10 minute observation

In my anthropology class we had discussed about how anthropologist spend years observing people of a different place with different culture so they can do their study on them. Living with ones study for a period of time is called participant observation.

We were all given an assignment to do which was divided into two parts, part 1. Getting a written consent from our participant. For this I asked my mother to be my participant who I could observe. My mother was astonished and told me it scared her how someone would look at her for 10 minutes. However she did agree to be my participant. Part 2. Was observing the person, for which I choose the action to be cooking. On Sunday I observed my mother cooking a dinner for a little get together we had in our home.

The observation on Sunday started with my mother letting me know how much of a nuisance I was because due to my observation she was getting nervous and was afraid she would get something wrong with the dishes. Hence, I stayed at a distance while I did my work.

My mother was very determined to make food that was excellent. She took help from my maid for cutting and the rest was done by her. She looked patient yet the façade couldn’t cover up very second so once in a while when something wasn’t going as planned she got frustrated. She had a great co-ordination and was quick. She did various tasks at once like she was a machine, she was caught up in what she was doing and after a few minutes she didn’t know or seem to care who was looking or observing her. There was continuous noises of clinking and scrapping, sounds that were made from the utensils clashing the pots she used for the cooking, there was whistling of pressure cookers and commands being given by my mother to my maid. The kitchen was extremely hot and it almost felt like staying in a micro-oven, I couldn’t imagine how my mother was able to do any activity in that heat. Sizzling or vegetables in hot oil, the smell of spices and various food items, it was sad how I had to wait till I would be able eat all that was prepared.

While the observation lasted for 10 minutes, it felt short and I thought I still hadn’t gathered a lot of information. It was amazing how little details could be taken when one is actually paying attention to things others are doing. When I asked my mother about how she felt, she said the attention I paid actually scared her in the beginning yet after a while it didn’t seem to make a difference. When I shared my notes with her she was shocked I had the capacity to not move around and pay attention to one thing, she told me that a few things missing were how cooking and household chores and being a housewife looks easy but all that was a lie, to which I agreed to with no doubt. She being the house maker was just amazing at what she did and cooking was her favourite thing to do, she said it was less work and more hobby to her.