Unlabeled Jars

When I first entered there, I was lost. Literally. I had been in that place before but not alone, someone used to be there and my role was limited to being a consumer there. 

However, yesterday, I was there, alone and staring at the surroundings and thinking does all this function. 

I was in the Kitchen and the purpose was to cook something as for the first time in my teenage years I was alone at home. 

I found this place mysterious. Only my mom has the superpower to manage it. I felt my life worthless as I was not able to find even a single thing there. But one thing that caught my attention and curiosity was a jar. 

Unlabeled Jars.

There were plenty of them. 

It was like an army that was waiting for you with wrong intentions and to create chaos. If I chose the wrong one, I would die. I have to be good here. I just could not get confused between the salt and demerara sugar. 

There is a popular saying on the Internet today so I am also adding that here as it was relatable at that time- once you are lost in your thoughts, there is no coming back. 

I was also lost for a while and the moment I regained my consciousness, it looked like I was absent for a very long time. 

Rushing myself, I started looking around, my stomach was making growling sounds that I could not ignore at all. The situation was crucial but outside that place, it was trivial. 

There were numerous things in that kitchen and the maximum I could recognize was Chai-Patti because it was still in its original box. The rest of the things were either in empty Bourn Vita’s boxes or piled up in one big Jar. 

My knowledge was limited. I spent all my life outside the kitchen and was unaware of the fact that a whole different universe was present here. I never even cooked maggie in my life until now, so my knowledge is subjected to judgment, but at that point, I was hungry and equally ashamed to call my mom and ask her how to make daal and rice. 

.

.

No! I am not stupid. 

You are stupid. 

Yes! The one who is reading it. Because you have started judging me. 

It happened in 2005, hence there was no online food app nor an android phone. 

Anyways, I didn’t want to die starving. So I opened all the jars one by one but this led me to more confusion. I found a lot of similarities in those jars. So I just chose one thing after doing the most conventional thing: Aakad-Bakkad-Bambay-Bo and cooked it. 

15 years have passed, I don’t remember what I cooked that day but it wasn’t tasty. Maybe I was a neophyte in cooking at that time. As of today, I can tell the amount of turmeric in any dish just by smelling. But that day, I realized how illiterate I was. 

Yes, I also consider a person illiterate if he doesn’t know cooking. It is supposed to be taught in school, especially to men. 

On 24th March 2020, the lockdown came into effect. I was not worried. Not even a single line on my forehead. Because it has been a year since I have been cooking for myself every day and it all started back in 2005.