Take A Bite

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Today, it is raining heavily; I cannot go out. These rainy days always make me moody and cogitating. At this moment, a cup of Tea and pakodas in front of me, I strongly wish someone should have joined me to make these moments colorful, enjoyable and memorable. If one wants to enrich one’s life, it is better to know how to share things in life with love and affection. Now, I am becoming nostalgic and ruminating on the philosophy of sharing, which has been rubbed off on us by our parents and grandparents.

                                                                                           While preparing delicacies my granny and mother used to insist on us to take a bite of the sweets and wanted to know how it tasted. My mother was very enthusiastic about preparing sweets for festivals like Ganesh Chaturti, Dasara and Deepavali. On the pretext of tasting, we used to carry sweets to our friends in the neighborhood. Therefore, my mother used to keep aside some sweets secretly for the guests. There is a belief that if guests are treated affectionately and respectfully, they will bless the family in return and their blessings will keep the family happy and content forever. Elderly people at home, always, insist on receiving and treating guests with the finest delicacies prepared at home especially for them. What matters most here is affection and love rather than food. Relationships grow and mature with the aroma and taste of food. Sharing and having food together is not only a good sign but it also bonds people together emotionally and culturally too. We all have grown with this philosophy. Inviting someone either for a cup of tea or lunch is the indication for the development of a friendship.  When Presidents and Priministers visit other countries on invitations, lunches and dinners are hosted in their honor extensively; and these signs suggest a strong desire to develop a long lasting friendship. Friendship is the essence of life and food harmonizes  friendship.

                                                                                                                        The floating aroma from the kitchen always made us run towards it even in the middle of night. My grandmother and mother were expert cooks. The taste of some spicy dishes prepared by them still lingers on my tongue. They enjoyed elaborate cooking, making special dishes every now and then. They did not mind spending the whole day in the kitchen preparing either sweet dishes for kids or varieties of spicy, pungent pickles for elders, which had to last for the whole year. My mother used to take pleasure in sending the pickle bottles to her relatives every year. In return, we used to get other sort of pickles, papads and chilies –salted and dried. Whenever on visits, relatives always brought with them homemade sweets and other spicy things in large quantities. We always enjoyed their stay at our home and used to look forward to their next visits. When guests were going back, my mother used to pack freshly prepared sweets and food for them. This give and take philosophy bonds friends and relatives lifelong.                                                             Cooking is also an art. Nowadays, it has gained lots of importance, Very often, we see experts cooking on T.V. shows. Women sitting in front of the T.V., take down the recipes for their upcoming parties. Serving good, healthy and tasty food at parties has become a compulsion and trend. Above all, if spices like love and affection are used in the cooking, the food also tastes better. Simple food laced with affection is more filling than the rich food minus love. Now, we get Chinese food, Italian Spicy food, Indian Dosas and Paanipuris and the finest delicacies of other countries everywhere on the globe. This food culture is connecting and bonding us globally.

 In my life, I have across some simple people, who lived their life meaningfully sharing whatever they had with pleasure and affection; in spite of their economy in doldrums .I have tried to understand the philosophy embedded in it. An elderly woman, whom I have been meeting nearly for the last forty-five years, greets me now also with the same affectionate smile and compels me to have at least some tea before leaving her place. She has her own philosophy and that philosophy has brought strength and peace to her life. An affectionate woman who used to cook for us was very fond of one of my nephews, so she used to bring special dishes cooked at her home to this boy. My nephew, now middle aged, remembers her very often with tears in his eyes.

 My son told me about a beggar who was looking around a dustbin at the roadside. After rummaging around in the dustbin thoroughly, he was able to get two brown loaves at last. Standing near him, a dog was watching him with hunger in its eyes. Sensing its pangs of hunger, the beggar shared a loaf with the dog and walked away silently.

Seeing and hearing all this, I feel connecting ourselves to people, animals, birds and the whole universe is very important, which makes our life meaningful.