Happy Cooks Make Happy Food

Cooking food is an art, in a way a spiritual activity. Any form of art can give you joy, satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness. Art defines identity for people and the way we cook our food tells a lot about us. It creates a culture of giving and receiving love, positive energy, happiness, and respect. It is a woman’s territory in most Indian families. Cooking is an expression/reflection of a woman's emotions of love and concern for her loved ones. I saw my grandmother, always listening or chanting devotional music or mantras while cooking in a dedicated pair of clothes (a clean, washed silk or cotton cloth to be worn during puja). She never allows anybody in her kitchen without taking bath to keep its purity and positivity alive. In Indian tradition, it is a gratitude towards the deity Annapurna. Cooking food with this philosophy can boost our physical and mental health. It improves our quality of thought and life! Cooking is perhaps the highest form of therapy, a divine ritual that is key to nourishing the soul and balancing the cosmic forces. Food is a universal necessity, but it is only human beings who can add joy, satisfaction, happiness, and many more values to food.