Tuesday 18 April 2017

An Interview with the Cook of the House

My son came back home after a fruitful day at school. All excited and geared up to interview his mom – the Cook of the House. I could sense the excitement in his voice. Distance from the bus-stop to our home was covered with a never ending conversation about his experience of interviewing the didi’s in school. He was pleased to know on the subject of what the didi’s liked about their work and was astonished to hear that they also faced some struggles while on job.

New methodology of teaching in school’s these days suddenly seemed like a meaningful activity in my life. Kids were not only getting hands on experience of what they were taught in the class but were also realizing to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of their family members and helpers around.

Today was a day unlike everyday for my little one. He was the journalist for the day, all set and ready with the questionnaire for his mom. I was excited too! For a fact that at least someone in the house wanted to know me better. And of course, given an opportunity who would not like to be a celebrity for a day!

TV time reduced to half-n-hour from an hour, a quick take on homework was another surprise and after the successful completion of taekowondo class, my son sat me down next to him. All he wanted was my full concentration and my answers to his questions.
The teacher had nicely framed the survey. Every question came as an awakening to me.

I have been cooking for over a decade now. Initially, when I was introduced to kitchen after marriage, it was a pleasure cooking for the family. My kitchen was more like a scientist’s lab that had witnessed new recipe experiments on a daily basis. Those were the days I loved to cook as my family appreciated my efforts and were all praise for my cooking trials.

Gradually, with increasing responsibilities cooking became a daily chore. By now I had become a humanoid robot programmed to cook as and when the demand arose. Kitchen seemed to be the only place I spent most of my day.

Up until today, while trying to figure out answers to my son’s questions, I had come face to face with the truth that how much I hated to be the cook of the house.

Not that I don’t want to cook for the people I love but now I reckon that I wasn’t born just to cook.

Baking is my latest craze. And as much difficult it was to sign up for hands on classes so much easy and handy came in the technology. YouTube is my tutor and my smart phone my learning platform. Cakes, cup cakes, pasta and pizza popped up like my new found love.

To put an end to my time management struggle in between the kitchen chores and other daily activities I hired a help to cut and chop vegetables; shedding nearly 90% of my cooking pressure.
Each response to the interview questions was candid. This practice taught my son to appreciate my efforts that goes into cooking every meal of each day.

As for me, this quick run through on the subject of cooking got me a step closer to knowing myself better.

To all the women who lose their individuality and identity after marriage and are mostly judged on the basis of their cooking abilities, it’s time to wake up and stand up for your desires. If cooking is not what you love to do, there are part-time helpers to do the needful. Make good use of the help available.

As for oneself, put your dancing shoes on and enrol for a dance class if that’s what you have been waiting for. Or get your reading glasses on and finish up the novel you have been dying to read for God knows how long! Stop waiting for life to happen….Get your ass up and Make Life Happen; and henceforth, you will be happy, Always!

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