My new-found Passion

I am a hard-core foodie. I confess I like eating everything edible, except for 'kardhi-chawal' and a few oil-and-spice-laced Indian dishes on a regular basis. But given no alternatives, I can manage to eat that too. My strongest guess says its a genetic trait passed on from my dad. Anyone who sees me eating unashamedly is usually shocked and amused by the quantity I can consume at a go and the amount of satisfaction that reflects on my face and eyes after I relish a meal. But to everyone's surprise and mine, my appetite and consumption capacity does not reflect on my physical frame at all... thank God! So I was saying, being fond of eating, I obviously like cooking and experimenting with various recipes. But there would be conditions attached... like I need a sparkling clean kitchen with enough moving space, fully equipped with all the right utensils and ingredients.. sharp knives, et al... a nicely stocked refrigerator and a never-ending supply of water. Oh, did I mention my (culinary) mood and the comfort-level of whose kitchen I'm using?!
So, the first place which qualifies my basic requirements, is my friend-Jeena's kitchen. Of-course my mom's kitchen would have been my first preferance (only if she was not always in a hurry to rustle up meals for the family and the ever-welcomed guests), but that's almost like a far-from-real fantasy, I have realised over the years. And my own kitchen? Well, if you really have to know, it is only equipped with the basic requirements of making fast-food... like the baking and grilling kinds and full-course meals only once in a blue moon. Excepting the occassional cooking at Jeena's, naga-cuisines at Naro's (my friend from Nagaland) and home-made food from my colleagues at the work-place, I more-or-less survive on zero-oil, zero-caloried grills, bakes, steams and boils on all the other moons. So, over these years of my stay in Delhi I used to consider 'cooking' as the last or second-last priority in the to-do list of things during my weekends. Takeaways, pastas, pizzas, sandwiches, fruits & salads, steamed vegetables and boiled/poached eggs, though dull, are re-assuringly time-efficient staples of my daily diet. So, the only times I really relish eating my-kind-of homemade food, are the times I visit home and feast on my ma's (mostly dad's) cooking. Oh by the way, my dad is a better cook than my ma and all he needs to take over the kitchen and prepare yummy meals to fill up the dining table, is just a little mention of how much I miss his chicken-curry or duck-roast or any of the sticky-rice dishes that he specialises in.
Anyway, being bored of what I was eating here all this while and being recommended by the doctor to eat proper home-made meals after I fell ill sometime back, I resolved to do some real-time cooking on a daily basis in my very own kitchen. I learnt some easy-to-make recipes from my ma's collection, some naga-delicacies from Naro and a few yummylicious recipes from Manju Malhi's show-Cooking Isn't Rocket Science shown on NDTV Goodtimes. My belief about cooking full meals being a waste of valuable time, was disillusioned as I started to enjoy the process. Rather than being the dull utilitarian practice I imagined, cooking I realise, is the most creative of all art forms. And there is something deeply satisfying about taking separate ingredients and creating something new and unique, which pleases the tastebuds and hence instantly devoured.
The great appeal of cooking lies in the touch-feel-smell therapy. The sensation of chopping, slicing & stirring... the smell of crushed garlic and green chillies as it simmers with the olive oil, finely diced onions and chopped tomatoes... the varied natural colours of different vegetables combining into a multi-coloured dish one main colour of turmeric overpowering them all... and the final touch of fresh coriander leaves garnishing a dish... are all so glorious and demands one to be engaged in that 'cooking moment'.
Fortunately for me, cooking is now a choice rather than a chore or responsibility. And guess who is the happiest with my making this one sensible choice in what seemed to be a lifetime? No prizes for guessing... you are right. Its my ma. She has spent the best part of her life feeding my perfectionist-foodie of a father, the never-ending list of guests and relatives, and ofcourse her three notorious daughters with completely different tastes from each other. So I suspect she would be less persuaded to believe that cooking is as relaxing or liberating as I claim. Nonetheless, cooking is not only creative, it also encourages social interaction. Now that I cook, I sometimes carry meals to the office and share the food with my colleagues who had fed me with their home-made meals at some point of time. So I get a chance to return the favour. I also feel like inviting friends for lunches or dinners. Though its another story whether or not they like the taste of what I cook. But the satisfaction derived from others liking and appreciating your preparations is almost at par with the satisfaction derived from someone appreciating any other work of art created by you. When so much of modern life gets onto you, cooking at home demands an active engagement with your inner self and reminds us that life is there to be savoured. And the last tip from my end... always cook with fondness and lots of love. It really comes out in the food.