By POOJA MARWAH
We all relate to the historical timeline of B.C. and A.D. This Gregorian calendar unofficially is the world’s ‘global’ standard to measure dates. With the pandemic, having changed the way human beings live, it won’t be entirely surprising if we reinvent a new method of date-ing. Before Corona and After Corona.
In the B.C. days, the Mr. only entered the kitchen way past midnight to grab a snack. Ok, occasionally, he also tiptoed in to sneak out an extra beer. Not that anyone would ever stop him.. but hide n seek is always fun!!!
So, at a virtual dinner with friends, it was indeed hilarious as we saw the man of that house, potter in and out of the kitchen ACTUALLY cooking! He was making pasta.. from scratch. By scratch I mean.. Ready made spaghetti, bottle of marinara, pack of grated cheese. Phew! Poor man, must be exhausted. Whilst we were watching and enjoying our spirits, he whipped up a scrumptious meal of spaghetti and even ground the garlic for herb bread.
Putting aside the jovial sarcasm, it was liberating to see men on the other side of the island counter! Most specially in our India, in our joint system of living with the inlaws, the man of the house never gets a chance to showcase his culinary skills.
Cooking is not hard but smart work. Just like we learn about math, physics and history on an equal platform called school, I think engaging the male in the kitchen is also a revolutionary life skill. Besides, it is awesome couple therapy.
Imagine, putting on some music, pouring a little wine.. engaging in conversation. Now, that’s a great way to begin isn’t it?
Based on a research, it was concluded that most men who ventured into the kitchen at the point of Lockdown India, did it because they had an audience. They loved putting on a show and for once, women got to sit back simply because they advocated their expertise. Its sure a lot easier than rolling up dough for the “perfect roti.”
It is funny to see a male adulting by way of domestic chores. Funny because this is something a ‘he’ should have known as much as a ‘she’ does. I am not big on feminism and women’s right etc but I am of the opinion that every ‘she’ has a bit of ‘he’ and every ‘he’ is a part of ‘she.’ Like the yin and the yang.. Like the yin finds its yang, Uluru meets the rising sun… The universe is structured around balance. Sometimes, two things that seem completely different in character and feature come together – And that is where the firework happens.
Ofcourse, there are a lot of exceptions to this rule. The best chefs include men; a lot of nuclear homes have the man and the woman sharing the domestic workload & a lot of men who live alone, had taken the opportunity to chat up with their Mom’s for hours – on recipes, ofcourse!!
For all it is worth, without the added interruption of the daily home helpers, a lot of families had used the time to reinvent the wheel. A lot of the male friends I have, have confessed to binge watching cookery shows to surprise their partners.
For all the male chauvinism airs, being pushed against the wall has actually made real men out of most.
For all the funny memes across social media on men & the domestic warfront, this just goes to say thank you.
The Adulting Male is here to stay!! A.C.
(Pooja Poddar Marwah is an award winning author and Blogger. She writes an contemporary living and offers incisive
reflections on the world around us. Her blog, Random Conversations is a go to guide to deal with the myraid stuggles we face each day.)
