Jaya Ahsan, an actress popular in both Bangladesh and West Bengal, is spending the bitterly cold winter mornings in a rural setting. A video that has spread on social media shows her, wrapped in thick winter clothes, cooking on a clay stove.

In the video, however, she makes it plain that she is not much of a cook.

In the video, posted on the morning of Tuesday 6 January, Jaya says she is cooking chicken on a clay stove in the village on a winter morning. The meal is not for her but for her pet puppies, she explains, and she is cooking the chicken with light spices.

She is frank about her limits in the kitchen. "I actually can't cook. But I have to cook for these babies (the dogs) myself," she is heard saying.

She adds, jokingly: "Don't go expecting that I can cook a lot. I can't really cook."

She also says in the video that she is thoroughly enjoying winter in the village. That day a range of tasty dishes would be cooked on the clay stove over firewood, including beef. Jaya does not eat beef, for health reasons; she only likes to have the gravy of the meat curry.

The video of Jaya with the village winter, the clay stove and her affection for animals has drawn a strong response on social media, where many people are praising this caring, down-to-earth side of her.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.