Mandakini Prakash Amte, doctor-social worker-Magsaysay Awardee, has often spoken about her initial shock when she first saw the remote Hemalkasa village in Gadhchiroli district, where her husband decided to work amongst the Madia Gond tribals in 1973. Her admission is characterised by a rare straightforwardness. Unlike her rosy notion about what life in a forest would be, Hemalkasa lacked every urban convenience. Most importantly, it took her time to accept the basic meals served in the Lok Biradari project. "One day, we had potatoes, the next day was reserved for onions, and the day after for an onion-potato mix," she recalled in a public interview. The audience chuckles whenever she narrates the experience.

I remember myself widely sharing Dr Amte's subsistence-kitchen with uninitiated friends. Their laughter comes back to me during my isolated state in the lockdown. Little did I know that many years later I would be preparing similar, elementary, meals in my own kitchen, and that one day an onion-potato veg mix would be a reality I'd embrace. Never had I visualised that for two months, I would be engaged in an activity, on a day-to-day (not on-off) basis, that I had successfully dodged for over five decades. Also, that cooking for a family of three would be a matter of survival, not exploratory fun.