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He turned to face Deepak. “And Deepak, you’re doing a wonderful job taking care of her. Roshni, you must be so proud of your husband. Great teamwork…keep it up.” He appreciated their efforts to help each other.
Roshni could not deny the efforts Deepak put in to take care of her, and she admitted this to the doctor; a positive sign indeed for Deepak!
After the appointment Deepak helped Roshni to the car, and since it was past lunchtime, he asked Roshni if she wanted to go out to lunch. Roshni reminded him of a team meeting at 2 p.m., so they decided to conference from the apartment.
They talked about the project on the way home. She discussed her project with Deepak and how her part of the project was transferred to somebody else because of the accident. She began to open up, and this was great positive feedback for Deepak. They talked more and argued less.
Since both of them were on the same team, they decided to attend the meeting and check out the latest developments.
Both were hungry, and it was too late to cook at home, so Deepak suggested buying chapathis and bhaji from aunty next door. Roshni objected and volunteered to make dosas for Deepak.
Dosa is a thin crisp that is made with rice and lentil flour. This is a very popular South Indian dish served with potato curry and chutney – both wet and powder. Having lived in Bangalore for a few weeks now, Roshni had tasted this dish frequently, and she had learnt to make instant dosas.
Deepak liked dosas. He had tasted them in the US, and he was happy to help Roshni. However, the actual process to make dosa batter was very elaborate, and Deepak was aware of this. He wondered how Roshni would accomplish this instantly. He was curious!
Roshni was very efficient. She mixed lentil and rice flour with salt and made a batter for dosa. Living in Bangalore, it was unheard of not to have dosa chutney powder at home. She poured a ladleful of dosa batter on a hot pan and spread it in circles, then she sprayed oil at the edges, and within a couple of minutes the lentil crisp was ready. Deepak was amazed at her skills; he watched her as she served him hot dosas with chutney powder. He had the option to add oil to the chutney powder. He had not heard of this, so he tried it and liked it, although the chutney powder was spicy.
“Mm
m, wonderful, Roshni, these are so good, thank you.”
“Deepak, you were hungry, and hence everything tastes good,” she said, being modest.
“No, Roshni, I mean it. These are so tasty.”
He enjoyed the dosas. They were not the same as authentic style because of the instant method she followed. The spicy chutney powder induced a light layer of sweat on his forehead and a runny nose. In spite of this, he ate and relished wiping off the sweat. Roshni watched him and smiled, and he responded the same. He had not eaten anything that spicy in a while, and his body reacted instantly. Roshni fed him some homemade yogurt to buffer the heat his body generated.
Deepak wanted to make dosas for Roshni but failed miserably at spreading them in circles. Finally he said, “I guess one needs practice to spread these. Sorry, Roshni, I tried.”
“It’s all right, Deepak. Please go ahead and do what you need to do. I will eat and then join you.”
It was ten minutes to 2 p.m. Deepak brought the telephone to the dining table and set it up where Roshni sat. It was time for the conference call.
The phone rang, and Deepak picked it up. “Hello.”
“Hello, this is Bhaskar, the project manager.”
“Hello, Bhaskar, this is Deepak. How are you?”
“I’m fine, Deepak. How are you? I’m so glad you’re here and able to join us for this meeting. Is Roshni around?”
“Yes, Bhaskar, I’m right here,” Roshni answered.
Bhaskar enquired about Roshni and moved on with updates from team members. Everybody in the team gave their updates, and the project was progressing well. There were a few questions regarding the software, and Deepak was able to help them.
After all the updates, Bhaskar continued, “As you all see, we are making good progress, and as of now, we are on target for implementation mid-December. Good job, everybody. Roshni, Nikhil took over some of your work, and we have made good progress, so don’t worry.”
“Roshni, would you mind working on a small mini project?” asked Bhaskar.
“Yes, I’d be happy to.”
“Since your husband is here, we wanted to take advantage of this.”
“What is it, Bhaskar?” asked Deepak.
“Since Roshni’s work was critical to move forward, Nikhil was put on it; however, the task that Nikhil was working on got delayed a little. We wondered if Roshni could work on it, and since Deepak is here already, Roshni could use Deepak’s help if necessary. What do you say, Roshni?”
This meant she had to work with Deepak directly because he had to train her. She was unsure if this was a good idea. She tried to talk to Bhaskar to let her work on some other project, but all her attempts failed. Roshni agreed to work on this part of the project. Deepak looked forward to training her and working closely with her.
