Letting off some steam!

I’m a housewife. Correction: I’m a working housewife. Confused? I work from home, I work for home. There are times when my schedule is an absolute mess; when I’m doing the dishes that magically seem to pile up in the kitchen sink every two hours, and I realise that the newswire has updated itself with some other ‘breaking news’. So, off I rush to my work station, which is actually a cute little corner in my house. I wipe my hands and tap away on my keyboard.

My daily routine essentially requires me to juggle between office work and homework. A ten-minute break from office work means domestic duties calling -- brooms, mops, scrubs and what not. But you know what, I love doing what I do. I enjoy being involved in every little chore, and the satisfaction of glistening dishes, of shiny tiles and a prim and proper house is unparalleled.

But, but, but, everyday is not as easy as it seems to be. Some people walk up to me and say, “Wow, you work from home? Why do you guys even need a leave? Everyday is like a leave for you!” I mean, first of all, there’s no ‘wow’ in working from home (ask me!) Yes, there are perks, definitely, but it’s not ‘wow’ in any case. I can’t start working peacefully till the kitchen is clean, till the bed is made or till the time my husband’s lunch is packed. I’m a classic case of OCD, alright, but most women working from home would share that feeling.

There are days when the frustration of not being able to be around people starts creeping in. And before you know it, that dreaded lump is back in my throat, and I begin to fight back tears that seem to be inside me in litres! There are days when the routine becomes agonisingly monotonous, with waiting for company sucking into my system. There are days when the pressure is intense and I’m racing against time to meet deadlines. Those are days when the temper is hot and short!

I go to my favourite part of the house -- the kitchen. It’s my favourite part not just because it stores some yummy munchies, but also because I get to create fun stuff too. The kitchen, which was not long back my most dreaded enemy, is now my dearest friend; one that takes away my worries, and one that lets me be me!

And while the cooker blows the whistle, I let off some steam too, forgetting all that happened during the day. The beautifully chopped veggies, the aroma of the masalas of various colours, the mish-mashing, the art of experimenting, the perfectly fluffy phulkas, the moment my tastebuds declare some new dish to be a success, all that makes the sweat look like a well-deserved applause.

The kitchen was scarily alien to me at first, but with time and the support of my husband, perfect recipes from my mum and mum-in-law, I slowly learnt how to negotiate the tricky bits, and embrace the kitchen as my best buddy!

Yes, at times I feel like ditching the kitchen and bunking cooking (I feel guilty, too), to which hubby dearest agrees without a crease on his forehead. But, cooking, for me, has become the next best thing after writing, for in whipping up some magic in the kitchen, just like stringing hand-picked words together to create a beautiful piece, lies the ultimate joy of creating stuff from scratch!