siliconindia | | April 20198An alumnus of University of Delhi, Gayathri has over 22 years of experience in both national and international organizations. She has been extensively involved in policy issues and community mobilizations relating to livelihoods.& THE NEED FOR THE SPECIALISED WORKFORCE& THE NEED FOR THE SPECIALISED WORKFORCETraditionally, carpenters made kitchens, which massively relied on the individual's carpentry skills & craftsmanship. Carpentry is a skilled trade that requires carpenters to work with mechanical tools & wood, and needs artisanship. Due to the technological advancements that took place in the past 20 years, they have graduated from hand tools to power tools.Home is where the heart is, and a kitchen is what makes a house, a home. In older homes, kitchens were tiny and crammed. It was a space used almost solely for cooking that could be closed-off to conceal the mess, and the family & friends would assemble and eat in the dining & living rooms. Kitchens were utilitarian, and that was about it. The traditional expertise of the carpenters catered just right for the then functional requirements of the kitchens. Today, kitchens are much more than just cooking areas. They have with times evolved into spaces that foster inter-action between the families & their guests. Therefore, more sophisticated and sleek kitchens which are aesthetically appealing and are conducive for sociability have acquired a greater need and demand. As opposed to the traditional jam-packed kitchen setups, modernised modular kitchens have earned popularity for their space optimisation, ability to meet the fast-paced lifestyles and the flexibility to cus-tomize - according to one's needs & style with a whole new horizon of features. This upgrade in the whole concept of how the kitch-ens are perceived today requires a distinctly different set of skills in the carpentry sector. The carpentry trade has transformed into manufacturing and fitting which involves workers like joiners, fitters and CNC operators. This re-quires high-skilled human resource who can handle com-puter-programmed machinery that performs a variety of functions like drilling, cutting, or shaping materials. The catch here is to train the workforce in the specific disciplines according to the market demand. The fundamentals of designing the kitchens have al-tered phenomenally to match the shifting architectural en-vironment. Modular kitchens have caught on a rage and have revolutionised the idea of kitchens not just concern-ing design aesthetics & functionality, but also the dynamics that people maintain with their kitchens. The composite style of designing cabinets, shelves, racks, drawers to hold accessories, cookware, and crockery ease-out the process of cooking and make it more fun & enjoyable experience. They offer the wholesomeness and enhance the therapeu-IN MY OPINIONGayathri Vasudevan
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