First of all, kudos to Indira not just for hosting a fabulous blog, but also for inspiring many of us to do so. It was her constant encouragement coupled with the enormous void we felt with Pedatha’s passing away that led us to thinking of a culinary tribute in Pedatha’s memory.
JFI or Jihva for Ingredients is a beautiful concept by Indira started on her blog. Online culinary events create strong frames of references among food bloggers. It has been a pleasure to see the enthusiasm and participation on these innumerable blogs. A virtual space where affection is so real. It is tough to believe that we have never met many of them (Indira, have we really not met ) whom we consider such good friends today.
It is fascinating to note the similarity of sound between the words Jihva & Jiva. The former means palate and the latter means life. Jiva in most philosophical schools refers to the embodied soul or self while also meaning ‘life.’ When the prana or life breath leaves the body, it is said, “The jiva has left (the body)”. Since there can be no life without food, Jihva and Jiva have a factual connection. It may be said that of the five sense organs, the jihvendriya (the sense organ of taste) is indispensably related to living because one can continue to live without seeing or hearing, but none can live without food.
We are glad to pay a tribute to Pedatha with JIHVA for May 2008. Pedatha’s birthday is on May 2nd, so the special ingredient we have chosen in her memory is that without which no food can be relished and cherished - Jihva for love. We have chosen this ‘love’ as an ingredient although it is completely non physical, but is still the very soul of cooking. This is the reason why it is believed that when food has been cooked with pure thoughts and loving feelings, its consumption purifies the one who consumes it. As Pedatha always said, “If you cook with love, you cannot go wrong.” It is a necessary and irreplaceable ingredient. You can replace beans with capsicum and black gram with red gram, but love can only be substituted by other expressions of itself such as affection, inspiration, devotion, ‘prema’, ‘mamtaa’, ‘paasam’ and the like.
Jihva and Jiva also have an aesthetic connection. The sustenance of stomach is food, but the food of life is love. To be nurtured is not just a physical need, it is emotional. The palate of the heart can never be satisfied without affection and warmth, the need for which is always aesthetic.
We welcome all of you to participate in Jihva for love. Pay a tribute to that moment in your life, to that person, to that recipe when you experienced the feeling of being ‘nurtured’. There would be many such moments, many such persons, many such recipes in your life. Open the doors of your mind and you will find many such moments, persons and recipes in your memory. Share them with us, in this space where Pedatha’s ‘muddha’ ( see the pic. below) will be remembered forever.
Here are the guidleines for participating in Jihva for Love.
- Write a tribute that you would like to pay to someone in your life, in the form of a vegetarian recipe/s, even a culinary health tip/s. That person could be:
- Someone who is dear to you;
- Someone whose cooking you have loved;
- Someone whose cooking inspires you either to cook, or at least to share the recipes with others.
- A small writeup about that person followed by a recipe/s; what that person means to you; any anecdotes, what that interaction meant to your life and growth.
- In your write-up, focus on what is special about the recipe! Even if it is a very simple recipe, what made it special for you (may be a childhood memory).
- POST THIS RECIPE ON YOUR BLOG IN THE MONTH OF APRIL, LINKING TO THIS EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR POST.
- Include photographs of that person, preferably with you as well as photographs of the recipe, if possible (yes, since it is a tribute recipe, the focus on the person is greater than the recipe).
- Send us the pictures after enclosing in approx. 100 x 100 pixel size with your e-mail.
- If you don’t have a blog, just send us an email and we will post it here.
- Kindly send us an e-mail notifying us of your entry at pedatha@pritya.com, with “JFI” as the subject, and your full name.
- Send in the entries by April 28, 2007. The round-up will be posted by May 2.
Looking forward to your involvement in this.
