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Food - India's First Love
Every day we are subjected
to the familiar sight on television ads - over anxious mothers obsessed
about their childrens' daily nutrition, housewives feeding their
families lovingly, the food cooked in the country's "best "
cooking oil, adoring mothers gleaming with pride as their child
grows "taller, stronger, sharper" ! Makes me believe that
India as a country, is obsessed about its food and we Indians have
made it a natural and national passion.
In India moms are constantly worried
about their child not eating enough,right from the time he's a toddler
to even after he's married (and no longer her "bacha").
Babies, visited by numerous relatives are tortured by comments on
how healthy, in other words plump and chubby they look. Health is
seen as having a direct relationship to a family's well being and
social status.In olden times,and even some places nowadays,anyone
not qualifying as fat, was dismissed as "yeh ti khate peete
khandaan ka nahi", indirectly implying that the family was
not rich enough to feed (or rather overfeed), its members properly.
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Indian marriages,
mostly, are one giant food festival. During the wedding and
the various functions that preceed it,the concentration is
mostly on food (and of course, the ladies' jewellery and makeup,
but since that is a purely female domain, the universal concentration
is on food) The standard of most parties thrown is judged
by the quality and quantity of food that was served and wether
each guest went home well fed and satisfied.
Our festivals,
also center majorly around cooking elaborate feasts. Sometimes
we forget the significance of the festival itself, or the
Pujas we are supposed to perform, but never the lip smacking
delicacies associated with it for eg gujiya on holi, malpua
on Diwali etc. Indians
take their food very seriously. In fact they are probobaly
the only creatures on this planet, to carry it along with
them everywhere.
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Be it a bus or train
journey, or a long foreign trip, we are always well armed with our
Mathris and Bhujiyas. All of us have sweet memories of sharing food
with random strangers on train journeys and bonding with them over
aloo, puri and achar. Ask a
hostelite wether he has ever returned from his home, without a semester
full supply of Laddoos and other home made snacks (which unfortunately,
doesnt last for more than 10 days, owing to constant raids on those
supplies by other hungry hostelites )
In India, food is
a big business. From Mumbai's dabawallas to our local halwai and
even paanwala its a booming market. Food critics, columnists, dieticians
have sprung up everywhere and the demand for their services is ever
increasing. Cookery books and cookery shows are instant hits . Girls
take elaborate cooking lessons before marriage to impress their
would be husbands and in laws
And why should food not deserve such
a high place in our hearts and minds? In a country where almost
every state has its own cuisine and speciality, and there is infinite
variety not known anywhere else in the world, it is justified. But
India, unfortunately, is also home, to the largest population of
hungry people,and those for whom one square meal a day,is life's
biggest fight. These glaring contrasts, between the two Indias,
does give us some serious food for thought, doesnt it ?
Contributing
Author: Gauri Sood, 86gauri@gmail.com An engineer
by profession, have a passion for writing, reading and exploring
new places and cultures.
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