Soulful Eating – Mind It

With the power of internet we can make any recipe from around the world. Be it an Italian dressing or Japanese shushi or own very own desi Malai Kofta, with one click the whole recipe is in front of you. Thanks to grocery home delivery services like Bigbasket, Grofer, Peppertap which has made life so much easier that all the required ingredients are available even before you decide to put oil in your kadai.

Life is running at a very fast pace, armed with 90-mins-delivery  groceries and just-a-click-away recipes we are all set to make a dish from a far off distant land. Remember those days in the 90’s when making idli in a small town of Uttar Pradesh used to become talk of the town and it almost took two days of thinking and meticulous planning to make that dish. I remember my mom used to  declare almost  one week before the festival season when she was going to  make chole bhature, gulab jamun, dahi- bhalle. Pizzas were like a dream, we imagined how it would taste as there were no Pizza huts or dominos to satiate the gruelling of our stomach. Life has indeed changed and everything can be delivered in 30 minutes (except the ambulance which still takes time to reach the destination due to heavy traffic).

Eating during the festivals was a joy for the whole family where we used to sit together and eat. There were skirmishes between the siblings to get more gulab jamun.  Now we are running always, under tremendous pressure, and usually do not enjoy what we make as we have too many options and choices to get spoiled.

It’s time to sit back and think about those days. It’s about relaxing the mind and soulful eating. It’s time to be conscious while we are eating. Few steps toward soulful eating:

1. While you are putting your food in your mouth hope your hand is not fumbling with your smart phone checking facebook/twitter updates.
2. Eat calmly, quietly and with full concentration.
3. Avoid reading a book, watching TV or any electronic gadget because you would unknowingly eat more and put on extra kilos.
4. Eat only that much what your body requires. Don’t be greedy. Your body will tell you when to stop provided you are eating silently and listening to it.
5. It is good if you prepare your own food and that too in a harmonious way. It’s said that food has soul and if you are unhappy while preparing it then the same gets transferred to the food and it would not be nutritious enough for your body.
6. Make sure that you take atleast 20 minutes to finish your meal. After all, we work hard  to meet all the deadlines so that we can have the 3 basics of life “Roti, Kapada and Makan” and if we don’t enjoy what we are eating just because we have to rush to the meeting then the whole purpose of working so hard is lost.

Please please please go enjoy your meal and don’t waste your time sitting and reading these advices as nature itself would help you for soulful eating . Smile, Say hello and relish your food.