82. The Milk Pudding

"Will you please come in for a minute?" called Janaki, from the kitchen.

Her husband Sivaraman, who was talking to his friend, sitting in the living room, told his friend, "Excuse me for a minute" and went into the kitchen.

"What is it?"

Janaki signaled him to be silent, by pressing her lips with her forefinger and showed him the coffee she had poured into a cup kept on the kitchen platform.

Sivaraman sipped the coffee, taking care not to make any sound while sipping, wiped his lips and returned to the living room, to continue his conversation with his friend.

After the friend had left, Janaki told Sivaraman, "Hereafter, if there is a visitor at our house during coffee time, try to send him away soon. I find it uncomfortable to call you inside and give you coffee!"

"You could have given some coffee to my friend also!" said Sivaraman, in a resentful tone.

"I prepare the decoction in the morning and use the leftover decoction for the evening coffee. The quantity of decoction left is hardly adequate to make coffee for the two of us. How can I give coffee to the visitors also?" said Janaki, resenting her husband's tone of resentment.

Another day, Sivaraman had been to his friend Natarajan's house. As the two were conversing, Natarajan turned his face towards the kitchen and told his wife, "Thangam! Get some milk pudding for Sivaraman!" 

Feeling reluctant to decline his friend's hospitality, while also feeling uncomfortable to inconvenience Natarajan's wife, Sivaraman asked, "What is special about today?" 

"Thangam often performs some puja* at home. She also prepares some special dish like milk pudding, sweet rice etc, as the offering to God, during the puja. The milk pudding she prepares will be particularly delicious. You will agree with me, after tasting the milk pudding" said Natarajan, proudly.

Natarajan's wife Thangam brought a cup of milk pudding and handed it to Sivaraman.

"Thank you" said Sivaraman, accepting the cup from her.

"After tasting it, tell me whether your friend is genuinely appreciating its taste, or he is just flattering me!" said Thangam.

Sivaraman tasted the milk pudding. It was really delicious.

"It's very delicious. Natarajan has, in fact, understated the exoticness of the milk pudding!" said Sivaraman.

After talking to Natarajan for a few minutes, Sivaraman took leave of his friend.

After stepping out of Natarajan's house and walking a few steps on the street, Sivaraman remembered that he had left his keyring at Natarajan's house. When he was offered the cup of milk pudding, he put down his keyring on the teapoy nearby and received the cup, but forgot to take the keyring back, while leaving the house.

The front door of Natarajan's house was open, but there was no one in the living room. When Sivaraman was thinking whether to ring the calling bell, he heard voices from the room adjoining the living room. Natarajan and his wife were conversing.

"I had taken the milk pudding already. Perhaps, only a small quantity of the milk pudding was left. Without realizing it, I asked you to give Sivaraman some pudding. Do you have anything left for you?" asked Natarajan.

"Yes, a little. But, it's ok. You did the right thing by asking me to give him the pudding. Even if you had not asked me, I would have shared it with him. The satisfaction of sharing a dish with our guests is unique" said Thangam.

Sivaraman wished that his wife had listened to this conversation.

*puja - a prayer ritual.

Thirukkural
Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 9
Hospitality

Verse 82 (In Tamil)

virundhu puRaththadhAth thAnuNdal sAvA
marundhu eninum vENdAr pARRanRu.

Meaning:

The purpose of nurturing wealth and leading a family life,

is to be able to be hospitable to guests.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'pAl pAyasam' by the same author)

Verse 83
Verse 81