My Kitchen, The Wonderland!

Indeed it is a wonderland. 

Kitchen is the place where most of my blogs form as blueprints in my mind. I develop scenes, find comedy in daily affairs,  derive logic from situations and by the time I leave the kitchen, another blog is ready to be penned down. 

The kitchen is also my lab for cooking experiments. Over the years I gradually developed a love for cooking. But I have to add a disclaimer after this statement. Just because I like cooking, it doesn't make me a chef!  I am still learning. Some days I try out new recipes. Some days I make alterations in the tried and tested recipes. At times they turn out fine. Most of the times there is large scope for improvement. What soothes me most is the whole process (who cares about the output, right? Just kidding. Try asking this to someone really hungry. They will disprove this and how!). 

I specially love to bake. The preparation of the batter for cake, the aromas associated (vanilla essence, cocoa powder, banana puree!), the aroma wafting from the cooker (I used to bake in the oven too. This deserves a special paragraph. Coming ahead!), the output - all these have turned baking into an excellent exercise for mindfulness. It relaxes my mind, improves my mood and refreshes me! 

About the promised oven - right. I baked cakes in the oven too. But I don't know where I am going wrong (the temperature setting? the ratio of ingredients? mixing? Oh my God, there are so many things I can do wrong and yet I dare ask 'Where I am going wrong??') the crust of the cake always crumbles when I bake it in the oven. It turns out fine in the cooker. Nevertheless I credit the oven with my love for baking. It supported me in my first attempts at baking and is one of my favourites from the kitchen. 

I am yet to develop a good rapport with Yeast. It dislikes me. Refuses to activate. Doesn't help the dough to rise. Doesn't cooperate with me in my attempts to bake bread or pizza. I need to spend some more quality time with it to improve our relationship. 

Eventually and gradually, the kitchen turned into a bird sanctuary too. Let me tell you how this blessed event came to happen. 

We South-Indians have a tradition of offering food to birds before we eat ourselves. So every day we would keep some cooked rice at the window sill in the kitchen. This captured the attention of some pigeons passing through. A couple of them came down to eat, and there has been no looking back since then.

The pigeons - they deserve a special mention. They have colonised Hyderabad. The ancestral homes and ruins that one may find here have also become the ancestral resting zones of these birds. Complexes, individual houses, flats, new/old - the pigeons treat every home equally. They are impartial when it comes to homes. 

The pigeon-couple who first spotted the rice, slowly brought in their friends and relatives too. But not all are welcome. There is one hefty pigeon - I have named it Hefty, for obvious reasons. It scares and bullies the other pigeons into flying away. It has a faithful and loyal side-kick too, which waits patiently for permission to partake the rice. Hefty nibs at the rice greedily while poor Side-kick sits beside it. When Hefty's gaze falls on the Side-kick, it tosses some morsels of rice towards the other, who gratefully nibs at them. 

And then one day Hefty met its match. A couple of sparrows came flying through, seeing the rice morsels. They happily partook of the rice and started coming every day, like the pigeons. But not in their presence. Just once, it so happened that Hefty came in while one chirpy was happily nibbling at a rice morsel behind the window. This scene was amazing. Have you ever seen a sparrow sit still? I did. I saw Chirpy stay very still behind the window while Hefty walked from one end to another to scare away a couple of pigeons that were sitting on the opposite window. Whenever Hefty's back was turned towards Chirpy, I saw the later quickly grab hold of a morsel and stand still, not visible to the angry Hefty. This went on for a while till Hefty, assured that none of the other pigeons would approach its area, flew away. Chirpy happily hopped from the window, satisfied itself with some more rice morsels and went away. The pair of sparrows still comes, always in the absence of Hefty. It is a pleasure to see these little active chirpies. 

And that day a beautiful bird came to the window, black-coloured, with a dash of orange and a sharp-looking beak. I watched it in amazement, trying to find out its breed. My kid too walked into the kitchen and looked at the bird. 'Wood-pecker!' he whispered. I am not very sure, but the sharp beak did give some pecking-like vibes. The bird nibbled on some grains and flew away. It came once again after that day. I haven't seen it thereafter. I hope it comes. 

The kitchen is also the place where the play of clouds and light goes on continously. At 11 in the morning, bright sunlight comes in through the window, and I switch off the artificial lights in the kitchen. Half an hour later, a passing-by gray cloud moves in the sky and covers the light. I sigh and switch on the light. Five minutes later, the sun shines brightly again and I switch off the light. Another cloud comes. This goes on till I have my lunch. I am used to this play of light. I look forward to it.

The kitchen is a place of chaos, and also an oasis of calm and peace for me. It is a place where I learn, and also the place which tests me about whatever I learnt! 

Indeed, a wonderland, in all ways!