Our Story

Many years back, it was the day after Thanksgiving. It was also the first Thanksgiving after our marriage. We got married, just a few months earlier, in what was a very traditional Indian wedding attended and blessed by easily over a thousand near and dear friends and relatives.

Oftentimes, the smallest of things — a fleeting thought, a statement in passing, even a bumper-sticker wisdom, or a chide by a good trusted friend — can inspire a person. And on stray occasions, the seed thought can inspire and alter one's life in interesting ways.

I had attended a few Thanksgiving lunches prior to that. But the concept was new to my wife, at least the part about family coming together just once a year.

So we decided to host a Thanksgiving gathering for our small extended family and traveling friends. The number grew, and before we knew it, our two-bedroom apartment was overflowing with people. But we had a good time.

My wife comes from a joint family and she loves constantly having people around her. But she was also pampered and never had to play the hostess. So while the weekend was fun, it was logistically exhausting.

Come Monday evening, everyone had left. Few days after, we were still cleaning up.

I was rinsing the dishes in the evening, and my wife said,

"It would be so nice if I get to eat somebody else's cooking every so often."

"You mean like once a year? Every Thanksgiving can be it!"

"I meant more like one day a week or twice a month," she said.

"Hmm," I said.

While being non-committal, I was secretly evaluating what such a commitment would entail. A meal a week, 52 times a year? Sounds daunting. Being a business major, I was evaluating the risks and cost-benefit analysis of speaking any further.

A month later, I started cooking one meal a week for my wife.

Even as a bachelor I never cooked. Me and a good friend used to eat out all the time. We used to even dig up mom-and-pop shacks miles away for a weekday lunch. While I stayed away from the kitchen, I always had a keen and developed food sense, and was never the guy who would say "I'll eat anything and be ok." My taste needs would be simple yet sincere.

As I started cooking once a week for my wife, my skills developed fast. And it has been an amazing habit to learn and develop. The cooking-day-of-the-week has also grown to be the most relaxing day of any given week.