It was Friday and me and my boss were working late in the office. Just as I was about to leave, my boos asked me to come to his house on the coming Sunday for discussing a very urgent matter.
My boss was a man of few words and I could feel that if he has asked me to come to his house, there must be something very important and meaningful. Rest of my two days went thinking about the probable reasons, but I could not find any.
On Sunday, I reached his house well on time. He made me sit and then he himself brought a glass of water. I was zapped. I was seeing my boss first time in a casual dress – short and a t-shirt. He was looking very different and relaxed. Before I could ask him anything, he asked me to follow him. We entered in the kitchen, which was full of raw vegetables and other cutting instruments.
I asked him – “Sir, are you cooking something?” He smiled and said – “Yes, and I do it every Sunday”. I asked again – “Why sir, don’t you have your wife cooking food for you or servant for this?” He smiled and said – “Well they all are here in the house but I have banned their entry inside the kitchen on every Sunday. Sunday is my day to cook – I am the Chef today.”
A person who has been very reserved in the office was interacting with me like a Professional Chef, or should I say like a friendly Chef.
I asked him – “Sir, but why are you cooking?” While chopping vegetables, he said – “Whole week – day and night, we just work. With so much of official work and pressure, the life becomes monotonous and the mind goes for a six. We meet so many people on daily basis, and of so much different nature & views, that our brain actually stops responding. As we need to relax our body, our mind too needs to unwind this tremendous pressure. After working for whole week, the mind now needs to do something different and something creative, but, without putting much of efforts. Thus, I become Chef for a day and it is my day today to cook.”
I asked him again – “Sir, why don’t you go for a movie or to the club or just to meet your relatives or probably watch TV programs of your interest to unwind you. They may relax you from the stress. To which he replied – “All these options are kept for Saturdays, not for Sundays.”
He could see that I had a lot of queries in my mind and that actually I was waiting for the exact reason for him becoming a Chef.
He started – “Look, the mind needs to do something different from the routine work to get relaxed. We watch TV regularly, mostly news, but I do not like watching movies. We meet relatives once in a month or probably two months. What is creative and constructive about all this? This entire food preparing process relaxes my brain, heart and even soul. By doing this, I am breaking my routine and this is entirely different and unexpected out of me. Right from bringing vegetables from the market, to washing them, cutting them and then cooking, putting all spices; everything is done by me and in this process I apply my creativity in every aspect.”
He continued – “Pavan, whenever you do something, which is already being done by someone else, you try doing it differently. You add your special efforts to give it a cutting edge. You try all kind of experiments and apply all tricks & gimmicks. Now analyse this scientifically. Washing vegetables is like addressing different issues, cutting vegetables is like dealing with different kind of problems, cooking food is like finding solutions, serving food on the dining table is like disposal of files.”
I immediately asked him – “And sir having food means?” – and he promptly replied – “Kaam Khatam. Everyone is happy because my wife gets a break from the kitchen at least for one day.”
Before, I could react, his wife entered into the kitchen and asked, ‘How much time for the lunch Mr. Chef?’, and prompt came his reply – “Another 20-minutes madam.” And to my utter surprise he got onto the job like an obedient Chef. I was also given a knife in my hand and was asked to cut ‘cauliflower’, and to cut it differently.
I could understand now why my boss had called me. Perhaps he could understand my pressure and also that I needed to relieve this pressure to further sharpen my skills and efficiency. The speed of my knife automatically increased as I started unwinding.
The food was ready in 20-minutes, and served to one and all. No doubt the food was good.
I had become an accidental chef now and decided to mark Sunday as my day of cooking too.
Years passed, and I still cook on every Sunday. The only thing which I am not able to understand is that even after cooking for so many years, still, I end-up making a ‘mixed vegetable curry’.
Perhaps, there are too many things in my mind, or is it because I am an ‘Accidental Chef.’