THE CULTURE OF EATING

It’s a disgusting and noisome face of human culture you have to interact with even if you abhor. It’s the culture of ‘eating’. Once a wise and witty friend of mine, having invited me for a dinner introduced me to a family friend of his saying that his friend belonged to a cultured lot of the elite subclass of northern part of Calcutta. I could measure the expansion of chest his friend was subjecting himself to on endorphins being released. After the gentleman had left our proximity, my friend said with a wink, ‘Its pisiculture.’ This culture of eating and talking and discussing about food at exorbitant lengths is a human development we see at the end of the twentieth century. It’s quite difficult to pinpoint at which juncture of time the human race had inherited such deviation but it is for certain that till seventies we could hardly find such people in the gathering. If found, so looked down upon, that the heat could easily be felt by them.

BREAKFAST (from wikimedia commons)

As the end of twentieth century approached, people became more and more interested in themselves, thinking little about others. It was only the self that mattered. Their concern encircled around the self, their own likings, their own habits and even their own dreams. So it was only ‘self’ that existed. Reading habits narrowed depending upon ones necessity, extracurricular activities did exist but only those which were essential to ones growth. As human being stretched their endurance, little did they know that only the physical endurance was being put to test not the endurance of their heart or soul. It’s the heart in the brain I am talking about, not the heart in chest cavity the doctors talk of. This unknown heart in the brain gives you patience, love and compassion for others. All these three are literally on their way to extinction. So more you find gatherings, even of the thinking class, more there is food in it. It’s not the food of thought Tagore or Ray or Bergman used to enjoy. It’s the food in its true sense. More they eat, more they talk about food, only about food, of different types of food. They hate discussing books, about films, about the present day politics. So when you decide to have your entry with a story about something in print, you are looked down upon, so much so that you end up in a shameful exit. They are giant eaters and you will be surprised to know that they keep discussing food even when their stomachs are full. And this is one thing you will always fail in.