Smitten with Cooking
How I found cooking to be a deeply spiritual exercise
If you thought cooking was boring, if you are terrified with the idea of having to cook yourself, if the thought of having your cook away even for a day feels uncomfortable, then you ought to read this.
This is my story. All the people who’ve ever known me since childhood until I was about 33 years old, would know one thing for sure — that cooking was never my cup of tea. Or atleast that’s how I felt about it.
As a child I was even terrified of turning the gas on, lest it should explode on my face or fearing I would burn my fingers..Lol! My mother tried her best to ‘teach’ me atleast some cooking basics but her loving efforts were all in vain. I spent 10 years of my life living in an ashram where usually everyone learns to cook coz that’s part of the ashram culture that you cook for yourself. However I was lucky to be posted in one of the bigger retreat places where there was a separate ‘cooking department’ that took care of my pallet. So life went on wonderfully well never giving me a chance to learn or do what I detested.
It was only after marriage in 2015, that I had my first hands on with cooking. My husband and I went off to live at a friend’s place in Shimla where he had a fully equipped kitchen but no cook. And lo and behold, I found myself having no choice but to be in front of the kitchen gas. Besides, being a foodie myself, I thought that this was it. Either I make friends with cooking once and for all or I do it regretfully complaining all my life. I decided to choose the former and do not regret it one bit.
Today I can say that I am actually completely smitten with it. I started off learning to cook the routine dals and vegetables but very soon was captivated with the amount of creative potential that the art of cooking can offer. No wonder, it is often referred to as an art. Soon, I found myself passionately reading recipes on google almost everytime and trying one new dish after another and guess what — each time I would add my own variation to the original recipe. The results were more often than not very encouragingly delicious.
Cooking — A Great Stress Buster
I soon discovered that this was my best stress buster. Not only did it provide me the opportunity to get better at something I never believed I could do, it was also an excellent source of channelizing my creative potential. Every time I cooked, I found myself coming alive.
Cooking grounds me in awareness
It is the presence required while cooking that helps me be self aware and very conscious. Everything in cooking is about right timing and right quantities. If I miss out on either of the two, I know I lose it. Hence the entire exercise of looking up a recipe, creatively customizing it to choose the pallet of my family, procuring the necessary raw material, to preparing them, the cooking process until the final serving (and not to forget the compliments!) is a highly spiritual one, where I need to be very aware on what’s happening, sense if things are done and gently pass them on to the next phase.
Cooking brings deep satisfaction
It is also an immensely satisfying process coz at the end I get to treat myself with something truly delicious which almost feels like a celebration, also the good wishes I get from others around me as they enjoy the dish does have an impact on my feelings. I had often heard that there is no greater satisfaction than serving meals and now I agree. Also when I look at what got created out of simple raw material, it makes me smile from within. There is beauty and depth to this entire process.
Cooking taught me to multitask well
The greatest benefit of cooking has been that it has made me a better professional. No matter how strange that sounds, I have a good reason to say this because it has truly enhanced my capacity to multitask. I think I was fairly good at it but cooking has made it even better. Having a small kitchen at home and usually over 5 members in the family and limited time, multitasking is often the need of the hour. Boiling veggies/rice, chopping, grating, roasting, grinding and a lot more needs to be done almost simultaneously and demands a good amount of concentration. I truly feel that it has enhanced my multitasking capacity and my memory for things at work too.
Cooking has made me an artist
Cooking is an art and the cook is an artist. An artist who has the freedom to choose and envision the final product in terms of color, taste, smell, appearance, texture and then create and shape it accordingly. Every cooking exercise is like a fresh piece of artwork on a new canvas. It has given me the flexibility and wisdom to mix and match, to understand what blends with what, and to appreciate the role of each element that goes in in perfect quantities to make the final dish.
Cooking has made me patient
Like some things in the world, cooking takes its own time. Yes, there are short cuts yet each process takes its time and there is no way I can hurry it up. Initially I would feel stressed out with this but in the process I have become more patient, appreciating and completely accepting the fact that things take their own time and can only be completed when we allow them that space and time without trying to rush and create anxiety.
Overall cooking has been a spiritual experience and it continues to be my favourite ‘meditation’. Meditation comes from the greek word ‘mederi’ which means ‘to heal’. Cooking has been in many ways healing for me. It has allowed me to connect with my inner most core, be quiet, silent, focused, aware and present. What more can I ask for if all of this comes with a little bit of free indulgence at the end.
Coming Up Soon — Small variations big difference — — Customizing to suit your pallet — check out a few interesting recipes that were custom created.
-Contributed by Ranjana
