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A girl may not like cooking, and we need to accept it. After all, the X chromosome does not have a cooking gene!
Yesterday, at the age of 55, I finally accepted that I don’t like to cook! And I stated it in exact words to my husband!
However, it took me so many years to declare it openly! My husband replied with a grin, “I always knew it! God knows why you tried to prove that you did!”
The journey of not enjoying cooking hasn’t been easy. Being mocked at by relatives during my teen and youth days, laughed at by extended family for not being able to cook the way they wanted and mainly, the fear of not being accepted by society for my dislike, has taken its toll.
I had to go through only one ordeal when some family came to “see” me for marriage for their son. It began with the question by the boy’s sister, “Do you know how to cook!” This put me off so much, that I decided that I would not go for an arranged marriage at all
After my wedding (naturally, my choice), I was busy in the kitchen on the first day, trying to knead the flour and failing miserably, when my husband came and did it in 5 minutes. I was a girl and didn’t enjoy cooking, but he as a guy did. What was wrong with that?
The miserable thing was societal pressure. How can a girl not cook? I bowed to the pressure and began to learn. Nothing is impossible and I did begin to cook well, but I never enjoyed it. I kept cooking with zeal till my daughter was staying with me. The moment she was gone, I stopped cooking. And finally, dared to accept it.
A girl may not like cooking, and friends, do accept it! After all, I am good at so many things – I am a confident woman putting on too many hats and successful in so many things. So what if I don’t enjoy cooking? And yes, I do cook when it’s a necessity!
Image source: a still from The Great Indian Kitchen
Neelam Saxena Chandra is an Engineering graduate from VNIT and has done her Post Graduation Diploma in IM&HRD and also in Finance. She has completed a summer course in Finance from London School of read more...
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You may have wondered at our being on the quieter side during the last couple of months. Thank you for your patience, and we wanted to come back to you with a detailed note on what’s been happening at our end of things.
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