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The onset of the pandemic and the resultant lockdown brought everything to a halt and pushed people within the boundaries of their homes for a seemingly indefinite period. To deal with this, many people decided to explore their creative side in the space they found most comfortable. Many turned to their kitchens to deal with the isolation and uncertainty. Soon social media was overflowing with tempting photos and recipes from people with newfound cooking skills.
Srishti Bhardwaj is one such person from Delhi who started baking out of sheer boredom. However, the interest soon gripped her, and she found herself following every baking trend that was going viral on social media. From baking Foccacia to caramelized banana bread to custard pudding and fancy cakes, the "thrilling and satisfying ride" served to take her mind off the gloom and despair of the pandemic.
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"Although baking was a great way to overcome FOMO (fear of missing out) during the lockdown, the process of baking in itself has therapeutic benefits," said Dr Madhura, a Psychiatry resident at DY Patil Hospital, Pune.
"When you are involved in an activity that requires your attention, it asks you to stay in the moment. And when a person submits all of themselves to a particular activity, they reach a peaceful stage. It helps them calm their nerves, attain clarity and free up mental space for more important decisions," she said.
In other words, the process of baking—the kneading, the careful glances while sniffing aromas, the focus on getting the presentation right, is equivalent to you practising mindful meditation.
"Baking kept me sane when nothing else could," said Ariba Khan, who moved to Germany in 2020 to pursue her PhD in Linguistics. She shares her experience of how difficult it was to stay in quarantine and then not see a single familiar face when it finally ended. But when her roommate invited her to bake with her, she realized she was spending less time "fretting" and more balancing flavours.
"This state is called 'eustress'—a kind of positive stress that motivates and encourages you," said Dr Madhura.
In the same vein, Mutum Gemson from Manipur maintains that baking brings her to a sort of meditative state. "It gives me much-needed control when there is so much chaos outside and within," he said.
According to Shouman Jawed, a social worker, baking isn't selfish but a giving act.
"When you share your recipes and your baked goodies with other people and watch them devour it as if it were something precious, you not only share happiness, it makes you feel valued and confident about yourself," she said. The therapeutic value of baking is a learning Jawed has carried back to her workplace, an NGO, where she shares this wisdom with the children there.
(Abeer Laiq is a writer and an art director. She is currently working on the first draft of her first book alongside other creative projects.)
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