I claim to be a good cook. I indulge in this passion occasionally. But when I do, I will also invite few friends so that I can show-off my culinary skills. I select some exquisite dishes from the collection of cookery books that my wife maintains. I will then ask my wife to get all the ingredients and get the maid to do all the cleaning, cutting and chopping. Then later in the afternoon after a nice nap, I will land up in the kitchen to commence my artistic composition of various ingredients to an exquisite rhapsody! At every point I will have my wife and the maid extending various implements to assist my operation like the nursing staff in an operation theatre. After the various concoctions find their way to the microwave, baking oven, refrigerator (as the case may be) I will leave it to the minions to take them at prescribed time period and present them for the consumption of the invited guests. Of course it is the job of the maid to remove all dishes and clean-up. I will almost fill the conversation during the dinner with the art that goes behind each of the dishes. What an excitement for me!
On the other hand I remember my Mom’s cooking. We had no gas supply and no gadgets like microwave, cooking range etc. Five of us were in colleges/ schools. One in medical college, two in Engineering Colleges, another one in regular college and the other in school. From breakfast, to packed lunch to evening snacks and the sumptuous dinner; all fresh from the kitchen, day in and day out, in addition to the teaching the kids, mending cows , and other chores of household.
My cooking is an occasional event, an aberration; primarily for my excitement and glory and not to help anybody’s hunger. Whereas my Mom’s cooking was meant to ensure that none of us went hungry. No ceremony. Just rigorous execution, just-in-time management of inventory, tight planning of cash flows, total customer satisfaction with outstanding social networks.
Unfortunately, it is the heroism that often gets recognised and not persistence and perseverance.
I remember the story narrated by an IAS officer about his tenure as the district collector of an inflammable district which often flared up at times of religious festivities. He used to take enormous efforts to get the occasion go without any incidence. There was a neighbouring district manned by his colleague, which also had similar explosive settings. The major difference used to be that at least once in a year there used to be a conflagration that hit the headlines which the collector had to manage with great difficulty. The credit naturally went to the second officer and very few could see the difference made by first one.
This happens in many private sector organisations too. The guy who solves a problem (which is often created by the same fellow) gets all the credit; but the guy who worked hard to prevent problems day- in and day-out and worked to bring about continuous improvements is seldom noticed. The credits and the bonus to the former, naturally encouraging high-profile project launches and other short-term strategies. We saw the impact of this short-termism in the meltdown of global financial markets.
What we need for sustained progress more is the discipline of my mother’s cooking (for that matter most mothers) than my heroism in cooking. As the proverb goes “success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration”.