At the beginning we are all Gwyneth Paltrow. I mean the beginning of anything really—new project, new romance, new haircut, new role as maker of your niece’s school tiffin.

My niece has come to stay for a month and I was excited by the idea of making breakfast and tiffin every day. I’m a clever cook. I could surely come up with 40 exciting options. Dreams shimmered, of me in apron and lipstick, a tiffin-influencer, with symmetrical grids of colour co-ordinated desi bento boxes. I remembered how Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s namaste wellness empire began as a newsletter from her kitchen. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a faintly remembered post on ‘healthy lunch box options for kids’ between the jade eggs and flower acids, so I was on my own.