Nothing beats a good food for a thanksgiving. Not necessarily for a thanksgiving, but for every occasion I guess. Every ritual and ceremony from birth to death accompanies a feast in any part of the world. That too in India nothing beats a thali food. Although pizzas, pastas, burgers and other fast foods have come into picture a thali food is always a delight.
We as our custom perform a ritual every year for our dead father or mother. My dad used to do the ritual for his mom and dad. The ritual is a type of thanksgiving for our parents for raising us and also has a emotional attachment as like asking forgiveness for our mistakes done when they were alive. It takes about 3-4 hours. There is a short and shorter version also available for the same which will get over in just 20-30 mins time. But, in the either case food has a role. In the shorter version, 2 of poor fellowmen are given food for the day. The longer version also has the same with some pujas attached to it. My dad opts for the original longer version (He should have been a bad son I guess. LOL…JFL) He is the 7th child in the family. Huh! (My grand dad is great). Although the remaining 6 might not be present for the ritual, whoever is able to make it does or they accompany. All my dad’s siblings join him on that day.
That day we have our food only after the ritual is over. My stomach would feel the hunger much before the ritual starts. No way! Even if my dead grand dad would excuse me, my dad would never allow me to eat. I would be lying in the kitchen and my mom would laugh at me. Aunts would offer something to eat fresh but their brother, my dad would give a furious look at them. And alas, the moment of end would arrive and I will be the first to keep my hand in the food. Believe me; even with that much hunger I cannot finish the whole meal. It would have varieties of dishes spread over in a banana leaf and those are available only on that particular day. Uhhhh!!!…. The feast remains in my eyes!
