My mother has always been known to sacrifice many things in life, but when it came to her grinder there was no compromising. Everyone knew that her cooking skills outscored any chef in her neighborhood in India… as long as her grinder was by her side. While checking into her flight at Mumbai Airport, with my father and his family, she was stopped by the airline attendants because her grinder was exceeding her cargo bag weight limit. Without hesitation, she dumped out loads of clothes and many other essentials just so her grinder could pass. Cooking was not only a hobby for her, but also a major stress reliever. Shifting to America with little to no money, time to eat was very scarce. Luckily, her grinder assisted her in making pots of food in a jiffy. All her time was consumed in working long hours in the grocery store with the sole focus of financial stability. Nonetheless, my mother made sure that there was not a day that anyone went to sleep hungry. To this day, she claims that if she had used any other grinder as roughly, not only would it have broken down the first day, but the entire family would have starved to death.

– Zill Ratanji

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant