Techie-turned-writer Indu Lekshmi says the kitchen has been a happening place in her house as she has always encouraged her children to join in and do whatever they could. “So, right from the time my son, Niranjan, was two or three, I would give him things to do in the kitchen. He used to enjoy washing tomatoes, peeling carrots and so on. Now that he is eight, he helps me in cleaning cut veggies, onions, peeling garlic and washing. My five-year-old daughter, Nandana, is happy peeling pods of garlic and removing the peel of onions. I can keep an eye on them and we keep each other company. It can get messy at times but this is a time all of us enjoy and the holidays are no different,” she says.
“From deadly weapons to fumes whirling up from vessels... it is the one magical room. The only room that locks the secret ingredients to tasty meals (and the deep burnt stains of failed experiments). It becomes so much fun when there are young learners in there. Just that we should keep a book of answers for their never-ending questions,” she posts on her Facebook page. Recalling the power cuts of yore that used to bring families together around a candle or an emergency lamp for storytelling and chatting, she says perhaps the unexpected holidays and work-from-home time could be utilised for bringing families together and away from their mobile phones.
