Winter has arrived, and you know, in winter, there isn’t a day in my maternal home without carrots. Yes, my child, you are right. Carrot halwa is the pride of winter. There won’t be a person who doesn’t like carrot halwa. And when talking about carrot halwa, if you don’t praise the halwa made by Sweetie’s mother, then consider the conversation incomplete.

Sweetie’s Mom: “Is it so, Sweetie? That’s just your generosity, that you like my mother’s carrot halwa so much. Otherwise, there’s no special recipe. She just makes it simply.”

Sweetie’s Mom’s Mom: “Oh no, child. I’ve reached this age, and I’ve eaten carrot halwa from so many people’s hands till today, but oh my… the taste in your mother’s halwa, my child, I haven’t found in anyone else’s halwa till date. The halwa made by the halwai (sweet maker) also fails in front of your mother’s! And let me tell you a secret, I could never make it so well myself!”

Sweetie: “Thank you, Mom. Good, you tell me, should I ask my mother to make carrot halwa for you?”

Sweetie’s Mom’s Mom: “Oh child, that would be an act of kindness. Now if your mother sends it after making it, how could I possibly refuse? I was talking about the delicious taste of your mother’s hand-made carrot parathas, but a different topic has started here.”

(Another voice, likely a sister-in-law): “By feeding carrot halwa, Sweetie’s mom has completely won over her mother-in-law. Mom seems to have become her devotee. Looks like carrot halwa is the mother-in-law’s weakness. Why don’t I also take advantage of this to impress Mom? Just one bowl of carrot halwa, and Mom will be on my side. What could be simpler and cheaper than this?”

Preeti (presumably the speaker): “Oh Mom, you must have only eaten red carrot halwa till now, right? You haven’t eaten the special halwa made by my mother’s hands. That’s why you like Sweetie’s mother’s halwa so much.”

Mother-in-law: “Oh? What’s so special about your mother’s hand-made halwa? Let us know too.”

Preeti: “My mother doesn’t make ordinary carrot halwa. She makes **black carrot halwa**. I’m sure you’ve never eaten it before!”

Mother-in-law: “What, child? I’m hearing about it for the first time. What kind of carrot is this?”

Preeti: “I knew it, Mom! You haven’t eaten black carrot halwa. Oh, it’s easily available in the market. You tell me, I’ll ask my mother to make it.”

Mother-in-law: “Oh child, now you’ve touched my weak spot! Okay, no need to have it made now. Do this: everyone get ready quickly. We are all going to your house. Your mother has been inviting us for dinner for many days, so we’ll have dinner there today and also eat your mother’s hand-made carrot halwa!”

Preeti: “Yes, Mom, but like this suddenly…”

Mother-in-law: “Oh, why worry? We’re not asking her to prepare a feast. But if she doesn’t have carrots right now… that’s not a big deal. We’ll buy carrots on the way. And which carrot did you say… yes, black carrot. Don’t worry, I’ll send Manoj to the vegetable market right now.”

(Preeti thinks): Oh, where have I gotten myself into? Mom is ready to leave immediately. Now Mom won’t spare me… because carrot halwa never turns out right from my mother’s hands.

Preeti was trapped in her own web. Now she couldn’t tell her mother-in-law not to go to her maternal home. So the poor thing quietly starts getting ready.

Preeti: “Okay, Mom, let me call my mother and tell her we are coming.”

Mother-in-law: “Oh no, no, no need to tell, child. If we inform them beforehand, your mother will get caught up in formalities, ordering sweets and snacks from outside and will definitely start making something special. So no need to call anyone there in advance. We are going, right? She’ll get a surprise, and we’ll spend some time together.”

Preeti: “Okay.”

In a few moments, everyone gets ready and reaches Preeti’s maternal home.

Mother-in-law (to Preeti’s mother Garima): “Oh sister, how are you? Brother, your daughter keeps praising your hand-made food so much. Today she praised it so highly that we couldn’t stop ourselves from coming here!”

Garima: “Oh sister, you did very well by coming here. Please come in. And what is this you’ve brought with you?”

Mother-in-law: “Oh sister, today we have come to you with a special request.”

Garima: “Oh sister, what talk of request? You just give the order.”

Mother-in-law: “Oh no, no, sister. We won’t order, we will humbly request you to make it. Your daughter, you see, praised your hand-made carrot halwa so much that now we won’t leave without eating halwa from here!”

Garima: “What? Halwa? That too carrot halwa? Preeti praised *my* hand-made halwa?!”

Mother-in-law: “Yes, sister. Now you just start the preparations.”

Garima (in the kitchen, to Preeti’s father): “Did you hear what your daughter has done? I’ve made so many dishes over the years, but your daughter chose to praise whose halwa? Carrot halwa, which I have never been able to make properly till now!”

Preeti’s Father: “Oh lucky one, guests are sitting outside. If you make it taking God’s name, it will be made, why not?”

Garima quickly peels some carrots, puts them in a chopper, chops them, then adds milk and puts them to cook. Meanwhile, she puts water for tea and starts setting up the snacks. In the rush of serving tea and snacks to the guests, Garima forgets about the milk with carrots. It boils over and gets completely burnt, and the carrots start sticking to the pan. When the smell of burning carrots starts to come, she runs to the kitchen.

Garima: “There, eat this now! The halwa is burnt! All of it! And it smells burnt. What do I do now? Serve burnt halwa in front of the guests?”

Preeti’s Father: “Oh no, no, no. Tasteless is one thing, but this is burnt and bitter! We can’t even serve this to anyone. What do we do now? Halwa is beyond you. What do we make from these carrots to feed them? The thing is, guests have come. We can’t send them away on an empty stomach. Now you go outside, I’ll handle it.”

After sending Ramesh (Preeti’s father) to be with the guests outside, Garima once again grates the remaining carrots. After grating, she mixes all the spices in them and makes carrot parathas.

The smell of burnt halwa had already reached Anju (mother-in-law). So when Garima comes with parathas on a plate, she quietly sits at the dining table without any questions. Everyone quietly eats the carrot parathas.

Mother-in-law: “You fed us such excellent parathas, sister. Now you also sit and eat. You’ve been running around since when? You haven’t eaten anything.”

Garima: “Oh no, no, sister. I’ll eat later. You all eat well first.”

Mother-in-law: “Oh no, no. You sit down. Preeti, child, sit down and serve your mother some parathas on a plate too, and let her eat to her heart’s content.”

At her mother-in-law’s behest, Preeti serves food to her mother. As soon as Garima puts the first bite in her mouth, the taste vanishes. After somehow eating two parathas, she feels very embarrassed.

Garima: “Forgive me, sister. The food made by my own hands, which I myself cannot eat… how did you all eat it without a frown on your faces, and kept praising it so much? If it were some other in-law in your place, who knows how much of a scene she would have made today.”

Mother-in-law: “Oh sister, why do you feel that I have done anything special? Look, if I wanted to show off my hospitality, I would have informed you beforehand that we were coming so you could prepare. But I wanted us to have a very simple meal with you, sister. And dishes are made for guests, and we are not guests, we are family. To tell you the truth, food served with love always tastes delicious. Whatever you had on hand, you made these new-style parathas for us with so much love, so of course they were delicious to us. Just as we came to your place today without any notice as a right, you too can come to our place whenever you feel like, to meet your family. No one’s permission is needed, nor any prior notice. Isn’t that right, sister?”

Garima: “Absolutely right. I am very impressed by your sensible thoughts, sister. We are blessed that our daughter has gone to your home as a daughter-in-law. Today we are very assured that our daughter is in a very good family. And in a family where there is a mother-in-law like you, the children can never face any trouble.”

Saying this, both the mothers-in-law hug each other.

Preeti: “Mom, you are so simple-natured. But I am really a very bad daughter-in-law. To impress you, I made up a lie about my mother’s halwa. Please forgive me.”

Mother-in-law: “Oh child, I had already understood that because black carrot halwa isn’t even made! Only its pickle is made.”

Preeti: “What? You had already understood?!”