As cool as a country Cucumber

The summer has started and Mother Nature has got her presents ready for us to keep sane .

On the way to Coimbatore from Salem on the national high way in Tamil Nadu in south India, if u could slow down when u zoom on the superway, there is a place called Sankagiri, which has a mountain like a conch shell,visible close by, u could get the cucumbers fresh from the farms nearby.

If one travels by bus, the driver makes a stop for a minute, when the village maidens rush with their baskets of sliced cucumbers, sprinkled with salt and chilly powder, selling for a rupee or two,for those who are very hygiene conscious, u can get a bundle for 5 rupees and wash away with your mineral water, then munch while u lead on your way.

These are not the ones I mean, u get at the posh seminar dinners at the salad counter, those ringed ones laid with the tomatoes and carrots, they are insipid, need to be seen to know what u are eating, they are the hybrid variety. These are the country variety small and tastier.

We got them yesterday on our way from work, in our village. I usually like them cut linear fashion as they say the yin is at one end and the yan of the fruit is at the other, they go great with the brown bread as sandwiches, or just to munch away while u are helping your partner to prepare a late dinner for the family.

Don’t tell the cosmetic properties to the girls, they won't eat them but use them for beauty applications, u will wonder where the basket of cool cucumbers vanished.

Happy cucumbering.