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water and sits on a bench to her left.
some more ingredients.
onathan sweats profusely as he trudges along Kings Road. His dull black attire sucks in the relentless heat of the August
sunshine, in stark contrast to the luminescence of the Palace Pier in the distance - mocking, he thinks, in its reflective beauty. Jonty desperately clings to his schoolboy nickname, which his friends think a little odd for a fortyyear-old. He rests on a bench opposite the burnt-out remains of the West Pier, placing his shopping bags by his feet. Thousands of revellers sun themselves on the pebbled beach beneath him, while others play in the glistening waters.
Beside her is a strange looking man who is staring into the distance. About to ask why he is wearing black clothes on such a hot day, she thinks better of it when she sees the sadness in her neighbour's eyes. Instead, she offers him some water and asks him what the matter is. Jonty's honest response prompts a barrage of questions from Jwala, who is captivated by this bearded man in black. "You do ask a lot of questions, don't you?" Jonty says. "That's how I learn," she answers.
At 8:30pm, Jwala and Arati arrive at the home of the Goldmans. Jonty, having just returned from the synagogue, invites his guests inside and introduces them to his wife Rita and their four children. Arati apologises (not for the first time) to Jonty for her daughter's impudence earlier in the day, something she does almost as an automated response.
Rita is an instantly likeable lady, with an inimitable warmth and serenity that seems to follow her as she scurries to and from the kitchen preparing the Sabbath meal. She explains to her guests that this particular time of the month of Av is very sombre but Sabbath supersedes everything and they are most welcome as guests.
Jonty's mind, however, is somewhere else. In two days' time it will be Tisha B'Av, the day when Jews across the world mourn the tragedies that have befallen their people. He stares at the West Pier in sad contemplation. The First Temple. The Second Temple. The Holocaust. Jonty's bottom lip begins to quiver.
Jwala impulsively invites him to her house that evening for dinner so that he can meet her mother. Jonty tells her that he is an Orthodox Jew and so he only eats food from home or at specially licensed food outlets. However, he is taken by Jwala's curiosity and generosity of spirit, and invites her and her mother to his home for a Sabbath meal. Jwala excitedly accepts and writes down the address. Standing up to leave to her lecture, she says, "By the way, we are Jains and don't eat meat, fish, root vegetables, eggs, onions, garlic. And we don't drink alcohol." She flits away, calling her mother to inform her of their plans for that evening. Jonty peeps futilely into his shopping bags, sighs and smiles. He stands up and heads back down Kings Road to get
Out of the blue appears Jwala, a first-year Chemistry student at Sussex University. She has already built a reputation with her tutors for her inquisitive nature. Her parents often wonder whether the birth mark on her neck is in fact an elongated question mark. Jwala, literally meaning flame, loves the sun - but today, Friday the 8th, is hot even for her. She pauses at an ice cream van to buy
a bottle
Jonty leads his family and guests to the dining room, which has two candles burning brightly at the centre of the table and two platted loaves of bread covered with a cloth. Everyone stands behind their respective chairs. Jonty says a blessing over the wine and carefully passes the glass to his wife. It makes its way from person to person until it reaches Mark, Jonty's fifteen-year-old. Mark, who is always the first person to tell everyone
illustration: Hayden Peek: hayden peekhotmail.com
wine
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W.JAINSPIR
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Jain
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