The Great Indian Food Feat

There isn't a spelling mistake in the title. It is a feat to eat food in the traditional Indian manner. I don't know about others, but for me it is so.

In India, there may be weddings, birthdays or funeral wakes; food is always present. It is considered an essential part of the whole event. Especially in Maharashtrian households, a plate filled with food is very important.

In our culture, the ‘pangat’ system is where people sit in a line with their plates filled in a systematic manner. Rules are very rigid, though people improvise nowadays. Growing up in a foodie household, I was made aware that the system of everyone sitting down and eating is an integral part of any special event.

Be it a birthday, wedding or even after a funeral, people sat on the ground to eat food in strategically placed dishes in plates. We can find parallels in almost every other culture in the country as well.

Sadly, for me this practice of eating is almost always embarrassing; because it’s is a herculean task to finish the first serving on the plate and I almost never get second servings (unless they are forced on the plate). And since I am skinny, I am force fed.

So. Much. Food.

I learned the technique of firmly saying no from my experiences of eating in pangats.

It's not like this.

It. Is. This.

As the years went by, I started devising certain tactics to not be left red-faced. So here are my tips to survive an Indian style food fest! -

1)Finish the big things with the small things combined. For instance, eat the rice with the chutney. Salad with veggies and roti.

2)    If you can’t finish your sweets, eat them before anything else.

3)    Compartmentalize. Strategise what you will finish first, leave no dish behind!

4)    If you think you can eat more, only then ask for a second serving.

5)    You only get 20-30 minutes maximum to consume your food, use them wisely.

6)    Worst strategy told by elders is to swallow the food with water. Don’t gulp food with water; it will only fill up your stomach. You know what, just don’t drink any water until your plate is clean.

7)    You need to practice the biggest hand gesture you can make and the most sincere expression of having a full stomach if you want to avoid those pesky requests of “please have some more”.

8)    Sit next to a close relative who, if need be, will help by taking some stuff off your plate.

Hey dude, take some food off my plate. PLEASE.

Let my experience help someone!

In other words,

Stay Awesome \m/

(Gifs from www.giphy.com ; Images from Google)

The Art of Conversing

As human beings, the most important thing we socially do is talking. We talk whenever and wherever with whomever we feel like sharing words. So much so that people don't care what time it is, where they are.. they will TALK. I had this realization when I was stuck in a local for about 2 hours in the ladies compartment at 5 in the morning (A.M.!!). Enough said.

A person has to learn two things in the beginning of his life. One of them is talking. It is such an integral part of human life that there are actual professions related to talking.

 As far as the art of conversation goes; some are good at it, and some... well, need practice. A lot of it. In the skill of keeping a conversation going , an important part is learning how to shut up. Most people know how to start talking, but few know when to stop. It becomes like that cup which keeps on being filled in, even after it starts overflowing. And as you can assume, it's not a pretty sight. These conversations take such weird turns that you yourself will have no idea how you got there. One minute you are talking about chocolate, the next you'll find yourself debating over which politician is more corrupt. How friendly discussions change into verbal fights is beyond my comprehension. But having seen some of these incidents, has brought to light the sole reason of this travesty. The art of shutting up when you know it is pointless to argue evades most people. Hence the arguments augment and tempers flare, and then you find yourself witnessing a full-fledged "War of Words". 

Please. Stop.

If like me, you find yourself in such a sticky situation, ask yourself, "Is it worth the amount of breath that will be lost for this pointless discussion?" If not, then it is nothing less than intelligent to bow out of such a conversation. Winning is not always everything.

Stay Awesome \m/

All gifs from :-
http://giphy.com/