A story about a katori
Last week after my talk at ADAMS, someone asked how I choose the stories that I share; if there’s a certain message that I want to convey and then find a story to tell it. To be honest, it’s the other way around. I see a story in just about everything; and then ask myself what’s the deeper meaning.
Like this katori. It had a story to tell. I simply asked.
A couple weeks ago, Mom and I were in Columbus, OH visiting family. Mami jaan had made a delicious chicken curry; I loved it so much I wanted to learn how to make it. So we defrosted another halal chicken, cut into 12 pieces, and cooked it together the next morning -- browning the onions just so, adding the spices so I got a sense of the andaaz, measuring the water so I could replicate the perfect curry consistency. It turned out perfect. I even froze it and brought it home in my carry-on for Arif to try!
But I'm convinced that there's one special step that ensures that it will turn out delicious, every time. When it came time to add the yogurt to the curry, Mami jaan took out a katori (small silver bowl) from the cabinet under the stove. Inside the bowl, the four quls (verses from the Quran) are engraved. I asked her about it. When her mom was really ill, and there was nothing doctors could do to help, her dad, desperate for any last bit of hope, had this katori made with verses from the Quran. He would give his wife water in it -- initially she'd sip from the katori; as she got weaker, he'd feed her spoonfuls.
I shared this story on social media, and katori stories started pouring in – of a mom who received a similar silver bowl (with ayatulkursi) from her father when her son was born; she passed it on to that same son when his first child was born. Another wrote that growing up whenever she and her siblings were sick, mom would give them water in a similar verse-lined katori; she has that childhood bowl and gave herkids water in it whenever they were sick. Another wanted to gift me her special katori. While another wrote, “these katoris can tell stories of generations.”
Indeed.
The stories of the travelling katoris.
PS: Making chicken curry tomorrow. Found the katori my mom had made for Saanya's Bismillah over 20 years ago. Ready! :-)
To read more inspiring stories please follow along on Instagram @salma.hasan.ali.
Please subscribe to this newsletter for an occasional dose of inspiration in your inbox; for those who are not receiving the newsletter regularly, please check your spam folder and add salma@salmahasanali.com to your contacts. Thank you.