SREELAKSHMI NAIR: 2010

What's Cooking in my Kitchen is a question every one wants an answer to. I wonder, Is it because I'm a young, unmarried, career girl that people find it hard to believe when I say I cook. According to society unless and untill you are married, you are not grown up enough to take care of a family. And tragically an unmarried career girl is looked upon as a care free soul who has no time for cooking! Some how they always find it easier to believe when I say I've a helping hand at home.

In the beginning when people used to ask me this question, I used to politely reply the list of dishes I made from morning till noon. But later I started observing, that all I do in a social gathering was to repeat what I'm cooking for my family.

How should I save myself from this intrusion into my personal life? How should I save myself from this awkward situation? I decided to ask them what did they cook every time they asked me the same question. But somehow my tongue didn't agree to obey my indecent plan! I felt ashamed at asking some one what did they cook today. Why should I know what do they eat!

Every house have their Maggie noodles or Bread and Omelet Day. Every family eats out to give a break to the lady in the house from her kitchen. But to my bad luck, every time some one asks me what did I cook today, It might be one of those days when I choose to settle with Cornflakes or a Porridge. But what I've seen is that people are more satisfied or rather convinced when I answer Porridge or Bread and Omelet than when I say, I made Avial or Sambar.

The other problem I face is when my thoughts are in the middle of my hero and his problems or in between my hero-heroine's kissing scene. At that time when suddenly someone asks me what's cooking in my kitchen, I've to "cut to" the kitchen from which ever location I was in my head. And this makes them feel that I'm making up a lie!

In parties my father is compelled to have fried rice, when he wants to try Bread and Fish molly. The reason they say is, "You might be eating Bread every day. So for a change try my wife's fried rice!" Another place where we are mocked at is, for eating Dosa! Our family is one of those typical South Indian families who love eating Dosa at any time. As long as I bring variety in the side dish. But whenever I say Dosa! I get the responds," Oh! Dosa eh? Why don't you make Chapati?" I'm happy that just like Salwaar Kameez have become a popular dress, Chapati have become everyone's favourite food. But since when did South Indians start eating Chapati? I'm sure they are not born eating Chapati and Daal from the hospital bed!!! The fact is, to say we are eating Chapati has become something like a prestige. Who wants to eat the poor old Dosa. After all its one of our very own.

The area where I get offended by this simple question is when these women and men roll their eyes in disbelief when I reply to them. Even when the ladies know how easy cooking is, they can not accept the fact that any body can cook as long as they've the appetite for it. And I wonder about these men who roll their eyes when they don't even know how easy cooking can be once practised. Then what are they rolling their eyes for!!

It's not the cooking which is the turn off. It is the other things like cutting vegetables, washing dishes and to find no grated coconut in the fridge etc.

So the real question remains, Am I a good cook? According to my elder brother, my cooking is a mixture of all the best cooks in my life. Losing my mother at the age of 13 forced me to take up cooking at an younger age. My cooking lessons mostly came from all my close friends mothers, from my neighbours and from my aunts. But according to my father, I'm just lucky that I've got my mother's hands. Even if I screw up sometimes, still it'll taste good! Talking about Amma's cooking, she was an amazing cook. I still remember her carrot cake, rainbow ice cream, chicken curry, mutton soup, prawns pulao and... the list goes on. And the best part is that she has left me an old bound notebook whose pages have turned into a golden colour by now. It's filled with recepies written in her own beautiful hand writing. When ever I cook something out of that book, I feel as if she is with me, sitting on the kitchen slab giving me instructions.

To my bad luck, none of these people who ask me this question knows even to switch on a computer. So accessing internet and reading a Blog is definitely out of the question. Therefore, next time when they see me, they are still going to ask me, ''What's cooking in your kitchen???'