It is amazing how you think you know everything about someone, after all you have been living with them for donkeys years, only to find out one fine day something hitherto unknown to you.
The other day I was making dosa for breakfast. The L&M likes his dosas piping hot. So I walked over from the kitchen like I usually do, with a freshly made one balanced on the ladle, and laid it gently on his plate right side up.
Yes, a dosa has a right side that goes up. It is the side with circular depressions on it made using the ladle while the batter is poured on the hot tawa. The other, flatter and smoother side is, though nothing is wrong with it per se, the dosa’s wrong side.
The L&M did something strange as soon as I laid the dosa right side up on his plate. He took it and put it the wrong side up before proceeding to tear pieces off it to dip in the sambar, or it could have been coconut chutney that day, and eat.
“Why did you do that?” I cried out in utter surprise disbelieving my eyes.
“Do what?” He asked puzzled.
“You turned the dosa wrong way up!” In my book that’s sacrilege. Unless of course it is a masala dosa and is used as a wrap for the potato filling the ‘wrong side’ has no business showing its face.
“Oh! I prefer it this way!” The L&M replied nonchalantly.
“What!!!!!! Since when?!!” I was incredulous.
“Since always!”
“No way!” Now I couldn’t believe my ears too.
“Yes! I have always eaten dosa this way.” He insisted cheerfully.
I stared dumbfounded. How could I have missed it in all these years?! Thirty nine years and five months I have lived with this man and I didn’t know how he ate his dosa! How many thousands of dosas had I made for him during those years! Watched him eat them too, and still I had not noticed this little quirk of his!
Well, well, well, well! This was a real eye-opener. I thought I knew everything about the L&M while right under my nose he had been flipping dosas wrong way up before eating them! Hmm… Now I am curious to know what else I might have missed about the man. From now on my eyes and ears shall remain vigilantly open. 😉
© Shail Mohan 2021
Shail's Nest 
This is fun. How well can we ever know someone? How well do we really know ourselves?
Questions that really make one think! 🙂
This is sooo funny. I have no idea what a dosa is but I venture to guess that the L&M is delighted that he still has some hidden secrets. Have fun finding them out😁
Dosa is a kind of a pancake/crepe (savoury) made from fermented batter which is made by grinding soaked lentils and rice. And thank you, I am going to find out all of them secrets one by one 😉
Now if you were a PROPER wife then you would have told him, quite firmly, that he was mistaken and he’s never liked it the wrong way up. And then made him apologise.
Oh no! I have lost the chance I had to be a ‘proper’ wife for once!! :))
Do better! 😀 😀
Poor guy. He now has to live with your eyes on him all the time.
You bet! 😉