The Cloud Kitchen

 

 

Preety Lata Biswas was a housewife trained under the supervision of women who were a part of the extended family. They considered it not only their duty but tradition to ensure that every young woman who crossed their threshold as a bride learnt all the necessary culinary skills. It was a rigorous training on par with that of a Cordon Bleu chef. The women were instructed how to peel, chop and cut vegetables followed by gutting and cleaning fish, deveining shrimps and after they had satisfied the piercing gaze of critical elders were they allowed to cook a dish. There were many other skills that they learnt along the way and to be honest not all of them were brilliant but a few of them like Preety Lata surpassed even her teachers.

Families had shrunk and the Biswas family and their progeny no longer lived in the same house. Time had also changed the taste buds of her sons and they wanted something new and untried.

Preety Lata was now a matron confident and an acknowledged head of her household and ready to have her sons married. Many young people were now finding their own life partners but her sons handed the parents this task. At first it had appeared not only the right decision but increasingly proved to be a far more complicated business. Both the sons had specifications that weren’t easy to meet but stipulated that their future wives should have careers. If the sons had their requirements then so did their mother.  There was one specific skill that had to meet Preety Lata’s exacting standard. The prospective daughter in law would not only satisfy the basic requirements of looks, education and family but know her way around a kitchen.

Mrs. Biswas shuddered when she remembered the travails of tutoring her daughters in law who looked askance when they used basic kitchen appliances like a knife. Young women who used the computer keyboards at lightning speeds would take hours to peel potatoes. Of course Preety Lata was demanding but she also knew when she had arrived at an impasse. Nevertheless it was to her credit that she did impart the basic skills with hopes that her sons wouldn’t deprived of decent edible meals. Young couples are smart and found a way around tears shed while not only chopping onions but one of genuine frustration. They moved to different cities away from the daily kitchen dramas and ate their way happily through home delivered meals.

It was not much of a surprise when Preety Lata’s youngest son Abhik announced that he had found his match and would be happy if his mother agreed to carry out the required formalities that a wedding entailed. It would be wrong to say that Preety Lata would have been liked the first refusal but she was relaxed as it hadn’t been easy with her older two sons.  The Biswas family met the fiancée and her family and found no cause for worry. They were happy that Roma was supposedly in between jobs and for the time being would be staying at home.

The so termed honeymoon period for the newly wed couple had minor hiccups and all four of them settled to an acceptable daily routine. Roma was interested in cooking and would spend time in the kitchen along with her mother in law. Preety Lata was pleased with Roma’s attention to small details and even shared some of her expertise.

It was a few months later that Roma started going out every Friday morning and coming back in time for dinner. She informed her mother in law but didn’t give any more details. It hurt Preety Lata as she felt disrespected but couldn’t bring herself to ask any thing.

 As with most matters, Preety Lata brought it to her husband’s notice and he disregarded it with masculine disdain. After a few weeks of constant refrain he advised, “Why don’t you ask the concerned parties? Does Abhik look worried?”

“I’m not sure that he even knows. Roma is home before he returns.”

“Don’t look for trouble,” was his final advice.

All kinds of misgivings flooded Preety Lata’s mind and she hoped that Roma’s actions weren’t besmirching Abkik’s as well the family reputations. Was Roma having an affair? What was the importance of Friday? And above all why had Roma not shared any details? All this fretting and guessing affected her relationship. Who could she confide in? She would rationalize that it could all be very trivial or who knew when future catastrophe would strike.

 Preety Lata had been married early and to a family where the men had the first and last word. She would hardly have lifted an eyebrow if it was Abhik. In her experience men enjoyed liberties that women whether married or single were not allowed.

Roma was preoccupied but had noticed the cooling off between Abhik’s mother and herself. She decided to make the first move. Choosing a quiet moment she asked, “Ma, have I offended you in any way. Are you unwell? Is there I can do?”

Tears came rolling down and Roma looked askance. Preety Lata choked, “I thought you trusted me. Obviously you don’t. You are out every Friday and I don’t even know where you have gone.”

Quick to realize why she had fallen from grace Roma apologized profusely. “I should have told you earlier but wanted it to be a surprise. I am planning to start a cloud kitchen and….”

 “What is a cloud kitchen? I didn’t know that you ran a business.”

“It’s a long story. When I was young my parents were hard pressed for money. My mother is a good cook and she decided to supplement the income by taking on   catering orders. We three sisters gave her a hand and also learnt how to handle cooks as well as clients. My mother has scaled down her business and on Fridays I look at the accounts and other stuff.”

Preety Lata was taken aback by Roma’s disclosure.  Except for the occasional compliment nobody had acknowledged her skills. It hadn’t occurred to her that she could earn and have her own disposable income.

Roma continued, “A cloud kitchen takes and delivers orders but doesn’t serve food on its premises. I have been visiting banks, talking to suppliers, cooks and other staff but I need to rent kitchen space. My mother’s kitchen isn’t large enough and rents are high.”

“Is your mother agreeable?”

“It can only be temporary and we want space closer to home.”

“Do you think our kitchen and the adjoining covered space would suit your needs?”

It was an unexpected response and Roma wasn’t too sure but here was a suggestion that could take care of the kitchen space.

“The existing kitchen will need renovation and reassigning space for the family and the business can cause upheavals.”

 “The kitchen is my home but the house isn’t mine. The proposal will have to be made to Abhik’s father and he has to agree.

All these years I believed that I didn’t have the expertise to earn. I have realized that my cooking may also have commercial value.”

Preety Lata’s husband stared in disbelief at his wife and the mother of their three sons, who had always taken the quiet back seat. She spoke confidently and with conviction and was not at all like the woman he had known for so long. At first he was inclined to be dismissive but hearing her speak, he listened to her impassioned plea.

Preety Lata’s husband refused to have the privacy of his house invaded by a cloud kitchen. But his wife’s fervor backed by his daughter in law made him take an active interest and he helped them to secure rooms to start the kitchen. He told his wife, “I thought it was my responsibility to find you the space but after this whether you sink or float is truly your business.”

Preety Lata realized that cooking was not only nourishing others but nurturing her creativity, of getting recognized for the value of her culinary craft.