Time to Reflect
As some of you may have noticed, Basima’s Kitchen has been quiet for some time. What began as a short break for a holiday turned into a longer stretch of time away, due to a series of occupational and personal factors. But we are so happy to say we will be returning to your plates very soon, and want to share some of our thoughts from the preceding year with you.
We’re sure we’re not alone in saying that it’s been a period of ups and downs, in these times that have been described in words we’ve heard so frequently that they’ve just about lost all meaning. Unprecedented, challenging, tumultuous… It has undoubtedly been all that.
This past year has been tough on all of us, some certainly more than others. Not a day goes by where we don’t think and commiserate with those that have been hit the hardest by this ongoing situation, and pray for their enduring strength and for brighter days ahead. But what we are coming to realise more than ever is that this phase has also given us time and space to truly reflect and appreciate. Not just momentary or fleeting appreciation; it really has been one long period of reflection and gratitude. Gratitude for what we have and cherish in our lives, from the caring community that we live in to the strong family bonds we’ve been blessed with.
During this period we’ve thought a lot about our grandmother Basima – not least because we have used some of this time to sort through boxes upon boxes of old photos, a task which (we probably shouldn’t admit this) took the better part of a year and two and a half lockdowns to fully complete. Looking through old memories and at the faces of loved ones that are no longer with us was an emotionally-taxing task to say the least. But it also got us thinking about how grateful and glad we are to be keeping Basima so close in our everyday lives, and not just confined to old photo albums. Her presence is never far from us, and her name is continuously invoked, whether it’s uttering it in conjunction with our catering activities, reminiscing about her kind and caring ways, or quoting sayings that she passed down to our mother who has since passed them down to us.
The preceding year has given us a lot of things: the good, the bad, and the bizarre. Some of these will outlast the current era, while others will be left behind (we certainly hope so when it comes to things like flour becoming an endangered product!). But what we do plan to take with us is this sense of deep gratitude, which we are sure will inform and influence how we move forward from this period and beyond.