A man’s place is in the kitchen during a pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has not only shaken economies, it’s also hit every household at the core. Who would’ve thought that a time would come when the all-pervasive domestic helps would no longer be around to steer us with our merry-go-round?
The aftermath has been unsettling not only for women, many of who have to work from home too, but also for men as the added load of household chores understandably gets spilled over to them. In the process, husbands have been dislodged from their favourite couch in the living room and led to the kitchen.
Since in most cases their culinary skills are questionable, an inescapable and somewhat befitting task entrusted to most husbands is doing the dishes. The kitchen sink is their new battleground as they reluctantly come to terms with the grief of finishing one last sticky utensil, and then noticing a new grimy one popping up from nowhere.
Another popular task being assigned to the cooped-up men brigade these days is to bust the dust in the house. They can take solace in the fact that instead of being confined to one spot in the kitchen, this task gives them a break from monotony and even doles out the opportunity of flexing their muscles while wiping surfaces and removing tough stains, and reaching greater heights like climbing on a chair to clean the ceiling fan! The experience is varied from cleaning drawers and cabinets to wiping carpets and furniture to scrubbing windows and blinds to cleaning upholstery.
The lockdown has turned many a man into a chef. Some have managed to make a mark as the omelette flippers or attempted to bake banana loaves. A few have grabbed saucepans and even cooked up a storm.
The ones lacking in ‘pan skills’ have volunteered to do the groundwork for fancy meals by chopping vegetables, grating cheese or maybe just getting acquainted with the pots and pans, till the master chef of the house enters the kitchen.
The best part is that children are around to witness it all, grinning ear to ear and imbibing the much-needed lesson in gender equality.
My attention now turns towards my husband who at the time of our wedding was an omelette flipper and had the enthusiasm to whip up coffee and a loaded sandwich in no time. This lockdown, I remind him, could be the perfect excuse to revive the talent that had been consigned to oblivion since long.
He is quick to point towards the help we thankfully still have and proceeds to rant about how he is managing his understaffed workplace in these times and how the owners of filling stations are also unsung heroes, fuelling the nation whether it’s the ambulances, police vehicles or delivery vans. They are yet to find mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s addresses.
May of these arguments are hard to refute, nevertheless, in my kitchen, potatoes have to be mashed, carrots have to be grated and laundry has to be separated and ironically the escape doesn’t seem to be fairly close for him either.
CHILDREN ARE AROUND TO WITNESS IT ALL, GRINNING EAR TO EAR AND IMBIBING THE MUCH-NEEDED LESSON IN GENDER EQUALITY