At mealtime Salma would put the pan on the stove and say: " Pan. O Pan! Please cook. And quickly too. I am hungry. Cook some porridge." No sooner these words were said than boiling porridge would appear in the pan and the pan would start filling up with it. When there was enough porridge for both Salma and her daughter Salma would say: Pan, O Pan! Please stop. And quickly too. Our stomachs are full. And thank you too." The moment these words were uttered the pan would stop cooking and Salma would place it on the table and she and her daughter would eat their fill. Salma would then say, "Pan, O Pan! Clean thyself. We are full for now. And thank you too." The pan would then become sparkling new and Salma would put it away,
Rahimchacha was Salma's neighbor and a very inquisitive man. He often said to himself, " Salma and her daughter seem very well fed and healthy, but I never hear the rattle of pots and pans which is and indication of someone cooking. I also have never seen her washing her pots and pans ever. The question is do they cook? If they do then when do they cook and as I have never seen her buying any foodstuff, what do they cook?"