B.B.S/B.A. First Year. Patterns for College Writing. Jhumpa Lahiri's Essay "Rice" Summary. With Jhumpa's Father Video of Making Pulao.

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  Rice

- Jhumpa Lahiri

Brief Summary:

Jhumpa Lahiri is a recognized contemporary London-born Indian American writer. Her essay ‘Rice’ is not about the crop or food that is popular in Asian countries. In the essay, the word ‘Rice’ symbolizes Bengali community, its identity, culture, tradition and originality.

In the essay, she has mentioned ‘Pulao’, a popular and delicious dish made of rice for her personal significance. Through the reference of the popular dish Pulao, the writer presents her father as a distinctive personality and a symbol that binds her family and community together. Her father, who is a methodical man, is now seventy years old. He did the regular work of making Pulao for thirty-nine years, and he still he has the same routine. Her father has special quality, skill, habit and recipe for the dish. So, she admires her father’s consistency for cooking the dish. She also praises for his knowledge and skill of preparing the dish that no one can make even after knowing about all the ingredients and the way of processing it. She believes that her father is regarded as the master of making Pulao in India and wherever he goes. When different kinds of gatherings were organized, her father was the main concern of all. It is because making Pulao was his passion, skill, identity and love more than his work. He prepared the dish at rice feeding ceremonies of his grandchildren, Ph.D parties, birthday parties, anniversaries and wherever he went. Her father served the dish for her son and daughter as well. So, she believes that making the dish is her father’s unique creation and passion. But in one occasion her father was not allowed to enter the kitchen telling him not being a licensed cook. He used to cook on the oven with his special traditional way, but the professional cooks used microwave and modern ways. When the reference of a license came, he moved back from making Pulao. He cooked Pulao in his whole life for so many people wherever he went not because of a licensed cook. In fact, it was his Bengali identity and significant cultural recipe. Pulao was not only a dish for him. Mainly, making the dish was his identity, culture and tradition and his love, respect and dedication towards his community.