How to Make Round Rotis

By Mehak Goyal

CW: Abuse

Snatch the book she is reading intently,

Pull her hand, her weight if you have to,

Hit her with the rolling pin if she refuses,

Assemble the bowls and ingredients,

“This is for your own good,”

assure her periodically.

Take 2 cups of unbound flour in a mixing bowl,

Add ¾ cup of water of discontentment,

Knead with knuckles of fragile hands,

Reiterate, the dough should be

soft, smooth and pliable,

Touch floured hand to forehead, make it white,

Remove a dream from the dough,

Roll on hands until confined to a circle,

Place on the rolling board and crush(lightly), 

Use ingrained displeasure and rage to

flatten it with the rolling pin,

Toss the roti on the virtuous tawa,

Round and puffed,

Serve it warm

for a worthy fortune.

*Roti (hindi): round bread prepared with every meal in India.

*Tawa (hindi): a circular griddle used in South Asia, especially for cooking chapattis.

A Computer Science Engineer with a MiM from Imperial, Mehak Goyal ran a couple of profitable start-ups, before committing herself to becoming a full-time writer. She began sharing her musings on Instagram (@poetic_quill), now grown to a strong community with almost 50k followers. She resides in India, engrossed in writing her debut poetry collection.