'Music, like cooking, has a rhythm'

While everyone has become a chef on social media and is baking banana bread and frying donuts, chef Paul Kinny is happy to let his apron rest during the lockdown. He's busied himself with an online course on Drumeo to brush up his drumming skills. "I always wished to learn drums and percussion as I had natural inclination for rhythm. I couldn't do it earlier because of the lack of time and money," says the director of culinary at The St Regis Mumbai, who bought himself a drum kit last October, and has been practising with the little time at hand. "The lockdown proved to be an ideal time to start learning and so I enrolled for an online course. I practise a few hours every day. The course introduces you to technique, beats, hand-and-foot coordination and reading musical notes and patterns," says Kinny.

He says drumming or percussion is much like cooking. "It involves timing, precision, practice and discipline, just like cooking. It also has a sequence and rhythm in terms of technique, ingredients and science. Percussion changes from region to region, in terms of instruments and beats," explains Kinny. Apart from the drum kit, he also plays the djembe and the cajon. "I am hoping to master a few songs. No, I am not changing my profession. I'll just be a more rhythmic chef," he signs off.