Recipe Corner

It was a day that began with no exception. Arundhati, in her pixie crop and dangerously long danglers smiled in front of the camera. The smile that increased TRPs more than what her recipes did. 

For the past four years, Shayan was the crown prince of the tasteful show Recipe Corner. Having found a job in a better channel and a book-writing proposition to feed, he referred Arundhati Singh, for the show. They were acquaintances of acquired tastes. Her first episode was a hit. She had ideated that he be present too, to pass on the ladle to her, so that she could whip up the batter from there. The static steam that transpired, however, was unmistakeably unmissable. 

The 'contact-us' section was bulldozed immediately with fan mail demanding the restoration of Shayan. Their chemistry as elementary as the dollop of butter lilting away on a frying pan, ready to take in the flavours and give out lingering kitchen smells. Arundhati was happy, Arundhati was angry. Like the fusion excess of a tandoori paneer topping on a pizza, it was not a very satisfying space to be in. She was grateful to Shayan for the break, she doused in his teachings, his touch, she even began caring for him, but she was simply not content. 

In such a condition of thirsty ambition, she began fabricating a recipe for Shayan. Over the ninety days of her joining the show, he had come in twice each month, as a surprise, as a guest, as a cherry on the cake, for the sake of upholding the onwards success. She returned home one of those Thursday nights and devised a concoction, not much different from the Queen Mother of Snow White. She cooked a bengali dinner of hot steamed rice and hilsa in mustard. The hilsa was especially procured from the local market, as one from the first batch of the monsoons. Shayan loved it, coming from a Punjabi girl. He was not quite prepared for the dessert though. 

"Too much sugar arrested his mobility" joked Arundhati as she smiled seriously in front of the camera, the entire spotlight reassuringly resting solely on her for the season. "Eat wisely, dear viewers."

Arundhati Singh gifted him with a Recipe for Disaster.