Soup Boys n Salad Girls

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I want to write before I go to cook my dinner. I have set up deadlines like these for myself. Looks like everything revolves around food. What's there to eat? What do I make for breakfast? What will the children take in their tiffin box? Is it healthy? Is it fresh? Will they like it? Will hubby like the dinner today? Will he be happy if I agree to go to a friend s place for dinner? If those friends are coming home, will the food be upto the mark? She will eat all that I cook, but will her husband like the food? Those friends need non vegetarian food every meal, so if I make paneer and chana for them , is it okay? The sister in law has come from abroad, is the food too spicy for her? Today I want to make a soup but should I make it any different? Can I experiment or just go with what everyone is used to eating? A friend has told me that all food on the table should have different colours. From that day I have stopped going to restaurants which serve all Indian food in a bright orange gravy. I don't even like eating food where people use a packaged tomato puree. I don't like starters at friends when they just open packets and fry the contents. I look at the quantity on table when people come or when I go somewhere. Each family has a different custom. Some houses the entire food is laid out, there is nothing in the kitchen after that. Some families use small vessels and bring little food out at a time. Some families keep the cooking vessels on the table. Some families order out, switch the food in their own serving bowls and claim it is home made. Some don't serve the dessert till all are done and some just don't have desserts on the menu.

Some men always praise their own wives' food. Some women guests come to help in your kitchen and some just sit in the living room and eat. Some people don't serve salads or starters. Almost everyone does not serve soup. Some get a Thai cook to serve Indian Thai. Some just have a main non veg dish with one plate vegetable biryani for the lone vegetarian. Most do not have tissues or paper napkins on the table. Some don't heat the food. Some are keen to feed their children first. Some criticize the food in front of the host and some share how they make it different/ better. Some just don't care. Some really feed you with love and attention. Some talk politics on the table, some don't even look up while eating. Some have actually told me that for my size I really eat well. Some are very gentle in their food habits. Some are so aggressive due to hunger. Some hostess shouts in the kitchen at the cook and comes out with a smile for the guests. Someone goes to your kitchen and cooks better than you, someone asks for things you don't have in your kitchen. Some carry their own food to your house, some check if the food has garlic or the cake has eggs.

Gosh! Look at the conversations I have about food and people. Rather all these "Some" are people in my life and my judgements about them when I see them at meal times. This one is not for the Soup boys or the Salad girls.

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