I am a frugal eater, not given to great fancies but cooking I love especially when I have an appreciative audience or company.

After days of staying alone and surviving on scanty non eatables in the name of food, I developed during the quarantine a re-liking for cooking.

Seriously, there were challenges.

One that the gas cylinder was not procurable, well, I have to get a new connection in my name.

Secondly the induction stove is not always friendly to all pots and pans,its rather choosy!

Still, I must say the presence of my daughter hovering around the kitchen, the cat, following me everywhere and my cousin, Aswin in the house added a new camaraderie, a new warmth to the hearth that brought out delicious sambar, morukootan, biriyani, thatu dosa, chutney, cakes, payasam, a variety of soups and other delicacies that brought delight to the dining table.

It helped that my little one found good company and joined in the kitchen to try her hand out at cooking in the evenings, fancy food items from you tube made way to our eager plates.

I am a great fan of my cooking, I must agree with what my MIL once announced a bit sarcastically and almost grudgingly that girls born on ‘Uthradom’ are usually skilled and manage to do a good job of anything. This was her comment when little tomatoes sprung to life in my kitchen garden many years ago, though she followed it up with some other sarcastic negatives as usual.

Funny to think that recently when I had a tiff with a superior and felt driven to a frenzy, I remembered this lady and her not so wonderful son who managed to re-orient me from what I thought was the role of the ideal bahu and my many attempts to please, placate and hold the fort for a decade and a half. They came as a package (1+1) into my life thanks to my parents and they went off as a package having taught me some valuable lessons in courage, management, self-development, frugality, sense and sensibility and what not.

Gosh! how light life is really now without their censure and constant criticism. Even as I look forward to good company to be out of what was essentially toxic and painful, very painful. That dear universe, was your kindness, perhaps this was the transition or transformation that you intended for me and now I am here, so easily able to talk about this.

Yep, it all sounds good. And age does take away shyness, as one realizes, ‘what seems is not what it is’ and ‘well, life is not meant to be a rosy picture’ and that is fine.

I often marvel at the heaviness that has lifted from my life, and now welcome into it only those who can help me sustain the peace I have found only recently.

Otherwise, I am like, sorry, no thanks, honey, I am good!

That makes me a bit withdrawn, but it is again for good.