After God-knows-for-how-long, counted in centuries, including the periods mentioned in the land’s epics, sympathising with the home-maker tied to her dawn-to-dusk daily chores of keeping the family hearty and healthy, particularly cooking by burning smoke-spewing firewood and drawing water from the well, her lot has lately witnessed a mountain of relief, thanks to supply of smoke-free cooking fuel and piped water in her home. The rising cost of feeding the family with variety of dishes and keeping the proverbial wolf out of the door are no longer the exclusive bother of the urban-based chief wage-earner. The home-maker, willy-nilly, has turned from home-bound member of the family into a proactive life-partner in the widest sense of the term, raising the family’s economic strength in the process, only the gender-difference remaining unchanged. The role of common-place gadgets to cook, communicate and commute, in facilitating the home-maker to expedite all her tasks with near-zero discomfort, thanks to the known and unknown inventors, cannot be expressed in words nor over-exaggerated.

On not-too-often-happening occasions when the mercurial lady, toiling 365 days a year is incapacitated, one’s mind may get enlivened by the narratives in the epic Mahabharata mentioning Draupadi’s akshayapatra that kept her five husbands well-fed and the entourage of the ill-tempered Durvasa served with sumptuous food. But, dreams rarely become real-life experiences.

Advances in the world of electronics, digital technology and computer software have metamorphosed life of virtually all sections of the populations world over to an amazing extent and the momentum has just turned unstoppable. The speed and efficiency of food reaching the homes of consumers are witnessing unprecedented levels, thanks to the ubiquitous mobile telephone in its smart avatar. The rapidly expanding network connecting eateries with their patrons, as its emergence in Mysuru is there for all to experience nowadays, reportedly has virtually conquered the capital of Karnataka with dishes of one’s choice reaching the doorstep within minutes. Bengaluru reportedly accounts for more than one-fifth of all calls made across the country.

The three currently dominating players of the aforementioned network, given the efficiency and diligence of their service, the time-honoured place for the home’s hearth is likely to vanish sooner than later. We are truly in an emerging world that armed with cash and cellphone, all you need to do for accessing food of your taste is dial for dinner.