THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lathakumari’s battle with ‘maida’ started fifteen years ago, after she was deserted by her husband, leaving behind two young children to take care of. She had felt that fate had dealt with her in a harsh way, forcing her to work in a restaurant at Kariavattom as a cook. Now, after completing a decade as chief ‘porotta’-maker at Anjaly Restaurant near Kariavattom, Latha has overcome the old feeling and has made a new life out of the job.Latha remembers how she evolved from a simple housewife to a chief ‘porotta’-maker of a restaurant. Her married life went through turbulence after she found that her husband was an alcoholic.“He left me one day, also leaving behind our two children. Elder child Athira was three years old and the younger one, Aneesh, was two. But it was relatively easy for me to see through that period as I was getting more and more frustrated with his behaviour. But my thought was centred around how I would survive with the two young children,” she said.Latha then went to work in her brother Narayanan Kutty’s hotel at Kazhakkoottam. After he decided to shut down his business, she was forced to go to Kariavattom. She was already an expert in making ‘biriyani’ and meals. But when the chief ‘porotta’-maker quit, she was left with no other choice but to take up that role too.“I did not panic when the owner told me to go for ‘porotta’-making. Every thing in my life has taken an unforeseen deviation during the course of time. So I took it up as a challenge and made ‘porotta’ for the first time with quivering hands,” she said. Now Latha prepares ‘porotta’ from ten kilograms of ‘maida’ a day.The work begins early in the morning. The dough is prepared and it is kneaded well. The dough is then beaten after it is well spread out in the air for a fraction of a second. Latha feels that the extra softness of her ‘porotta’ that she prepares is due to the added care she imparts while unfurling the dough. “I beat it more. This makes it more soft and delicate,” she said.Then a pleat is cleaved out of the dough and rolled into a ball. Latha’s skills while rolling the ball is a treat to watch. The poised lady in her early forties furls the dough as if she is tying a turban.According to Radhakrishnan, who runs the restaurant, the ‘porotta’ made by Latha has a huge demand. “People working at Technopark and students of Kariavattom University campus are our regular customers. They cherish eating ‘chappathi’ and ‘porotta’ made by Latha. But as the campaign against ‘maida’ is gaining momentum, ‘porotta’ is losing the prestige it once held,” he said.Meanwhile, Latha is more than happy in the business as it provides her with a steady income. With a daily income of ` 500, Latha feels that life is secure. Her daughter is now a PG student in Chemistry at MG College, while her son is an electrician.While the entire world is now rallying against ‘maida’, Latha feels the other way. For, ‘maida’ has helped her to piece together the life which was once ravaged by the cruel nuances of destiny.
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