out of the comfort zone
So the previous 4 years habit of, when I was living on my own, working, studying and still finding out time to cook and eat healthy food changed gradually. Initially I would insist on making subji or some minor side dish, just out of a compulsion. It did take a really long time and lectures from brother, over 'how I eat really bland (read non spicy) food compared to him'. And then my cooking got reduced to weekends (specially for curries), further ahead only when the maid was on leave.
And its not that I did not like 'not cooking'. In a way I got more free time to do other things, read books, bring work at home (:P), watch tv etc etc. But I did grab every opportunity to cook that came to me.
 |
| cooked italian style and later eaten with loads of grated cheese! |
So this past week and the coming week, the maid's on leave. I have been cooking evening meals since last Saturday. I have made bhindi, methi, palak, dosa, kadhi, khichdi, roti etc etc since then. And I am feeling comfortable in this new schedule. Packed end to end and stretching my daily limits. Looking forward to sweating it out in the kitchen. And I am sure once my mojo is totally back, I will try more fun stuff, the way I had gotten used to, as a student and working girl.
The only dilemma is saying bye bye to the maid. I mean imagine I telling her, 'you cannot continue work with us because I really like the job you do. Of course having you around is a comfort, because that way I can bring work home, do random things. But miss out on some thing I really enjoy.' I am not sure how she would react to this. Not only this, but firing someone for no mistake of theirs is the second tough job I see here.
Both tasks out of my comfort zone. And hence strangely attracted to them.
Of course we can get a new maid/ask old maid to come back, if all this extending zones takes a toll. But worth trying, right ?
~nightflier