prince of antiquity with unsheathed sword at hand saddled on the back of winged Pegasus, but as a result of combustible fuel of youth that was running in me in those times from which I am now myriads of miles away walking the twilight of light with only ruminating over the golden memories of bygone days in relaxing ongoing lockdown.
The writer is a former Civil Servant.
