The Replacement

Eight years ago, I fell in love with a pepper mill on the first twist of the handle. I remember the crisp, winter afternoon when the waiter approached our table and asked if I would like an extra dash of pepper on my pasta. I had no idea what he meant, but said yes anyway. The fresh whiff of cracked pepper aroused my culinary senses and the very next day I went out and bought my first pepper mill. It was a transparent plastic bottle, with the grinder in the bottom and a salt shaker attached on top. I would grind the pepper on eggs, popcorn, in curries and vegetables. Just about everything I could imagine that would go well with pepper got a dash of pepper. I could adjust it to produce fine to coarse powder and everything in between. Till the mill ran out of pepper and I had to refill it.
I am not the most dexterous person in my house and to fill the mill with tiny peppercorns was, to put it politely, a pain in the corn. However, I couldn’t part with my beloved pepper mill. After all, I only had to refill it once a month. I could deal with it.
The cycle went on till last week, when a twist of the mill produced not only pepper powder but chunks of plastic. My pepper mill was dead and I knew it. I quietly gathered up the plastic pieces, emptied the peppercorns, wrapped the mill in paper and dropped it in the trash can. I stood over the can in silence for two minutes and came back inside. I couldn’t bring myself to go to a store for a week to look for a replacement. Tushar and I started using our mortar and pestle to grind pepper. But it wasn’t the same.
Finally, I took a deep breath, resolved to go out and shop for a new pepper mill. At the local discount store, I browsed a couple of pepper mills and ended up buying a pair of shoes and a toy train for my three year old. I popped into the local BB&B next door to return a pair of curtains and there on the third aisle sat the pepper mill of my dreams.
Unlike its predecessor, it had a screw top to fill the peppercorns; the grinder was on the top instead of the bottom, so there were no leftover pepper crumbs on the counter. It didn’t have a salt shaker, which was just fine with me. I didn’t use the one on the earlier one either. This was perfect.
I checked it out and now I am grinding the peppers again. Not to talk ill of the departed but I don’t miss it. May it RIP.

I believe in silver linings, light at the end of tunnel... You get my drift. A couple of days ago, when I was mourning the loss of my beloved pepper mill, Jyoti sent me this lovely award, my first ever. Thank you Jyoti, I will remember this forever.