“Ma, you will see I will make your recipes famous. What you couldn’t do, I will do for us. You will be the face of my venture ma. Aren’t you excited?”
Seema was always concerned with the time Soumya spent in the kitchen rather than playing outside. As a child birthday gifts and Christmas requests were always centered around cooking – a play kitchen set one year, a pan the next, pasta maker another time. Kaustav never had a problem indulging their only child.
“Ma, what are you thinking about?”
“No, nothing. You just completed your board exams. Why don’t you go and play with your friends?”
“Nah, I know what their plans are. Plus I plan to binge watch MasterChef Australia today. I’ll just change and come back.”
A light hug and a forced smile later, Seema broke down. This is not what she planned for her child. She agreed to home science as an optional subject, not for it to become a primary one!
There were obvious questions in her mind. “How will she find a match for Soumya?” “So much of education just to cook in a kitchen?” “Income?” “What will people say?” Deep in thoughts, Seema didn’t even realize when she dozed off.
A familiar sound of the MasterChef Australia theme song woke her up from her light slumber. She noticed the time and realized she had to get started with dinner. Kaustav will be back home anytime.
In the kitchen, she noticed Soumya had already prepped a few ingredients.
“I am making dinner tonight ma. Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do? Why are you so hooked on cooking?”
“It’s my passion ma. I have seen you cook up so many amazing dishes every day all my life. You have inspired me.”
“Don’t you see your father work hard and earn a living for us slogging every day? Doesn’t that inspire you to work hard and live the good life you are living? Cooking is for maids and housewives. It’s not a career!”
Seema had broken her silence. After months of fear of this happening, now that it’s inevitable, it had broken a piece of a mother’s soul.
Soumya was staring blankly at her. Silence. The doorbell broke the tension in the room. It was Kaustav.
He could feel the tension in the room.
“What did I miss? It looks like I walked right in the middle of a storm!”
“Nothing baba. Ma is worried I am ruining my life wanting to run a home kitchen.”
“Oh. That again. Seema, we have spoken about this.”
“Yes we have. But did I agree that I am okay with our only son tossing around vegetables as a career? You have ruined him with choices. Giving him all the girly toys all his life! When kids were playing with trains he was making round rotis. When everyone was choosing between physics and chemistry, he was reading home science books! Is this why we gave him education!?”
“Calm down Seema.”
“Don’t ask me to calm down Kaustav. I can see the future. No girl will marry him. He will not earn anything and will completely ruin his life. A man is supposed to run his family, not follow a passion that takes him away from his responsibilities.”
“It’s 2021 Seema. What are you even talking about? And why are we even worried about Soumya’s marriage now? He just gave his board exams!”
“Even if we don’t talk about it now, it’s a reality. How will he run his family?”
“Seema, after all the women’s day encouragements, is this what it comes down to? That a man needs to run the family and the woman needs to run a kitchen? Give our boy a chance to make a choice without the burden of responsibility. If a woman chooses to be a housewife, it a choice, here Soumya is starting a business venture. And you never know. He might marry someone who earns more than him and supports him!”
“That’s not how society works Kaustav and you know that.”
“If you supported me when I needed you the most and didn’t quit your job, I would have been able to build my art company Seema and you know that. Just because you are sensitive about it, we don’t talk about it. My boy will follow his passion – not society’s template.”
In the background, Soumya noted down recipes from the MasterChef finale as Andy Allen, an electrician, is declared the winner for the fourth season.
Men, may you never be burdened with so much responsibility that you have to quash your dreams. We got you! Go live your lives. To every empowering woman, Happy Women’s Day!
