Choosing Italian

 I have been learning Italian for almost a year now. This is what Duolingo tells me. To me, it feels like it has been more than a year, but I could be wrong as I was never keeping a physical entry. I have finally gotten to the part where sentences are being spoken; sentences that could be used in real life and I can now speak basic sentences in Italian with words that I am already familiar with. My effort seems to be working. I watched 'The Godfather' a few days ago and while they spoke long, conversational fluent Italian sentences in many time frames of the movie, I could catch on a few words in those sentences. My internal translator, however, wasn't quick enough; which makes sense; and therefore I restored to reading the subtitles. Maybe with the effort of a few more months, I will learn to speak and understand Italian fluently.

Some time ago now, Google; despite me disabling the microphone voluntarily and disallowing any data to be collected using my phone microphone; heard me speaking phrases in Italian. Using its other branch, YouTube, that day, I suddenly got bombarded with the Italian content all over my phone. While pleased to know more about a culture whose language I had been consciously meaning to learn, I wasn't happy that I had been spied on. Though not outraged, I was hoping for more transparency. Nevertheless, I clicked on a 'short'; the modification available on the YouTube app; and found a very pleasant person on the other side of the screen. The Pasta Queen. Seeing her shorts made me more irritated knowing that YouTube hadn't been suggesting me her content for being creative and had only suggested to me for being an Italian content creator. Nonetheless, I decided to be happy that it reached me after all. Impressed by her work, I decided to know how long had she been working on her channel. It turns out her oldest videos were almost a decade old. Her dedication and unfaltering confidence in herself amazed me even more.

While I had no idea what I would receive on the other side; before clicking on the short; the 'it' factor was soundly attractive. Most of her videos on shorts are of Italian cuisine. What made me stay and follow was the unexpected part about it: praising the viewer. She'd compliment her food and somehow find a way to add "Just like you are.. 😉💫" Still battling with low self-esteem at the time and never expecting a content creator to directly complement their audience, it broke a wall in my heart somewhere. I laughed out loud. I was so unprepared to receive a compliment. Down in my deeper state of mind, it also made me rethink the alienness of positive interactions. I'd love more of this energy in my day-to-day life as well.

As much as I liked the 'it' factor of her videos; especially the compliment part; I do hope everyone does not start repeating it mindlessly.

Being taught in a positive and nurturing way, I opened my heart to learning. It felt easy. Under her supervision, I learned to differentiate, between Italian food and food that was largely called Italian because it constituted pasta in it. I also learned to make a lot of (vegetarian/vegan-oriented) Italian food. Algio oglio e pepperoncino is still my favourite. I have learnt how to make it right and always prepare it after my tennis class because I crave a carb-heavy diet after physically intense sessions. 

Prior to my reconciliation with her content, I never understood the appeal of Aglio e oglio, neither did I know how to make it right. Anyone who knows how to cook and is a home cook would know what I mean when I say that a lot of cooking can be done by just feeling it. It definitely helps to have the right quantities as a beginner, but eventually, as you pick up pace, skills and experience, merely seeing the number of ingredients being put in can educate you; especially if you have a good teacher. 

Author's note- I am not THE best at plating yet.

Pasta alla Norma (I believe)

Author's note- I did not have rigatoni as she suggested.

I have made some other stuff as well. I just didn't document all of them in pictures or videos. Eggplant ricotta wraps are my favourite. If extra virgin olive oil wasn't so expensive in India, I'd be making them more often.

While the decision to learn Italian was made at a very young age with naivety, I do not regret the decision. Learning new languages will always serve me well in my career as a writer anyways. And, it has fulfilled a sense that I am accomplishing something and in turn becoming or at the very least trying to become a better human being by learning to do something out of my comfort zone. I plan to expand the range of learning to other languages; I have been meaning to learn; as well.