Bread Pudding, The English Type

I made this bread pudding for Dad not as dessert but as today's breakfast. Came to post it as he is napping.

Ingredients

1/4 loaf of bread
4-5 chocolate chip cookies (Hide n Seek)
4-5 seedless Dates or raisins
1/4 cup sugar
250 ml milk
1X3 inch thick butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

In a pot, add the butter and turn on the heat. Tear out small morsels of bread and add to the sizzling butter. Add the sugar. Stir a bit to caramelize. Once the sugar is molten. Add the milk, dates and the cinnamon powder. Stir once. Let is cook with cover for 10 mins till most of the milk is absorbed. Put off the heat. Remove the cover, scoop out the pudding in a bowl. Crumble chocolate chip cookies over it and pass on the warm bowl to the person you love. Watch the comfort feeling on his face.

On Wednesday night, like usual after dinner he did not pick his plate to dump into to sink. Instead he left the half eaten roti and bhaaji. He could not get up. I thought it is because he was sitting on the moodha/ low stool. Next moment I saw him collapse. He fell on to the moodha. Thank God! I got him to stabilize.

His face had been pale after he was back from Mumbai with Malaria. Yes Malaria is rampant in Mumbai. Those visiting be careful!

It's been a month since then. I immediately checked him for temperature. He was burning with fever. The rest of the night I was giving him cold packs.

In the morning the temp had reduced. I informed at work and got permission to work from home for a couple of days. It was then going to be the weekend. I would get 4 days to nurse him. Hoping this ends soon.

At the Doctor's we get the whole range of blood tests done for the Malaria. The Liver function test for the acute nausea. Results rule out Jaundice. Though the Malarial parasites show negative, Doc still suspects a relapse. He suggests a Ultra sound sonography. Results show spleen is slightly swollen. By now my Dad who has been resisting to go to the doctor drops opposition knowing his daughter has assumed a tough in control stance. Doc suggests we monitor his platelet count every day. Yesterday it had gone down further to 66,000 only! Now Dad kind of just lets me take decisions. I tell him his Yoga has helped him all life to stay fit but now is the time to turn to Aleopathy for immediate cure.

I don't know whether it is age, he is 67 or the loneliness in Bangalore. He is here for my sake, he does not like this city. I am guilty of uprooting him from Mumbai. He has spent half a century in Mumbai. The initial excitement of moving to a new city was taken over by resentment due to the hardships we have had to face as an immigrant. He has become very irritable. Most times I ignore it as petty. His health has been a concern for the last couple of years. Last year he had a severe throat infection and has lost his voice for 2-3 months. Docs say it was partly worsened by his loneliness. I spend all my time I get beyond work with him. I do not go anywhere without him. Yet that is not enough. I have been with him for too long. We are each other's support. I miss my Mother many times had she been around My Dad would not have been so attached to me, the situation today could have been avoided.

Anyways...it is going to be another day in and out of the hospital. The IV needle will be removed on the 5th day. Yet he is happy to be at home. Today he even helped me with the washing and drying. The injections are making him stronger. I hope I feel confident enough to go to work on Mon leaving him alone.