BLink Fiction Special. Classical conditioning

With the shrill call

of mom’s

Hawkins Classic

five litre pressure cooker,

the aroma of mutton

cooked in a coarse blend

of ginger, garlic,

onion

and fresh coriander

would flood

our entire house.

On this cold winter afternoon,

as I walk past

an Indian restaurant,

somewhere

in the heart of Antwerp,

I hear once again

the tuneless whistle and,

like Pavlov’s dog,

I salivate.

*

Priyamwada Redican Chakne (the daughter of a Catholic Canadian father and a Maharashtrian Chambhar mother), a spoken word poet born in Pune and raised in Jejuri, is now based in the Netherlands. Her debut collection of poetry Children of the Mountains is forthcoming from Panther’s Paw