I love food and enjoy a delicious meal eaten in leisure with family and friends around the table. We do this every Sunday afternoon when our family and the extended family get-together at our home after church. Most of us look forward to this time of the week when we can relax and enjoy the food and fellowship. What makes the Sunday Lunch a success is the amazing ability the lover of my life has, to rustle out mouth watering dishes in a jiffy! Being a busy professional, she normally has no time to cook but in the weekends and when we have guests, Bina takes over the kitchen from the housekeeper and waves her magic wand!
During the week the house keeper uses Bina's recipes to feed us but it never comes out like Bina's signature dishes. Often when Bina is home, our children request her to do a makeover of what the housekeeper has produced. Being a very kind hearted soul, she never says 'No'. Even after a hard day’s work when such requests come she breezes into the kitchen chops some onions, cuts a couple of green chillies and gets to work with whatever other magic ingredients she uses to create those 'Wow' dishes.
Recently our housekeeper took off for a week and Bina took over the kitchen as she had a break from her tight schedule. I just loved it, for every meal that she cooked and served us was a delight! After a week of this Tasty, appetising, Scrumptious, Yummy, luscious, delectable, mouth-watering offerings I asked my love, what her secret was and she responded with a smile, "It is Cooked with Love!" Suddenly it dawned on me that yes, it is indeed cooked with love and that is what gave her the edge. Beside the talent, when she gets into the kitchen she puts her whole heart and mind to create something extraordinary for her loved ones. For her there is nothing called 'just another dish' in her vocabulary . . . she strives to make everyone of her creation, finger licking good for her Raj and our three precious children.
The lesson for me from that conversation was the fact that if we put our heart and mind into everything that we do, we are bound to delight our Customers. Total dedication and commitment is what produces excellence!
