3B
“I’m auditioning for Opera Core in a few
weeks, they’re doing Così fan tutte, by
Mozart. It’s one of my favorite operas, it’s
what got me into opera because my dad
played it for me when I was little. I’ve been
hearing the trio, Soave il vento since I was
five. It’s his favorite. He wanted to have
it played at his wedding but the church
wouldn’t let him. They thought it was sinful
because there is lust and passion, murder and
violence.”
– MEGAN WHEELER, School of Music, Theater & Dance
sophomore
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHERYLL VICTUELLES
The daily routine
T
here is a specific sound
that comes from an egg
frying in a pan. Precisely,
it’s a pan that’s been in commis-
sion for quite some time, possibly
an immigrant pan from India
that was smuggled in a suitcase
so overflowing with handspun
silks and cottons and gold and
tears from my grandmother that
the non-stick never really stood
a chance — or maybe my mother
just bought a crappy pan. I don’t
know, but it doesn’t matter. How
many of my breakfasts have been
made in that pan, how much rev-
enue I’ve supplied Trader Joe’s
simply by way of my love of eggs,
how many short minutes span-
ning the years 1993 through 2014
my mom spent providing more
than just food for her son and her
daughter: these are questions I
won’t know the answers to, but
will always want.
There is a specific sound that
my mouth made every time I
made my way to the door for
school and yelled back at my
father: “’Slamlaikm.” It was sup-
posed to be “Assalam-u-Alai-
kum,” but I managed to make a
habit of abusing the Arabic words
for “peace be upon you.” My
father didn’t care, though. He just
wanted to hear it. He would get
mad if I forgot. He wanted to hear
his son acknowledge a mutual
respect. He wanted his children
to know that he loves them, that
he does everything for them, but
that this was what he asked for in
return: peace.
There is a specific sound that
my sister’s incredibly full lanyard
of keys makes as it rotates around
the gears and mechanisms that
unlock our house door. She’s
home from work. My time at
home alone is over, but time spent
with my sister is just as vital, just
as important. “PMT?” she asks.
Of course, I say. It’s a short drive,
not more than the six minutes
and forty-two seconds I once
timed. Sometimes we have a lot
to say, most times we don’t. She
talks more than I do, more than
I ever will, but that’s not a prob-
lem. I like hearing her talk. I like
doing this with her.
There is a specific sound that
emanates from a spoon clanging
around the sides of a mug full of
tea. It’s the sound of nostalgia.
It’s the sound of maternal love,
of a bridge between cultures, of
ten minutes spent so casually and
so trivially yet so full of life that
these days, my apartment in Ann
Arbor at 4:30 p.m. feels as if five
20-year-old guys are crucially
lacking one middle-aged Indian
woman who has worked more
than she has to and deserves a
nap but can’t because of a family
of four that never gave her a break
from cooking. I can stir that
spoon all I want, but that sound
is gone forever, tainted by one too
many 4:30’s spent alone.
There is a specific sound that
comes when my father turns off
his car in the driveway, and the
headlights that had just shone
through the curtains fade away,
the NPR that was on his radio at
a volume way too high turns off
mid-Ira Glass sentence. He opens
the door, looks at me sprawled on
our red sofa, and utters a clear,
“Assalamu-Alaikum.” I respond
just as poorly as I did in the
morning. He takes off his shoes
and asks about my day, about how
my classes were, about how his
son is doing in his formative years
in a different country than his
own, and next he’ll move on to my
sister, asking the same questions
and securing the same peace of
mind.
The sound of daily routine,
gone.
B Y N A B E E L C H O L L A M PAT
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/DAILY
THOUGHT
BUBBLE
Wednesday, September 23, 2015 // The Statement
Magazine Editor:
Ian DIllingham
Deputy Editor:
Natalie Gadbois
Design Editor:
Jake Wellins
Photo Editor:
Luna Anna Archey
Creative Director:
Cheryll Victuelles
Editor in Chief:
Jennifer Calfas
Managing Editor:
Lev Facher
Copy Editors:
Hannah Bates
Laura Schinagle
Emma Sutherland
THE statement