Lunch’O Clock - Part 1

Up until 15 years ago

Growing up in Muscat, we made it home in time for lunch. We could eat with our hands and take our own sweet time. Or could we? Because welcome to Geolin – rules are rules, girls!

Our lovely home was a little uphill and as Pappa geared up the slope and the car came to a halt, we’d catch a glimpse of our Mumma standing at the door. She’d be fresh after a bath, wet hair loosely tied at the end leaving enough room for it to dry out slowly. She was almost always draped in a set mundu keeping us rooted. What a stunner, Mumma! She’d stand there and catch a glimpse of us and know exactly how our day went.

From the comfort of the car to the scorching heat outside to the warmth of the home was routine, but one of the biggest luxuries this life has given me.

Lunch was always ready. I never asked how. I never even wondered. It would be laid out on the table and we just needed to finish about 10 things in Mumma’s rule book to be able to devour our lunch. Shoes in the rack, socks in the basket, uniform on the hanger, tiffin in the sink, wash, and then finally! What about the days when we are dead and just want to eat, and change later – ah ah no no no, not in Mumma Lin’s home!

Then once we sit down, comes the next set of rules. No screen, limited time to finish the meal, empty plate – these were some top rules. Our performance in this depended heavily on the spread.  If brinjal or lady’s finger was served, we’d sit there much longer and lose out on our TV time. If some potato, chicken, or anything that suits us was on the plate, then we’d lick it off in no time. However, there were no restrictions like “don’t talk with food in your mouth”. So we yapped all our way, giving a complete download of the school affairs. Pappa would gulp his lunch and rush back to the office leaving him with incomplete stories almost always. Mumma would sit and take it all in. I now wonder how her day went.

Those lunch’o clocks were so lovely. Food was the yummiest and healthiest. It was amazing because I had to do no work for it. Some days there would be surprise dishes to celebrate our end of exams or cheer us from trivial failures. There was always variety and most importantly, hot food to eat.

We ate together for years at that dining table that kept changing orientation and aesthetics with new sunmica sheets every now and then. But the new locations and changing looks never came in the way of our lunches. It was perfect. Always.