Being Nimble

Like many, I find watching people cooking comfort food more than usually soothing these days. Often, I have no desire to replicate the steps myself. Even watching the dish come together slowly is reward in itself. This is instant gratification that makes food porn such a popular genre. I seem to particularly enjoy watching home cooks in India describe their process in languages I have only passing familiarity with - Tamil, Kannada and Gujarati. It would be hard to even explain the draw and why I prefer these to Bengali or Hindi languages I am actually fluent in. 

Along the way, I came across this story about a man who painted pictures of every meal he ate for thirty two years. Made me think about how deliberate the process of preparing the meal may have been for him

These days, Kobayashi relies mostly on food deliveries—sometimes from restaurants, sometimes from his mother. And though his day-to-day existence rarely varies, he’s been pushing his practice in a new direction, creating a new series of pop-up paintings.

The times have impacted his work too but he has adapted. Many among us are as well. A few weeks ago, I was reading about barbers doing house-calls endangering their health and that of their customers. But the trade has found other ways to flourish - advisory on a virtual haircut is the way some are going.