Finally, after hours of conversations and funny banter, the guests leave. And the AFTERMATH…. All the delicious food and the yummy sweets that I can’t wait to taste and savour. The leftover delicacies are enough to keep the festival alive for another week. Is it just me, or do you do this as well? Do you guilt-trip yourself or actually go and hit the gym once the festive season is over?
Is it just about the food, or the feel-good hormones that kick in after savouring a delicacy, or is it the emotions attached to the festival and the food? Being an Odiya, where we have festivals especially dedicated to a particular food item, I can’t help but think of how the air is thick with the warm, buttery smell of sweets, spices and something delicious frying in the corner. From anxiously having a little taste of what your mom has cooked, so that you don’t end up eating a lot and leaving little for the guests, to finally giving her the thumbs up that the food tastes great. We all have been there, at the crossroads of whether to enjoy the festive season to the fullest, meaning fill our stomachs to the fullest, or go on a guilt trip as to how to lose all the weight after the festive season is over.
To be honest, I can’t stop myself from catching a glimpse of what the guests have got when they come to our house, especially during a festival. Whether it’s sweets or fruits or a new delicacy, my taste buds can’t wait to be blessed. While all this does happen, but before that I quickly get down to straightening the cushions, collecting the glasses, and cleaning the mess so that my mother doesn’t get annoyed. And once all this is done. A pause, a quick glance at the kitchen. And before you know, sweet boxes and homemade dishes are being tried.
You all must have been there. From being the best host, to telling your guests Please have some more, to finally ending up opening the fridge to have a bite of the leftover food. What happens? The food that we were happily giving away suddenly looks far too tempting to share. Someone takes a little for later. Someone sneaks a bite while making tea. Someone opens the fridge, stares at the leftovers for a few seconds, and says, “Let’s have a bite.” Another wonderful thing about festivals. You don’t need the right moment; you can eat just anytime, whether it is while watching TV, while chatting, while doomscrolling, or simply because you happened to walk past the kitchen.
Yet, somewhere between the second helping and the last piece in the box, we realise that festive food has never really been about food alone. It has more to do with the people around us, recipes that have been passed down through generations, and new YouTube festive cooking hacks. It has more to do with a kitchen that stays busy, a dining table that never seems empty, and conversations that continue long after the plates have been cleared.
And before you realise it, the festival is over, the guests have gone, the decorations come down, the expensive, delicate cutlery set is kept back, and all the leftover food is being stuffed in boxes in the fridge. Perhaps it is not because we have developed an enormous appetite that makes us gobble up the leftovers, but maybe in our little way, we are reluctant to let the festival end.
So go ahead, have a munch on your fav dish, have that sweet or snack that you can’t stop thinking about. It is not the time to count calories, but to reminisce about the sweet memories. Savour it until the last sweet is finished or the last dish is over. Pretend for just a little while that the festival is still here. Because sometimes, the sweetest part of a celebration is not the moment when everyone arrives, but the little piece of it that stays behind after everyone leaves.
Sonali Swain
Sonali Swain is an Executive Assistant in an Aviation Farm, based in Delhi. A keen reader and an avid writer, she can be reached at sonaliankita18@gmail.com.
