Get togethers

Get togethers

Living in places  replete with scenic beauty and pleasant climes has its many advantages. Apart from keeping mind and soul calm and peaceful , it gives a good reason to plan get togethers with friends and like minded people as often as possible.

     Last weekend and today were such gatherings and of course food had to be an important part of it. And when its home made food , it becomes even better , because at one go we get to taste different snacks made by different people and the beauty lies not just in the great taste but also in the variety and different flavors.

   Last weekend , we were a group of some fifty men , women , boys and girls , the venue was a beautiful hillside and the time was late in the evening when the sun was set and temperatures were cool.

        We ordered Biryani from a local restaurant and got home made snacks. Since most people were vegetarians , the snacks were kept vegetarian to be on the safer side.The list of the snacks began with  MTR rava idli with delicious coconut chutney to bread pakoras with spicy tomato ketchup , dal wadas with tangy peanut chutney and then finally home made namkeen made by yours truly . Such simple and homely tastes followed by spicy Biryani and then the dessert which was  Kalakand again from a  near by sweet shop.

       Accompanying all these chatpata snacks were chatpati gupshup and two rounds of tambola with just two emergency lanterns supplying all the light . Needless to say that it was such a fun affair , that it confirms the fact that the simple pleasures of life don’t cost money but give oodles of joy and contentment.

     Last evening , the ladies of my neighbourhood decided to have a evening party today , when the cool sea breeze uplifts the spirits and lowers the hot temperatures. We all picked up our choice of making a sweet or a savoury and what a spread it was. The children who had been playing kho kho and other such games and had built up a gigantic appetite  were treated to a wide spread of fusilli pasta both in tomato and white sauce , aloo bonda , dal wada, chilled cheese sandwiches , french fries , cupcakes ( you can guess who made these by now ), jalebis and chilled pepsi and mirinda as the beverage. There was of course lots of light banter and mild gossip which I feel is a good digestive aid to such heavy snacks.

      Well the long and short of the whole article is to highlight the importance of such gatherings with friends and neighbours because of the simple reason that they rejuvenate the mind , calm the frayed nerves and of course satiate the hungry stomach with  lipsmacking delicious home made snacks.

     Another benefit of such gatherings where there are children of all age groups is to give them a supervised platform to interact with others and also to wean them away from their perpetual addiction to gizmos.The need of the hour is to encourage friendly human interaction which these gatherings offer.