Ode to Upma
The Upma is a wondrous thing, it is verily without a simile
In Kalidasa’s verse, Upma is the simile, to us it is family
God, who couldn’t be everywhere, sent to us our Ma
And Ma , in her necessity, invented the Upma.
Most days, the common Upma , an object of frequent scorn
Can hold out against the idli, and come into its own
Idli, like Pa, goes from steamy to soft as a flower,
The Upma, on the contrary, is magic made of salt and flour.
In recent days Upma has mushroomed in the Big Apple,
With Yoga, Ayurveda and Nirvana, the Upma is the new Indian staple
Mundane to exotic be it Upma, Uppindi or Uppittu
Will McUpma one day be dished up at a drive-through?
Will there be a temple to Upma Maheshwari
And has Upma already made it to the Oxford English Dictionary?
And a battle royal over who, Meenakshi Ammal
Makes a better Upma, or Tarla Dalal?
Now I write in nostalgia, home may be where the heart is
But, is Upma, like ignorance, truly bliss?
All I know is the true worth of the Upma
Strikes home only when you become the Ma.
—
sweetkharacoffee 