Can community kitchens solve drudgery of cooking for women? An initiative in Kerala

A year ago, days before the coronavirus struck Kerala, two friends in Ponnani of Malappuram were thinking of a way to manage the early morning kitchen work at home. The men and their wives were employed, and everyone had to leave home early in the morning. It became a hassle to cook all of the day’s food before the women — who also did the other domestic work apart from the cooking — left for their day jobs. The two friends, an advocate called Khaleemudheen PK and a bank official called Rameshan, devised a community kitchen, way before the lockdown days would require more of these to pop up.

The project 'Adukkala Ozhivaku, Adukkala Thozhilaaku' or 'Avoid kitchens, Make kitchens a source of income' – is being discussed now, with the release of the new Malayalam film, The Great Indian Kitchen, on Neestream. The film, for a large part, focuses on women’s work in the kitchen and the house in general, how it is an unacknowledged and taken for granted affair that’s fallen on their shoulders for generations. It’s brought up a number of discussions on the huge burden that even today falls on the women in a house.

“My wife Majeeda is also an advocate. Rameshan’s wife Raji works in the same bank as him. They’d need to leave by 8 in the morning. The stress of cooking for the family before going to work was too much. Rameshan and I thought of a way in which one kitchen could serve the needs of five to six families for a reasonable charge of money,” Khaleemudheen says, at the end of a work day.

Learning about their project, a couple who cooked for weddings and other functions, came forward, volunteering to cook for the families. Some calculations were made and it was estimated that one person’s food for a whole day would come to Rs 50. For a family of four, it would cost Rs 200 a day.

“They give us breakfast — puttu, idli, dosa, idiyappam etc, and the curries that we can have for lunch and dinner. All of this would reach home by 7.30 am. Only the rice, we would need to cook at home,” Khaleemudheen says.

It has largely reduced the morning stress, says Majida. She has also watched The Great Indian Kitchen and thinks it’s a well-made film on a really important topic. “It happens everywhere, a young woman who comes from another home suddenly shoulders the responsibility of a whole house with little or no help. It felt so right when she tells off her brother for not fetching a glass of water for himself. It is a question we should all ask. Why can’t a boy get even a glass of water for himself?” Majida asks.

Hers has been a supportive family but she says even in such cases, women are expected to prioritise work at home over everything, their jobs included. Men can choose to offer a hand when it is convenient for them. But women don’t have that choice most of the time, Majida adds.

“Many women bear with all of it as a compromise, to not cause an issue in the family. But even as they make these compromises on the outside, there could be many conflicts inside —  within them. This is a time of 33% reservation for women (a Bill still pending in Lok Sabha) and Kudumbashree in the state (a poverty eradication and women's empowerment programme). We also need to bring democracy into families. This community kitchen would really help in that,” Majida says.

                                                     Sundaran and Padmini 

The scheme became a success and the client list of five families has now grown to 22! The cooking couple —  Sundaran and his wife Padmini —  say they are able to make a profit of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 every month.

“It’s become a source of income for Sundarettan and family, and has eased the stress for 22 families with working parents or people who are bedridden and so on,” says Khameeludheen, who is also the Ponnani area secretary of CPI(M).

There was a lull in the business when the lockdown kept everyone at home and they didn’t need help in preparing their meals. But once the relaxations were announced, Sundaran and Padmini got busy again.

“Many others came forward to take up the cooking work, especially women who could use this as a source of income. Right now, there are 22 families. When it hits 25, we will begin the next circle for which a new team will do the cooking. We are also in talks with Kudumbashree people, to see if they’d be interested in taking up the work so that one team can cook while another can deliver,” Khaleemudheen says.