The Importance Of Food In My Life (HW 1)

What is the significance of food in my life? Its a question that, for the most part, remained unanswered until five in the morning today. I suppose that its hard for me to answer that question because i've never been much of a food person. When asked where I would like to eat dinner I almost always reply with some variation of "anywhere will do." So I was pretty daunted when I found out that that my frst blogpost would have to be about the very i knew next to nothig about.

But when I thought about ways to answer that question, I discovered that, despite my apparent lack of affinity for food, I enjoy eating out. I think its because I enjoy the company of family and friends. I like the idea of people gathering around a table and having a good time.And I can't think of anything that can bring people together like food can.

Last august, my friends and I decided to go out for dinner before we all went away to different colleges. In honour of the new paths we were about to travel, we decided to try out a new restaurant that none of us had been to before. The food was delicious. My personal favourite

was the butter chicken( a chicken based dish cooked in thick tomato gravy). The perfectly cooked chicken simmering in a rich, creamy gravy was absolutely intoxicating. I guess even cynics like myself have a soft spot when it comes to their favourite food.

But as good as the food was ,what made that evening memorable was the people around the table. We talked, laughed, argued about sports and music and ate all the food we could. In the end, it was just like every other time I ate out with my friends. But I never get bored of it and I don't think I ever will.

I think food is important in my life because it brought me closer to the people I care about. Some of the best moments of my life have taken place around a table doing nothing less ordinary than just talking to friends . I think that, ultimately, its not about the the food you eat but who you eat it with. Food has the ability to make people gather around each other and enjoy themselves. And its for that reason that food is important to me.

Another reason I think food is significant is because it makes us aware of diversity. In India, food is inseperable from culture. Every part of the country has its own unique style of food ranging from the strange to the scrumptious. In a way, to appriciate the diversity of the country you have to learn to like its food. I was raised in a north indian family and , for most of my life , knew very little about the rest of the country. But that all changed when I moved to a small, dusty town near the southern tip if India. Adapting to a new culture wasn't easy. Everyone spoke a different language, talked about different things and.of course, ate different food.

But luckily enough for me, their food was delicious. For some reason, I took an instant liking to South Indian food. It was a lot sweeter than the food I was used to and had a lot more rice in it. The first thing I leaned about this strange new land was how to enjoy its food. And after that, everything else followed. Different languages and dialects didn't seem so intimidating anymore. It felt like I had one foot through the door already. Eventually, I adjusted to my new life. Now, I'm probably more South Indian than North.

Food helped me learn about a new culture . It helped me appriciate diversity. It made me keep an open mind and helped me understand that something different isn't necessarily bad and should be embraced.